Civil Engineer Assignment: Rehabilitation of Agriculture Infrastructures (Agricultural Road and Irrigation Canal) in Central Akkar

• Country: Lebanon
• Summary: Civil Engineer Assignment: Rehabilitation of Agriculture Infrastructures (Agricultural Road and Irrigation Canal) in Central Akkar
• LBT Ref No: 69571175
• Deadline: 10 Aug 2022
• Financier: World Bank (WB)
• Purchaser Ownership: Government
• Tender Value: Refer Document
• Notice Type: Tender
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• Description:
• Tenders are invited for Civil Engineer Assignment: Rehabilitation of Agriculture Infrastructures (Agricultural Road and Irrigation Canal) in Central Akkar. Closing Date: Wednesday, 10. Aug 2022 Intervention Sector(s): Agriculture Remuneration range: 2000 to 3000 (USD) Duration of Contract: 30 non-consecutive days (7 days in September and 23 days in November/December 2022) Terms of Reference Civil Engineer ASSIGNMENT: Rehabilitation of agriculture infrastructures (agricultural road and irrigation canal) in central Akkar JOB CATEGORY: Civil Engineer Consultancy DEPARTMENT: Food Security and Livelihood Department (FSL) DURATION AND PERIOD OF ASSIGNMENT: 30 non-consecutive days (7 days in September and 23 days in November/december 2022) LOCATION: Akkar Governorate (central Akkar) 1- BACKGROUND 1.1 - PUI PROGRAMMING: Since 2012, PUI has developed an integrated response to populations affected by the Syrian crisis. The PUI mission is currently leading activities in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, Saida, Akkar and T5 governorates. In 2020, in line with the LCRP, PUI focuses on increasing self-sufficiency among vulnerable populations (both host and refugee), through safe, stable and sustainable livelihood and food security opportunities. PUI project designs and interventions include: ● Identifying employment and self-employment opportunities for vulnerable target groups ● Provision of short-term employment opportunities through labour intensive construction and rehabilitation of public infrastructure and community assets ● Support in launching and developing income generating activities based on market assessment findings, along with the provision of technical support and material assistance; ● Supporting the targeted populations on self-reliance and self - improvement through capacity building activities. 1.2 - PUI PROGRAMMING IN LEBANON: PUI has been implementing activities in Lebanon since 1996, first supporting Palestinian refugees with targeted livelihood activities (professional toolkits, trainings, support to small business development) living in the Southern Palestinian camps of Saida. Since 2016, PUI has provided Emergency Cash Assistance to target vulnerable populations in the Saida, Jezzine and Nabatieh districts, and throughout Akkar governorate. Results of these interventions showed that the existing needs are high, and stressed the importance of improving resilience capacities of displaced Syrians and vulnerable Lebanese given their high vulnerability to shocks. More recently, PUI has developed an integrated assistance focused on the Syrian refugee population, vulnerable Lebanese, Palestinian refugees from Lebanon (PRL) and Syria (PRS). Interventions include Wash, Shelter, Infrastructure, Health, Livelihoods and Protection activities. In 2019, PUI implemented two projects funded by BPRM and the WFP to support access to employment and income generation for vulnerable Lebanese and Syrian nationals. In the frame of these projects, PUI provides Market-Based Skill Trainings, Work Based learning opportunities and Job Counselling services. In 2020 PUI, through CIAA funding, has followed FSS and LH sector recommendation distributing vouchers as cash assistance modality for farmers and gardeners, deciding in this way to support their capability to have access to decent livelihood conditions and minimum food consumption. Additionally, PUI has promoted a more long-term approach investing in developing training curricula for farmers and gardeners with the technical support of LARI (Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute). 1.3 CIAA PROJECT SMALL BRIEFING: Based on the urgent need to support the agriculture and livelihood opportunities for farmers in the current economic situation in Lebanon, PUI is implementing a new intervention targeting the farmers and communities in Akkar governorate, funded by CIAA. PUI will support 2,350 individuals through actions promoting food economy and resilience, as well as 980 individuals through activities designed to fight malnutrition. This project will be implemented in Akkar governorate for one year, and was designed based on PUI-s technical expertise and long term presence and acceptance in the area of intervention. The program foresees an integrated approach between different sectors (food security, livelihood, health and nutrition) and different strategies for the intervention, combining emergency response activities (distribution of inputs) with more long-term capacity building activities (training curricula for farmers and home-gardeners). Moreover, the program will also include the rehabilitation and maintenance of farmers- greenhouses and small/medium size community agricultural infrastructures , guaranteeing access to livelihood for farmers. The project will include a CFW component that would provide temporary job opportunities to Lebanese and Syrian workers and promote social cohesion. Project title: “Strengthening the resilience of farmers and households with vulnerable pregnant/lactating women in Akkar governorate through a comprehensive and integrated food security livelihood and nutrition intervention”. Direct beneficiaries: Actions leading to food autonomy and resilience: 2,350 individuals Actions leading to fight malnutrition: 980 individuals Total number of direct beneficiaries: 3,330 individuals 2- CONSULTANCY 2.1 - BACKGROUND AND FOCUS ON THE AREA OF INTERVENTION The protracted impacts of the Syria crisis on Lebanon continue to hinder the ability of vulnerable refugees and host communities to meet their immediate food needs and livelihoods in a context exacerbated by soaring food prices, lack of income sources and dwindling supplies. A succession of recent shocks and stressors (economic and financial collapse, COVID-19, Beirut port explosions) have incapacitated state institutions to deliver on essential services, plunged ever greater numbers into poverty and vulnerability and increased people-s reliance on humanitarian assistance to make ends meet. In 2022, the Food Security and Agriculture sector is stepping up its support to ensure the food, nutritional and livelihood needs of some 2 million vulnerable individuals—among Lebanese host communities, displaced Syrians, Palestinian refugees from Syria, Palestine refugees in Lebanon and refugees of other nationalities—are adequately met. The 2021 Vulnerability Assessment of Syrian Refugees (VASyR) in Lebanon estimates that nine in ten Syrian refugee households currently live in extreme poverty, with the highest concentrations in Akkar, Baalbek-El Hermel and Bekaa. The World Bank estimates that more than half of the Lebanese population lives below the poverty line,2 with over a third estimated to be extremely poor—or ‘food poor-. Poverty rates among Palestinian refugees from Syria and Palestine refugees in Lebanon are 87 and 65 per cent, respectively. The crises have touched every aspect of people-s lives, with access to food as one of the most pressing. The decline of employment opportunities and decrease of incomes, coupled with soaring prices mirroring the depreciation of the Lebanese Pound (LBP),4 have made the purchase of staple food and other basic goods unaffordable. This has pushed 34 percent of Lebanese, 50 percent of Syrian refugees and 33 percent of refugees of other nationalities into food insecurity. Between October 2019 and October 2021, the national currency lost more than 90 percent of its value. By October 2021, the price of the basic food Survival Minimum Expenditure Basket9 had recorded an increase of 725 per cent, reaching 439,006 LBP per person (2,195,030 LBP per family), equal to 424 percent of a household-s monthly average income. Lebanon is also at peril. Lebanon-s low foreign currency reserves have hindered food imports, with direct implications on the replenishment of supplies, as the country depends on imports for 80 per cent of its food needs. While retailers and suppliers have managed to navigate these operational challenges, their ability to continue doing so in the future is at risk. Lebanon-s multiple crises have also hit the agriculture and agri-food sectors, which have now moved to a low-input system resulting in a decline in yields and marketable production. Lebanese small-scale farmers have been particularly affected by high agricultural input costs and low output prices, limited access to traditional forms of credit and reduction of sales due to lower purchasing power. Farmers are increasingly unable to sustain their farming practices, putting at risk the agricultural seasons for 2022. This could lead to a loss of income-generating activities for both vulnerable Lebanese and Syrian refugees, who rely on agriculture as one of the three sectors in which they are legally allowed to work. In 2020, suppliers of inputs and agriculture services contractors were reporting a 40 per cent average decrease in sales, reflecting how farmers are adopting cost-reduction strategies. These have involved cancelling planned investments, decreasing cultivated areas or increasing areas dedicated to lower-cost crops, such as wheat. Estimates suggest a 10 to 15 per cent reduction in cultivated areas and even more with temporary crops under greenhouses. This is leading to an overall production reduction in addition to the adoption of crops requiring less irrigation or using gravity irrigation. In light of fuel shortages and an increase in fuel prices, irrigation places an additional burden on farmers- input costs. Meanwhile, some Lebanese landowners are turning to subsistence farming to increase their profits. In 2021, the second most recorded reason for collective evictions (five households or more) in northern Lebanon, was the result of land re-appropriation for agricultural purposes, leaving Syrian refugees without alternative shelter options. As subsistence farming appears to be more profitable than the rent collected from informal settlements, it
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