CALL FOR PROPOSALS FOR A CONSULTANCY: Partnerships for sustainable energy- How to realise the full potential of the Champion District Partnership in rural Uganda 1 Background In the beginning of 2012, WWF 1 started a broad partnership in Uganda that we believe has the potential to deliver bottom-up solutions to accelerate clean energy for the rural poor, with efforts focused in the district of Kasese that has been chosen as a demonstration district named the Champion District. The partnership consists of civil society organisations, companies, local government, central government, academia and more, who have voluntarily joined as a result of successful mobilization carried out by WWF, and the momentum created by that mobilisation. WWF has defined ambitious objectives for the Champion District project that exceeds what WWF can do alone (and some parts are also beyond our control), assuming Kasese local government led approach for a transformational change that makes the Champion District project different to any energy access project. Various activities have already been carried out by partners, such as piloting three business models for household lighting and cooking energy needs. 2 Why we need the study WWF-Norway wants to commission a consultancy study to help us reach the ambitious objectives of the Champion District project in Uganda. Partners must have clear roles, critical contributions must be identified and the partnership must consist of partners who are successfully making these critical contributions. WWF has an MOU in place with the district which defines the roles of the district, WWF 1 WWF is to be understood as WWF-Uganda office, WWF-Norway, WWF-Denmark and WWF-Sweden. WWF- Uganda is the implementing party for the Champion District project, with technical and financial support provided by WWF in Norway, Denmark and Sweden. 1
and other partners. We now want to evaluate whether those roles are clear, well understood and acted upon. Furthermore, if all partners are filling their role, is this enough for us to reach our goals? 3 Objectives of the study and deliverables The objective of the study is 1) Describe the partnership the way it works today 2) Describe how the partnership needs to work if WWF objectives are to be met 3) Recommend organizational changes and other actions that WWF and partners need to take in order to reach the objectives The deliverable is a consultancy report with the preliminary title Partnerships for sustainable energyhow to realise the full potential of the Clean Energy Champion District Partnership in rural Uganda. The recommendations in the report will be used by WWF to develop the Champion District project in the coming years. Further, WWF-Norway will use the report to write a proposal to Norad for additional funding for 2014-2016. The report will be shared with Norad. 4 Objective of the Champion District project The objective for WWF is to develop an approach that will expand access to clean energy for the rural poor, and to capture that know-how into a functional model that can be replicated elsewhere in Uganda and ultimately, beyond Uganda. WWF key strategies to develop the Champion District model are as follows, in steps: 1. Support a district-owned process towards creating an enabling environment for clean energy access initiatives to be piloted and scaled up ( preparing the garden ) 2. Supporting the development and starting-up of business models that combine social, environmental and economic sustainability ( planting the seeds ) 3. Support the scaling up/multiplying these business models and creating a wider enabling environment for these models to thrive and grow within and beyond the district ( making the seeds grow ) 4. Increasing commitments in central and district governments to replicate elements of the district model in other districts in Uganda. We have defined the enabling environment for sustainable energy businesses serving the poor as: Policy, regulation and institutions Access to finance Access to technology Awareness and capacity The objectives are WWF objectives and the above strategies are what we in WWF think will work at this point, ref Concept Description for more detailes. There is probably not a common understanding of these objectives in the partnership. Over the past 12 months we have done a lot in concretizing the 2
change process in WWF, however, we have not done so well in re-packaging and re-selling these refined objectives to our partners. 5 Scope of Work The Scope of Work has three parts as follows: 1. Describe the partnership the way it works today The partners are civil society organisations, companies, local government, central government, academia and more. Map who they are, what roles they take and what contributions they have made so far. Further, investigate how they understand the WWF objectives of the Champion District and how they see their role and contribution in relation to these WWF objectives. The role of the Kasese district local government is especially important to understand. We call for a district-owned approach. We realise that this could easily be our Achilles Heel; some of the district leaders are well motivated and eager to support the initiative, however, the entire structure from the centre through sub-county, parish to village levels are not yet fully engaged in the process. In terms of roles and contributions, we need to know the core competency of each partner, and we also need to know additional necessary contributions that make the potential value of the partnership much higher than simply a collection of individual contributions. We assume the key value of the partnership is innovation. Identify key additional necessary contributions such as leadership, advocacy, communication, sharing of knowledge, learning, adapting, clean energy solutions (this list is to be validated and revised by consultant as relevant). The following tasks are anticipated: 1. Mapping of partners and stakeholders (Uganda and beyond) 2. Mapping of other initiatives also aimed at accelerating energy access for the rural poor that can provide lessons learnt to the Champion District project, with focus on Africa 3. Carry out interviews with partners (face to face meetings in Uganda), applying the agreed methodology to be developed by the consultant Use the findings to describe the partnership the way it works today. Use the findings from the mapping of other initiatives to set the partnership description into a larger context (Africa), and identify key similarities and differences. Illustrate key points by using concrete examples from the work done in piloting the three business models. The smaller partnerships that are operating within the context of the grand partnership are also to be examined, e.g. JEEP and the traditional king, and WWF and the community based organisations. 3
2. Describe how the partnership needs to work if WWF objectives are to be met Once the mapping is done, assess whether roles are clear, well understood, and whether they are acted upon, and if not, how can this be improved? What roles may not currently be defined which would be important to ensure success of the champion district? Are some roles crowded with partners while others are leanly supported? Identify opportunities and limitations of the way the partnership is working today, measured up against WWF objectives. Identify key roles and contributions needed for existing partners. A district-owned approach will take a well-crafted, systematic and sustained engagement of the political and technical leadership of the district; drawing a mechanism that works in spite of the severe technical capacity, human resource, political and administrative challenges inherent throughout the district. Identify the most critical bottlenecks to district engagement and district leadership. Recommend a strategy and initial actions needed to address these most critical bottlenecks. Identify how WWF and partners can support the district in this process. Analyze what would be the best role for WWF to play, with respect to its unique capabilities, but more importantly with respect to the various roles played by others. Evaluate the opportunities and limitations in the loose nature of the partnership and compare to a more formalized partnership. Make recommendations as appropriate. In the MOU it was agreed that the teams, with WWF and partners on the one hand, and district government on the other hand, would develop joint annual workplans. Beyond the MOU and its reference to a joint annual workplan, there is no formalization of the partnership. 3. Recommend organizational changes and other actions that WWF and partners need to take in order to reach the objectives, and set up an overall implementation plan The piloted business models are to be used as a basis for recommending actions needed to be taken by WWF and partners in order to realise the full potential of the Champion District partnership. WWF and key partners have piloted three different business models (JEEP cookstove model, Light up a Village, Friends of the Earth Uganda model) for basic household energy needs, of which two have been subject to an evaluation of the potential for these models to become sustainable and replicable. This evaluation process was led by WWF. The real power of these piloted models is that they allow for learning lessons that can be used to identify what needs to be done to create a more enabling environment for sustainable and scalable business models. Evaluate the process we have used to do the evaluation and suggest how to improve it in order to ensure lessons learnt/recommendations are captured and implemented. Formulate key lessons learnt from these three business models in terms of how to improve the enabling environment in Kasese district. The lessons learnt are to be extracted from the reported findings of the two evaluations carried out, and with input from key partners. Based on these lessons learnt, identify 4
actions that need to be taken by WWF and partners in order to create a more enabling environment for these models to be sustainable and scalable. Finally, propose how to implement these actions and set up an overall implementation plan. The following tasks are anticipated: 1. Facilitate workshop for key partners 2. Consult outside experts for expert opinion The three piloted business models in brief: For profit- The Light up a Village: WWF and Barefoot Power Uganda (solar lighting) are working with a Savings and Credit Organization (SACCO) of Karambi, Kasese, in implementing the Light Up A Village (LUAV) project. Karambi SACCO was provided with an interest free loan from MESICS Foundation (based in Netherlands) to start implementing the LUAV project in November 2012. As of February 2013, the SACCO has installed 76 solar units in 76 homes across two parishes in Kasese district. For profit- Friends of Nature Uganda: Friends of Nature Uganda is a local community based organisation that is undertaking a revolving scheme for solar installation in Ihandiro sub county, Kasese district. Friends of Nature Uganda purchased 4 lights solar systems and installed for the first 25 households. Using the partial payments collected, it was able to acquire an additional 17 units which have now been installed as well (as of end of March 2013). Not-for-profit JEEP stove model: JEEP (Joint Environment and Energy Program) is an Ugandan NGO that carries out training of trainers in the construction and usage of the Lorena cook-stove, an improved rocket stove, insulated to retain heat and with a chimney to take away the smoke. As a result, a total of 3000 households in Kasese have an improved Lorena cookstove. JEEP is one of the key parnters in the partnership. 6 Preliminary time line The estimated duration is June 5 th to September 30 th, 2013. The preliminary time line is given in the table below. Preliminary time line Activity Jun July Aug Sept Oct 30 31 31 30 31 1 Planning and data collection part 1, including stay in Uganda (mid June) x x x x 2 Data collection part 2, Including work in Uganda X? X? 3 Analysis and reporting X? x x 5
Time is of importance to this assignment, both in terms of a swift kick-off and in terms of finalizing deliverables in due time for Norad application deadline (October 15). The main milestones are: Contract is signed on June 5 th, kick-off meeting with WWF-Norway the same day Planning and data collection trip to Uganda in the time frame June 10-20 (to be confirmed) Delivery of plan for Data Collection part 2 and methodology: before start of data collection Data collection part 2 in Uganda in August (time to be agreed) Delivery of report outline: before start of reporting Draft report on Sept 13 th (WWF-Norway to deliver a set of consolidated comments to draft final report within 5 working days- Sept 20 th ) Final report: + 1 week after receiving WWF s set of consolidated comments-sept 30 The first trip to Uganda will be together with the WWF-Norway representative. The aim of this trip is for the consultant to get familiar with the project and to plan the work with WWF Uganda project manager and rest of the energy team in Uganda. A rough methodology and practical arrangements related to August interviews and workshop should be more or less agreed during this visit, including how and when the interviews should take place. The consultant will be asked to present clear requests for support from WWF Uganda. The second trip to Uganda will be for the main bulk of the data collection. WWF-Norway may join (parts of) the activities to be carried out by the consultant. WWF estimates that scope of this report entails 30 working days, including travel time, with the following allocation: 1 Planning and data collection part 1: 10 days, including 5 days in Uganda 2 Data collection part 2: 10 days, all in Uganda 3 Analysis and reporting: 10 days 7 Data input WWF-Norway will upon contract signature provide the following WWF produced project documents: Concept Description, current version MOU between WWF-Uganda and district government of Kasese MOU between Champion district, Access2Innovation, WWF Uganda and Frederikshavn Kommune Reports on the piloted business models + concept for System Teknik Access2Innovation WWF Denmark contract 6
Energy Access Baseline Study for Kasese district, draft version In addition, the following external publications are to be considered input data: Sustainable Energy for All - Uganda Energy Rapid assessment and Gap Analysis, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, The Republic of Uganda, June 2012 Uganda country report, Economist Intelligence Unit, July 2012 These above publications provide a gap analysis at the national level of the actions required to enable all Ugandans access energy in line with the UN SEfA objectives of energy access for all by 2030, as well as providing the political context which extends and impacts on political and development trends in the champion district as well. 8 Deliverables in detail The deliverables are as follows: 1. Report with illustrative examples, figures and pictures, to a large extent using non-technical language not to exceed 25 pages. The report is to be delivered digital in MS Word. Annexes are in addition to the 25 pages. 2. A PowerPoint presentation of key findings, maximum 10 slides A draft final report for WWF-Norway review is to be delivered as a digital copy in MS Word format. As soon as possible, and at the latest before the reporting phase starts, a report outline for WWF approval is to be delivered, showing all headings and sub headings in order to demonstrate the intended structure of the report. We highlight the importance of using a non-technical language to the degree possible and to in other ways strive to make (parts of ) the report useful for communication purposes, for instance through illustrations. The language is English. WWF-Norway retains the sole rights with respect to all distribution, dissemination and publication of the deliverables. 9 Selection criteria There are 6 main selection criteria, as follows: 1. A demonstrated understanding of the assignment, including a description of an appropriate methodology to be used. 7
2. Relevant experience working with issues related to civil society and local development in Africa. Is to be demonstrated through a short summary of project references that explicitly explains the relevance for this assignment. 3. Qualifications and skills are to be demonstrated through summary of CVs: a. A higher academic degree in relevant field b. At least 5 years of relevant work experience in on or more of the following disciplines: environment and development, development cooperation, Capacity building in civil society organisations, conservation/natural resource management (Government and/or NGO), political science/law; Human Geography, resource economics c. Fluency in English is required d. Computer literacy: Microsoft products (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), email, skype e. Experience of working in the developing world, particularly East Africa will be an added advantage. 4. Price 5. Implementation capacity and Availability is to be demonstrated. 6. The quality assurance system is to demonstrate quality assurance of work processes and deliverables. 10 Implementation arrangements The consultant is to lead the collection of information, processing, analysis and report-writing, in close cooperation with WWF-Norway. It is assumed necessary to have regular contact in order to clarify scope of work and plan the data collection. The consultant can assume that the interviews of parnters in Uganda will take place both in Kampal and in Kasese. The workshop is probably best to arrange in Kasese town. This will be done in close cooperation with WWF Uganda. WWF-Norway will facilitate contact with WWF Uganda office and other key WWF resources. WWF-Norway through WWF Uganda office will make hotel reservation in Kampala and Kasese town and arrange for transportation between Kampala and Kasese, and while in Kasese. The consultant should make note that WWF-Norway will have close to zero capacity for follow-up of this work in July due to summer vacation. 11 Budget The budget is to include key activities and costs for travel (flights, accommodation, per diem*, local travel costs) to Uganda. Travel expenses are reimbursable costs. Further travel is not anticipated. * Per diem at 75% of standard Norwegian state rate ( statens satser ). 8
12 Invoice schedule Upon signature of contract, 50% of approved budgeted funds will be disbursed upon invoice from consultant. The remaining 50% will be disbursed upon the successful completion of the assignment. 13 Instructions for submitting a proposal Interested candidates should submit a proposal that includes: A proposal document, maximum 4 pages, outlining: o how the consultant meets the selection criteria (including methodology) o company affiliation and support systems o proposed budget and timeline CVs as attachment Project references as attachment The assignment is fixed price (incl VAT), based on estimated time spent on the assignment, and given in Norwegian kroner (NOK), with a budget for travel expenses in addition, to be reimbursed. Details of WWF standards and additional project information can be obtained by contacting senior advisor Marte Ness (mness@wwf.no) at WWF-Norway. Bids should be sent to post@wwf.no or to WWF-Norway, P.O. Box 6784, St Olavs plass, 0130 Oslo, Norway, or delivered at the reception in our office in Kristian Augusts gate 7A, Oslo, by 16:00 CET on May 27 th 2013. NB: Mark the envelope or e-mail clearly with Champion District. Bids will be opened 28 th of May 10:30 in our office in Kristian Augusts gate 7A. 9