Consultant - PUDT

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

SUMMARY OF PROCUREMENT

World Resources Institute (WRI) seeks to award a fixed-price contract for an agency who will provide technical support in GIS and cartography to WRI experts on the one hand, and to MATIER and sectoral ministries on the other, in the management and sharing of the various geospatial data that will be produced as part of the implementation of the Sustainable Land Use Program (PUDT). The duration of the contract is one year, renewable upon satisfactory achievements and demand from the PUDT’s main decision-making bodies. The deadline for submission of the proposal is August 15, 2024, from the date on which WRI notifies the consultant of its selection. During the period of the contract, the consultant is expected to set the foundations for a neutral, safe space to work, where team members can trust the process and provide valuable input to the consultant’s work.

About the World Resources Institute

Founded in 1982, The World Resources Institute (WRI) is a global environmental think tank that goes beyond research to turn ideas into action. We work with governments, companies, and civil society to build solutions to urgent environmental challenges. WRI’s transformative ideas protect the earth’s environment and promote development because sustainability is essential to meeting human needs and fulfilling human aspirations in the future.

About the CAFI-PUDT project

The Sustainable Land Use Program (PUDT – Programme d’Utilisation Durable des Terres) is part of the Partnership between the Republic of Congo and the Central African Forest Initiative. This partnership was formalized through the Letter of Intent signed on September 3rd, 2019, by the President of the Republic of Congo and the President of the French Republic. The commitments made following this letter of intent were to support the diversification of the national economy, which is almost 70% dependent on the exploitation of hydrocarbons, towards a responsible sustainable use of land allocations by developing the 90% of the country's arable land that is not cultivated.

PUDT's mission is to support the Republic of Congo in implementing a land-use planning process in line with its policy of low-carbon, inclusive economic diversification at national and local levels.

To achieve this important mission WRI has been selected as part of an AFD-led consortium to provide technical expertise to the MATIER on spatial planning. WRI's role is to support MATIER in the management and sharing of geospatial data for the land-use planning portal.

WRI is directly involved in the achievement of six results of the Sustainable Land Use Program (SLUP), in particular:

- Guidelines for land-use planning decisions

1. A functional online portal for land-use planning in Congo: This online portal will be based on the "MapBuilder" tool from "Global Forest Watch" GFW (https://mapbuilder.wri.org/) but will need to be adapted to this specific project with standard operating procedures, quarterly cartographic reports, dashboards, GIS analysis, and a list of priority datasets approved for the portal.
2. Improved coordination in geospatial data management: technical support for the “Groupe d'animation et de concertation de l'aménagement du territoire” (GACAT), signature of protocols for data sharing between ministries, procedures for data sharing between different levels.  

- Popularization of Geographic Information Systems and cartography

c. Cleaned and updated land use data: on-demand GIS analyses for the portal, High Conservation Values (HCV) and all other major components of the Sustainable Land Use Program.

d. Harmonized methodology for community land mapping: draft methodology, documents related to methodology testing, final/approved methodology. These products will be designed jointly by WRI and the selected national CSOs.  

- Capacity-building for MATIER staff and program sector ministries

e. Capacity building of key stakeholders in the use of geospatial data: assessment report on needs training and capacity building plan, training materials for trainers and users.

f. Knowledge and technology transfer: Strategy to ensure the autonomous use of all program deliverables by designated national stakeholders.

It is within this framework that WRI is recruiting a national structure specialized in geospatial data management technology and cartography.

SCOPE OF WORK AND OUTPUTS/DELIVERABLES

Through WRI, the identified agency will provide technical support in GIS and cartography to MATIER experts and sectoral ministries, in the management and sharing of the various geospatial data that will be produced as part of the implementation of the PUDT. 

In relation to the expected results of the PUDT products, the agency identified will have the following responsibilities:

• Jointly with WRI, draw up an inventory of the various geospatial data available in the country. The metadata for each piece of data should be analyzed (date of creation, owners, date of publication, etc.).
• Co-facilitate with WRI the development of protocols for sharing geospatial data between sectoral ministries and MATIER within the framework of the PUDT.
• Participate in capacity building in GIS and cartography for MATIER agents and sectoral ministries.
• Propose a validation mechanism for the various land-use mapping products produced by the PUDT's technical partners, MATIER and sectoral ministries.
• Provide support for the clarification of cartographic working standards in the PUDT:

      Scales for digitizing the various geographical entities

      Basic reference system for cartographic work

      Working cartographic base (topographic base)

      Metadata sheet associated with geospatial data

• Contribute to the adaptation of the land use geospatial data portal according to national needs and priorities.
• Contribute to the creation of a documentary and geographic database on current and planned land uses and occupations. This task will be carried out jointly with CIRAD.
• Participate in the working group of civil society experts on the methodology of participatory mapping of representative areas of Pool and Niari.

Activities

Activity 1. Identification of available data, analysis of the data-sharing circuit and validation of the data and metadata to be collected.

Activity 2. Facilitation of the development and adoption of permanent memorandums of agreement for data exchange between MATIER and key ministries.

Activity 3. Creation of a documentary and geographic database on current and planned land use and occupancy.

Activity 4. Adaption of the land-use planning portal to national needs and priorities (organizational procedures, engagement strategy, server configuration and technician training).

The expected deliverables are the following:

• Detailed status report on the various geospatial data available in the country.
• Report on the clarification of working cartographic standards within the framework of the PUDT.
• Summary sheets on the validation of various cartographic products.
• Protocols of agreement for sharing geospatial data within the framework of the PUDT
• Notes from XX meetings with PUDT partners.

TIMING

The contract period is for 1 year and is renewable, depending on the conditions of the contract and the deliverables provided by the consultant. 

BUDGET

The expected value of this contract is between 30 000 USD – 40 000 USD. Following an estimate of the number of days required to carry out the activities as defined in the project document (PRODOC) the budget should be broken down according to each activity scheduled in the first year. 

Once the budget has been validated, the payment of the service will be conditional on the delivery of the deliverables. All expenses (equipment, vehicles, materials, supplies, consumables, means of communication, insurance, travel expenses, etc.) necessary for the performance of the service, including travel expenses, mission expenses, etc., are the sole responsibility of the vendor and must be quantified in the budget proposal.”

Please note that WRI is an IRS-registered 501(c)3, tax-exempt organization. WRI is not VAT exempt. All prices or quotes should include VAT and tax, as applicable.

GUIDELINES FOR PROPOSAL SUBMISSION

Requirements

The selected vendor will be able to demonstrate capacity in similar work, particularly:

• Criteria 1. On-line cartography and Geographic Information Systems.
• Criteria 2. Geographic database management and Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI).
• Criteria 3. Remote sensing and land use monitoring.
• Criteria 4. Geodesy, reference systems and cartographic projection.
• Criteria 5. Topography and field surveys.

Proposal content

Prospective vendors should submit items to meet the specific requirements of this RFP.

The applicant should provide a technical and financial proposal including:

Technical proposal

• A statement of interest describing the proposed team and how it meets the above requirements.
• A brief presentation of your structure
• CVs of team members.
• Examples of and references for similar previous work; or 1 report on cartographic products produced.
• A detailed methodology and workplan.

Financial proposal

• A proposed budget with a breakdown of costs sufficient to assess reasonableness and compliance with our funder requirements. (Kindly, use the budget template attached in this proposal request)
• Please also include a payment schedule associating amounts with work milestones.

Expression of Interest, Deadline for Questions, and Proposal

All expressions of interest, proposals and questions about this RFP must be received via email to the contact below by 23h59 the 20th of August 2024 (Brazzaville time). Answers to the questions will be shared to all parties who have asked questions or otherwise expressed interest.

Name: Jean Bakouma

Title: Country manager

Email : jean.bakouma@wri.org

Name : Joseph Mangouende

Title: Technical Supervisor

Email: joseph.mangouende@wri.org

EVALUATION AND SELECTION

Evaluation Criteria

The following elements will be the primary considerations in evaluating all proposals submitted in response to this RFP:

• Completion of all required elements.
• The extent to which the vendor’s/organization’s/consultant’s, etc. proposal fulfills WRI’s stated requirements as set out in the RFP.
• Experience with similar projects.
• Overall cost of the vendor’s/organization’s/consultant’s, etc. proposal.
• Debarment and sanctions – WRI will not consider proposals from vendors/organizations/consultants, etc. that are presently debarred by the U.S. government or named on any restricted parties lists.
• Sustainability – WRI values sustainability and all other factors being equal, will favor a proposal to more sustainably perform the work.

The bidder offering the best overall value will be selected. For this procurement, price and non-price aspects are of approximately equal importance.

Selection Process

No proposal development costs shall be charged to WRI / all expenses are to be borne by the bidders. WRI may award the bidder offering best value without discussion. However, WRI reserves the right to seek bidder clarifications and to negotiate with those bidders deemed to be within a competitive range.

WRI may, at its discretion and without explanation to the prospective vendors/organizations/consultants, etc., choose to discontinue this RFP without obligation to such prospective vendors/organizations/consultants, etc. or make multiple awards under this RFP. Contracts will not be awarded to vendors/organizations/consultants, etc. debarred by the US government or named on restricted parties lists.