Procurement Notices

Over exploitation of marine fisheries is a major global issue and key driver of changes in the marine environment. Excessive fishing is caused by a variety of inter-acting factors, including the growing global demand for seafood. This project contributes to address key aspects of the market forces that drive overfishing. The project will add to the transformation of the seafood market by mainstreaming sustainability in the value chain of important commodities platforms, and fisheries improvement projects (FIP), developing national capacities, and generating learning to be shared worldwide. The project will allocate GEF resources strategically under the following four (4) project components, namely:

Component 1: Promotion of global demand for sustainable marine commodities

Component 2: Enabling environment for sustainable marine commodities supply chains

Component 3: Demonstration of Fisheries Improvement Projects (FIPs)

Component 4: Sustainable marine commodities information and knowledge management systems

The project is an inter-regional intervention. Market engagement and knowledge management are global components. The sustainable marine commodities platforms and FIPs will be implemented, using a participatory approach in Costa Rica, Ecuador, Indonesia and Philippines.

This activity is covered under Component 2: Enabling environment for sustainable marine commodity supply chains. It is aligned with the Project Document (ProDoc) which directs under this component the conduct of an in-depth sector analysis for the country; and the preparation of a five-year strategic plan/ National Action Plan (NAP), herewith identified in this document as the National Management Plan (NMP), for the platform towards the sustainable fisheries management of the Octopus (OCT) commodity.

In 2015, the Philippines passed Republic Act (RA)10654 “An act to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, amending Republic Act 8550”, otherwise known as “The Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998”, which took effect last October 2015. The Fisheries Code adheres to the following objectives: (i) conservation, protection and sustained management of the country’s fishery and aquatic resources; (ii) poverty alleviation and the provision of supplementary livelihood among municipal fisherfolk; (iii) improvement of productivity of aquaculture within ecological limits; (iv) optimal utilization of offshore and deep-sea resources; and (v) upgrading of post-harvest technology. The Fisheries Code is a codification of existing fishery laws.

Presently, the OCT fishery in the country is not managed and there is very scarce information. The Philippines Fisheries Bureau classifies the octopus as a “municipal fishery”, which includes fishing done in coastal and inland. In 2017, according to United States (US) trade statistics, the Philippines was the second-largest exporter of octopus to the United States in terms of volume (4,204,914 kg exported), only after Spain, and fourth-largest exporter in terms of value ($17,692,487 worth of product exported). In 2016 the Philippines was the second-largest exporter of octopus to the United States in terms of volume (3.186.602 kg exported), and the third-largest exporter in terms of value ($11.531.220 worth of product exported) (NOAA, 2.018). For 2016 the US marked represented 79,5% of the total exportation of Filipino octopus. Notably, the Monterey Bay Aquarium (MBAq) recommends to avoid consumption of OCT from the Philippines mainly because there is no fisheries management nor assessment.

Cognizant of the present sustainability issues and challenges that beset the OCT commodity in the country, and the need for a Unified National Management Plan (NMP) for the sustainability of the commodity, which all stakeholders, including government and business, will actively support by virtue of mutual benefits anchored upon an agreed unified set of goals—in line with the objectives of the Fisheries Code, and supported by the goal of the GMC to mainstream sustainable fisheries management for the OCT commodity in the Philippines, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in the Philippines, as implementing partner of the project “Global Sustainable Supply Chains for Marine Commodities (GMC-PHI), with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as implementing agency of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), requires the services of a National Consultant for the support and packaging of a Root Cause Analysis (RCA) report, and National Management Plan (NMP) for the Philippines’ Octopus (Octopodidae) marine commodity.

Institutional Arrangement

For the duration of the contract, the National Consultant will be subject to the overall guidance of the Technical Working Group (TWG) OCT Commodity Platform, and the supervision of the GMC-PHI Project Implementation Unit (GMC-PIU).

Duration of Work

The expected duration of work is eight (8) months from  August 2019 to March 2020.

Duty Station

There will be no official duty station for the National Consultant. However, the consultant shall report to the BFAR – Capture Fisheries Division (BFAR-CFD), as requested by the GMC-PHI and BFAR, and participate in on-site activities hosted by the GMC-PHI as necessary towards the completion of the deliverables.

Travel related expenses by the national consultant, including accommodation for all workshops/activities as incorporated in his/her inception report shall be shouldered by the Project.

Scope of Proposal and Schedule of Payments

The financial proposals from possible candidates should be expressed in lump sum amount inclusive of all financial costs related to this engagement (Daily fee and medical insurance):

• First Tranche - 10% Upon submission and approval of the Inception Report;
• Second Tranche - 20% Upon submission and approval of the Draft Interim Report
  • RCA report (1st draft)
  • BSC-UNMP (1st draft)
• Third Tranche - 30% Upon submission and approval of the Final Interim Report
  • RCA report (final draft)
  • BSC-UNMP (2nd draft)
• Fourth Tranche - 20% Upon submission and approval of the Final Report (draft)
  • RCA Report
  • BSC-UNMP (final draft)
• Fifth Tranche - 20% Upon submission and approval of the Final Report
  • BSC-UNMP

The Project will hire a National Consultant with the following three (3) objectives:

1. To conduct an in-depth sector analysis for the OCT commodity sector in the country, expected to investigate and identify the weaknesses and gaps of the sector towards sustainable fisheries management for the OCT commodity as well as propose/ clarify contributing causes and causality relationships, to be documented in the Root Cause Analysis (RCA) report;
2. Through an inclusive, stakeholder-oriented process, conduct a review of the performance of other Management Plans (MPs) developed and earlier implemented for other marine commodities in the Philippines, and consolidate learnings that can be related to the development of a National Management Plan for the OCT commodity—documenting results, that will be part of the new OCT Management Plan; and
3. Through an inclusive, stakeholder-oriented process, in line with the findings in the RCA report, and building upon the review and documentation of learnings of earlier implemented MPs in the country—to develop a new Octopus Management Plan that pursues the overall sustainability of the commodity, aligned with certain international certification/s or standard/s, as decided on by the Technical Working Group (TWG) platform, expected to incentivize increased international buyer demand for OCT commodity that is sustainably sources from the Philippines.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

There will be two (2) main outputs of the consultancy:

1. Root Cause Analysis (RCA) Report; and
2. National Management Plan for the OCT commodity (OCT-NMP)

Milestone/ Deliverable

Inception report (InR). The InR shall contain initial desktop research of the current status of the sector as well as the proposed strategic framework for implementation towards the completion of the RCA report and the OCT-NMP (See Section C), including: (i) provisional activity designs for specific activities throughout the plan development process (i.e., stakeholder consultations and other related activities); and the (ii) proposed corresponding schedule of roll-out of said activities.

The InR’s proposed overall strategy shall strongly emphasize how the produced OCT-NMP will significantly contribute to mainstreaming and/or enhancing sustainability in fisheries management in the Philippines for the commodity.

The InR shall also include a comparative analysis of potential international certification/s or standard/s for fishery sustainability that the OCT-NMP’s component activities can align with and support, showing potential benefits and international buyer networks that can support the commodity’s local business sector in pursuing the respective certification/s or standard/s.

Draft Interim Report (ImR). The ImR shall contain a narrative of progress towards completing the RCA report and OCT-NMP, including documentation of activities (e.g., workshops, stakeholder consultations) conducted. Said report shall also discuss gaps and challenges in implementation (e.g., changes in timeliness, issues on accuracy of data), and recommend ways forward addressing said issues. Proposed changes/ updates in schedules and activity design will be included.

The ImR shall already include the final overall strategy and agreed upon certification/s or standard/s to align with, as approved by the OCT TWG platform.

1st Draft of the RCA Report. As an annex to the ImR, the consultant shall submit the 1st draft of the RCA Report, which shall contain a situational analysis of the fishery and its corresponding value chain. At this stage, the RCA shall include, but not limited to, a discussion of preliminary findings of the following:

1. Determine possible negative initial impacts of entering into responsible fishing and sourcing, including on the product traceability system, for the sector, if any;
2. Probable effects of El Niño/ Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and climate change, among other potentially notable natural or man-made phenomena, on the fisheries;
3. Current and projected situational analysis of the socio-economic profile of the fishery in the country (considering major players of the supply chain, including business, academe, government, among other stakeholders);
4. Determine/ identify existing FIPs in the Philippines, if any, and generate a comparative table covering the differences and overlaps between and among them, and the new management plan; and
5. Sustaining the OCT TWG platform in the long-term.

The draft RCA shall also discuss how the findings in the RCA will be specifically applied as a diagnostic tool, as inputs to the OCT-NMP.

1st Draft of the OCT-NMP. As an annex to the ImR, the consultant shall submit the 1st draft of the OCT-NMP, which includes updates on the progress and initial results of integral analyses to the document identified earlier (See Section C), namely the review of earlier developed and implemented MPs for other marine commodities in the Philippines.

The body of the initial draft of the OCT-NMP shall also include, but not limited to, a discussion of preliminary findings on the following:

• Introduction, citing the importance of the management, objectives for the long-term and short-term, and application;
• International certification/s or standard/s for fishery sustainability that the plan will support, showing potential benefits and international buyers networks that can support the commodity’s local business sector in pursuing the respective certification/s or standard/s;
• Management framework, with the description of the marine commodity, the fishery, industry situationer with catch statistics, economic and social context, and legal and policy context;
• Implementation framework, with Research and Development (R&D), regulations, Information, Education, and Communications (IEC) campaigns, baseline profiling and assessment, corresponding plan of review of results of assessment (proposing limit reference points and harvest control rules for improving the management plan), monitoring and evaluation of the performance metrics of the management system against its objectives (to the extent applicable, aligned with the agreed upon sustainability certification/s and/or standard/s), and timetable of implementation with program activities;
• Systematic listing of policy citations/ recommendations (for updates or creation of new policies) the management plan corresponds to, and aligned with the results of assessments, including (in hierarchical order):
  • The laws (international, and or domestic as applicable);
  • National government policy (interpreting the law and sets out expectations of government and the people);
  • Local-level government policies (recommended local-level regulation, or template thereof, aligned with national policy);
  • Policy roll-out plan (designed to set out regulation); and
  • Advisory bodies (providing stakeholder inputs).

• Responsibilities of implementing units (including data-sharing framework)
• Budgetary requirements; and
• References and annexes.

The draft OCT-NMP shall also discuss how the current proposed design improves upon earlier MPs produced by the Philippines, how it synergizes with other existing FIP initiatives in the Philippines, if any, as well as how it will significantly contribute to mainstreaming sustainability in fisheries management.

Final ImR. The Final ImR shall follow the earlier prescribed format, and shall be vetted/ approved by the OCT TWG platform.

Draft Final RCA Report. The Draft Final RCA Report shall follow the earlier prescribed format, and shall be vetted/ approved by the OCT TWG platform.

The consultant shall note recommendations and incorporate them in the Final RCA report.

2nd Draft of the OCT-NMP. The 2nd Draft of the OCT-NMP shall follow the earlier prescribed format, and shall be vetted/ approved by the OCT TWG platform.

The consultant shall note recommendations and incorporate them in the Draft Final OCT-NMP report.

Draft Final Report (FR). The Draft FR shall follow the same format as the ImR. It shall be vetted/ approved by the OCT TWG platform.

The consultant shall note recommendations and incorporate them in the FR.

Final RCA Report. The Final RCA Report shall be vetted/ approved by the OCT TWG platform.

Draft Final OCT-NMP. The Draft Final OCT-NMP shall follow the earlier prescribed format, and shall be vetted/ approved by the OCT TWG platform.

The consultant shall note recommendations and incorporate them in the Draft Final OCT-NMP report

FR. The FR shall be vetted/ approved by the OCT TWG platform.

Final OCT-NMP. The Final OCT-NMP shall be vetted/ approved by the OCT TWG platform

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
• Expertise in data collection and analysis
• Ability to work under pressure and tight deadlines;
• Strong analytical and research skills; and
• Excellent organizational, and communication skills;

Offers will be evaluated based on combined scoring method – where the Technical Proposal will be evaluated based on qualifications in the CV and brief description of previous work. The Technical evaluation is weighted a max. of 70%.

The Financial Proposal that will be evaluated through submission of the Offeror's Letter to UNDP Confirming Insterest and Availability for the IC including Financial Proposal Template and combined with the price offer will be weighted a max of 30%;

For the evaluation of the Technical Proposal, the selection of the successful consultant must be based in the following qualifications (with the appropriate obtainable points):

Applicants who will only receive 70 points  from the assessment of the CV and Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment will be qualified for the assessment of the Financial Proposal.

Recommended Presentation of Offer

Applicants must upload in one (1) file the documents listed below at https://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_job.cfm?cur_job_id=86134. All applications should be deposited at the given link.

Editable forms listed below are attached on this advertisement:

• Duly accomplished Offeror's Letter to UNDP Confirming Insterest and Availability for the IC that indicates the all-inclusive lumpsum contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided;

NOTE: If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP;

• Financial Proposal (Annex 2 of Offeror's Letter to UNDP Confirming Insterest and Availability)
• Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details with email addresses of at least three (3) professional references;

In view of the volume of applications UNDP receives, only shortlisted offerors will be notified.