Terms of References (ToRs) for

Recruitment of consultant/consulting firm to conduct study on

“exploring Climate Smart practices for agriculture and livestock in the arid zone of
District Umerkot, Sindh Pakistan”.

Activity reference:

Project Name Multi-level approach contributing to climate change adaptation

and enhancing resilience regarding food and nutrition security of
smallholders in climate-affected areas of Sindh, Pakistan
Project Code PAK-1098-19
Activity name Study on exploring Climate Smart practices for agriculture and
livestock in the arid zone of District Umerkot, Sindh Pakistan
Activity Code A 1.3
Budget Code 2.1.1

1. Introduction:
Pakistan is one of the few countries in the world where a large part of the population - especially
children under 5 years of age - is still malnourished. Data at the national level show that the total
prevalence of malnutrition in the country is 22% (about 41.4 million people). The Food Security Analysis
(FSA), a comprehensive survey of the nutritional situation between 2015 and 2016, shows that over 9
million children under the age of five are affected by nutritional underdevelopment. In an international
comparison, this is the third largest number of malnourished children. In addition, 35% of households
have a very low nutritional diversity and consume less than five different food groups per week.

The short-term causes of malnutrition lie in extreme weather events and/or socio-economic conditions,
but the long-term causes are more likely to be structural deficits or long-term global changes and
challenges caused by climate change exacerbating the poor nutritional situation. Pakistan is one of the
countries’ most severely affected by climate change. Average temperatures have already risen by almost
2°C since 1901 and the precipitation regime is also subject to significant changes. Predictions confirm
that Pakistan and especially the Sindh province will continue to suffer the greatest fluctuations in
precipitation in the future. Periods of drought that occur regularly anyway are expected to be more
frequent, more severe and of longer duration. The Climate Risk Index published this year (2018) by
German Watch confirms these trends: with a CRI value of 30.5, it puts Pakistan in 7th place (out of 189
countries) in a global comparison in terms of vulnerability to climate risks, puts total economic losses at
USD 3,816.8 million, corresponding to 0.6% of GDP, and covers a total of 141 extreme weather events
caused by climate change in the period from 1997 to 2016.

In the province of Sindh, the effects of climate change can be particularly illustrated by extreme weather
events: in the past, there were repeatedly violent hurricanes with devastating consequences (most

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recently in 1999); in 2010, floods in Sindh had particularly severe consequences; in addition, longer-
lasting and more frequent droughts in recent years (most recently from 2013 to 2015) have had a lasting
impact on the lives of the local population.
The arid region of the Thar Desert, which extends over the two districts of Tharparkar and Umerkot, is
particularly affected by recurrent and persistent droughts. In the last 5 years, both floods and droughts
have hit Sindh Province and the districts of Jamshoro, Umerkot and Tharparkar particularly hard. Three
consecutive years of floods (2010-2013) were followed by a severe two-year drought (2013-2015).

District Umerkot
As per the national population census-2017 the district is home to 1,073,146 individuals (including
182,434 children under the age of 5 years, 534,326 male and 356,286 female) forming 212,356
households scattered in 1,076 distant villages/communities. 84% of the population falls under the
category of Poor and Very poor as per a Household Economy Analysis (HEA) conducted in the region in
late 2015 by FAO (along with CONCERN Worldwide). The HEA indicates that this 84% population of the
district struggle to fulfil the survival threshold of the life (i.e. basic food and shelter needs) with 10 acres
of rainfed land (for crops and fodders) and average 2 cows and 5-7 goats. In Umerkot, the small farmers
just own an average of 1.6 acres of land and farm an average of 3.1 acres – partly leased land. 57% of
the population has income below 1 US Dollar per person per day. Livestock is the main livelihood of the
population followed by agriculture (crop cultivation) and daily wage labour. Major crops cultivated in
the area are millet (cereal crop) followed by cluster-beans and sesame whereas cotton and wheat are
cultivated in the barrage areas which is 60% of the district area. 39% population of the district belongs
to Muslim, 51% to Hinduism and 10% with other religions living together in the same villages with peace
and harmony. The health and education indicators are also lowest in the country with 36% male and
only 12% literate females and one health facility per 14,905 individuals. Social organization structures
can be found in each village/ community as TRDP has been working in the area for decades. Eight
national/regional NGOs (non-profit organizations) including TRDP are also working in the district in the
areas of drought response and sectors such as health, education, community physical infrastructure.
Government of Sindh has also begun implementing various initiatives especially under health/nutrition
sectors with funding from the World Bank to address the alarming situation of undernutrition in the
district.

With regard to the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events, Umerkot is confronted with
droughts in the southern and eastern parts and floods in the northern irrigated areas. The combination
of elevated average temperatures and temperature maxima, as well as irregular precipitation, led to
more frequent and intense droughts and heat waves in the past decade, with corresponding
consequences for agriculture and livestock - the livelihoods of the majority of the population in the
region. Changes in precipitation patterns have severely impaired agricultural activities such as sowing
and harvesting. Farmers whose fields depend on rainwater complain that they are unable to work the
soil because of the long dry seasons. The worrying fact that in recent years livestock numbers have
fallen by about 50% (i.e. died and/or sold as a negative coping strategy) and average crop yields have
fallen by about 60% shows the extent of the consequences for the local population.

The changed climatic conditions in the region have thus already significantly worsened the food
situation of the affected population. In addition, low crop yields and the decimation of livestock deprive
the population of the opportunity to market their products and use the proceeds to purchase nutritious

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food for their own consumption, which in the short term endangers food security and in the long-term
results in malnutrition and reduces the resilience of these communities. For example, the Global Acute
Malnutrition (GAM) rate in Umerkot district is well above the average for Sindh province and above the
global emergency rate of 15% (cf. SMART-Survey, NSP, January 2016), which indicates an emergency in
this respect and triggers corresponding requests for humanitarian aid. The GAM classification, which
measures the critical threshold of the body weight to height ratio, was 19% in Umerkot in urban areas
and an alarming 30% in rural areas. In addition, a malnutrition rate of 18.9% among pregnant and
lactating women (PLW) illustrates the extent of the alarming nutritional situation.

Labour migration is one of the most important coping strategies and is common during the "lean"
months in the project region. Primarily male household members move from the arid areas for a few
months to the western, year-round irrigated areas to work mainly in agriculture as day labourers.
However, the seasonal migration rate (which normally lasts 4 to 5 months) rose to 35% due to
prolonged droughts and the resulting lack of agricultural activity and yield. The large number of migrant
workers could not be absorbed in the agricultural productive areas, which meant that many households
lost another source of income and coping strategy in addition to their own greatly reduced food
production.

Thardeep Rural Development Program (TRDP) under the partnership with Welthungerhilfe (WHH), has
initiated a multi-year project in the Arid region of District Umerkot to tackle the malnutrition issues in
the longer-term context through intervening in the areas of climate change adaptation and policy
enforcement. The core goal of this multi-year project is to create resilience of the local communities to
drought disasters and malnutrition. The project covers actions related to;
1. Capacity building of district level staff of relevant Government departments and civil society in the areas
of Climate Smart Agriculture, climate smart practices and climate change adaptation measures.
2. Assisting the improvement in the district level operational plans and planning tools of various
Government departments in line with climate change adaptation needs.
3. Introducing and demonstrating various climate smart agriculture practices in agriculture and livestock
sectors along with participation of smallholder farmers for promotion and scale up.

Before execution of the operations on the ground, TRDP intends to conduct an in-depth study to explore
the appropriate models/BoQs for a list of activities that have been finalized during the development of
the project.

2. Objectives of the study:

The core goal of the study is toe cross-verify the designed/proposed activities of the project before
executing on the ground. A total of 10 activities/interventions are proposed under the project which
needs more technical insight to be implemented on the ground. The list of such activities is given below
for more clarity.
Activity Activity Description of Activity
Number
A 3.2 Establishment of 2 Establishment of two (02) demonstration plots of 0.5 acre each in the
demonstration plots villages selected by TRDP. Innovative Climate-Smart-Agriculture (CSA)
techniques and inputs will be applied in the demonstration plots. (Activity
3.2 of the project).

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A 3.3 Establishment of 10 Establishment of ten (10) climate smart orchards of 1 acre each in the
Climate Smart orchards villages selected by TRDP. Innovative Climate-Smart-Agriculture (CSA)
techniques and inputs will be applied in the orchards. (Activity 3.3 of the
project).
A 3.5 Establishment of Two community Seed banks will be established each one at UC level.
Community Seed Banks Local Support Organization (LSO) will own and run the established
banks. The banks will provide assistance to the small holder farmers in
keeping seeds of cereals and vegetables.
A 3.10 Establishment of 20 Establishment of twenty (20) community gardens of 100 square meter
community gardens each in 20 villages (one in each village) selected by TRDP. These gardens
will be established to grow crops/fodders/fruit trees/vegetables on the
brackish water. Innovative Climate-Smart-Agriculture (CSA) techniques
and inputs will be applied in the orchards. (Activity 3.10 of the project).
A 3.11 Construction of 5 such rainwater harvesting infrastructures will be constructed in five
rainwater harvesting villages which may harvest the water sufficient to grow vegetables and
infrastructure for crops local cereals on 0.5 acre land.
cultivation
A 4.1 Establishment of 5 Establishment of five (05) Horticulture farms of 1 acre each to
horticulture farms demonstrate innovative techniques and inputs of Climate-Smart-
Agriculture. Out of these five, four such farms will be established in four
villages (selected by TRDP) and one farm will be established at the
Agriculture Research Station of TRDP at Mithi. (Activity 4.1 of the
project).
A 4.3 Establishment of 2 crop The seed production farms of one acre each will be established in two
seed production farms villages. The beneficiary farmer will be supported in providing basic seeds
for cultivation, tools and equipment including drip irrigation and training
on all the steps of seed production including harvesting and post
harvesting and marketing.
A 4.4 Establishment of 2 One nursery will be established at the Agriculture station of TRDP at
drought resistant Mithi, and another one in one village.
fodder/fruit tree
nurseries
A 4.6 Exploring potential of The activities include exploration of the food items that have potential to
local organic+ be promoted as organic food of the desert area.
preserved food
marketing
A 4.7 Exploring potential of The activities includes including potential of developing an enterprise
an enterprise to prepare organic fertilizer from available farm yard manure and link
establishment on Farm it with the potential buyers.
Yard Manure

Specific objectives of the study

The specific objectives of the study are to:
1) Verify the designed feasibility of all the activities and prepare revised/updated BoQs
2) Prepare implementation framework for the all mentioned activities along with recommending technical
specifications for type of inputs, equipment and seasonality.

Possible activities

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The below list of activities is just an idea. The consultant/consulting firm needs to propose specific
activities in their bid/proposal.
1) Physical visit of the sites in villages to observe the type of land and geographic indicators
2) Held meetings with farmers to get the historical trend
3) Share details of the designed activities with farmers and get their ideas
4) Do the technical readings and measurements in order to design appropriate BoQs and models along with
implementation framework and proposed recommendations.
5) Organize consultative workshop at district level (Umerkot) to present the BoQs and implementation
framework with district level stakeholders (i.e. TRDP, AZRI, Agriculture department) and validate the
proposed models from the workshop.
6) Present the study to TRDP technical team.
7) Submit the final report.

3. Geographic scope and coverage of the study:

The geographic coverage for the study is 20 villages in two union councils (i.e. Faqeer Abdullah and
Kaplore) of Taluka and District Umerkot along with visits to the Agriculture research station of TRDP at
Mithi.

4. Key deliverables:
1) Inception report covering the finally agreed methodology, tools and workplan.
2) Copies of final tools to be used in the study
3) Raw data (in soft form) of the study
4) The outcome of the study should result into a reputable institutional publication in Pakistan or/and as a
paper in the climate change related HEC recognised International journal.
5) Final submission of the report.

5. Methodology and sample size:

A mix of quantitative and qualitative methods shall be used in the study. No such specific methodology
is proposed from TRDP side. The effective methodology proposed by the consultant/consulting, the
more will be chances to win the assignment.

6. Time/duration of the study:

Keeping in view the seasonality and other important milestones of the project, TRDP intends to get this
assignment completed by 20th of December. Below is tentative time duration of the assignment.
# Activity No. of days
1 Induction meeting with TRDP management for execution of 1
the assignment
2 Desk review of project documents 2
3 Inception report and development of tools 3
4 Data collection (20 villages + one site in Mithi city) 15
5 Analysing the data and preparing preliminary findings 5
6 District level consultative workshop to validate the findings 1
7 Report development and submission 5

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 Total 32
Note: this is tentative time period, the consultant/consulting firm who proposes less time will have more
chances to win.

7. Intellectual property rights:

All the raw data, tools, preliminary findings and the final product of the assignment (i.e. the report) shall
remain the sole and exclusive property of TRDP. The consultant/consulting firm may not share,
disseminate the product without getting prior written consent from TRDP.

8. Profile requirement of the consultant/consulting firm:

Keeping in view the diverse expertise and experience required for this assignment, TRDP encourages
group of consultants or the consulting firm/institute to apply. Following minimum skills, expertise and
experiences are required for this assignment:
1) Post graduate academic qualification (PhD preferred) in the areas of agriculture (i.e. Agriculture
Extension, Agricultural Rural Sociology, Agronomy, Agricultural Engineering) or other relevant discipline
or commensurate work experience in lieu of post graduate qualification.
2) Demonstrated and proven experience (5 years) in the relevant areas of study.
3) Experience in carrying out at least two studies of the same mandate.
4) Extensive experience and in-depth understanding of qualitative and quantitative data collection and
analysis tools and methods.
5) Robust experience in applying participatory social research and data collection/validation methods.
6) Knowledge of local context of Thar desert and working experience is added value
7) Good interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate and negotiate clearly and effectively at all levels
considering the cultural and language requirements.
8) Ability to communicate effectively in Sindh and English (oral and written).
9) Flexible to travel in the remote desert areas with poor transportation arrangements

9. Requirements in the application:

The applicant needs to develop technical and financial proposals separately in two separately envelops
(put two separately envelops in one big envelop and dispatch on the prescribed address.

The contents MUST be included in the technical proposal are; methodology, work plan, elaboration of
relevant experience and profiles of the consultant(s). In case of any firm/institute, provide the profile
and CVs of the technical experts to be involved in the assignment along with well defined role of each
staff.

10. Evaluation of the assignment:

# Evaluation criteria Points
1 Quality of methodology/approach 35
2 Relevant experience, technical competence and contextual 30
knowledge
3 A realistic and affordable budget 35
Total 100

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 11. Submission of the application:

The applications shall be submitted on the below address before December 9 th, 2019 at 2:00pm sharp

Thardeep Rural Development Program (TRDP)

Located near GoS Public Health Engineering office Court Road, Mithi Tharparkar

Phone no: 0232261462, 0232261661

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