Request for Proposals

Review of Climate Risk, vulnerability, and Resilience tools, frameworks, and methodologies

Rainforest Alliance is seeking a consultant to submit proposals for an in-depth review of the tools, frameworks, and methodologies being used globally by Civil Society Organizations to measure, monitor, and report on climate risk, vulnerability, and resilience in the agricultural, forestry, and land use sectors (AFOLU). Rainforest Alliance aims to build the resilience of producers and rural communities across agricultural and forestry supply chains. Through this consultancy we would like to better understand the suite of tools, frameworks, and methodologies being used globally to measure and monitor climate risk, vulnerability, and resilience of farmers, forest community members, agricultural production systems, and landscapes to strengthen how we design programs and interventions and measure the impact of our work on climate resilience.

Summary Information

·       Department: Themes

·       Location: Global, Various Locations

·       Commitment: 2-3 months

·       Desired start date and duration: Immediate

·       Under direction of: Climate Resilience Manager 

Consultancy Summary

About the Rainforest Alliance

The Rainforest Alliance is creating a more sustainable world by using social and market forces to protect nature and improve the lives of farmers and forest communities. To achieve our mission, we partner with diverse allies around the world to drive positive change across global supply chains and in many of our most critically important natural landscapes. 

Our alliance spans 70 countries and includes farmers and forest communities, companies, governments, civil society, and millions of individuals. Together we work to protect forests   and biodiversity, take action on climate, and promote the rights and improve the livelihoods of rural people. 

As an international nonprofit organization with more than 30 years of experience in sustainability transformation, we understand that the social and economic well-being of rural communities is tightly connected to ecosystem health. This knowledge has shaped our rigorous programs to advance sustainable land-use and commodity production. 

At the Rainforest Alliance we combat climate change, protect forests and biodiversity, promote human rights, and improve livelihoods. The enormity of the social and environmental challenges we are facing requires working together in a broad alliance. This is why we bring farmers, forest communities, companies, and consumers together to change the way the world produces, sources, and consumes.  

Overview 

Rainforest Alliance envisions a world where farmers, communities, businesses, and governments work together to build climate resilience and reduce emissions across farms, forests, and rural landscapes, benefiting both people and nature. Rainforest Alliance’s climate change work aims to improve the resilience of producers, communities, and landscapes, drive action to create low-emission and resilient agricultural and forestry supply chains, and advance policies and investments that support locally led and nature-based climate action. 

Main Objective 

Rainforest Alliance has ongoing initiatives that contribute to improving the resilience of farmers, foresters and rural communities to climate change.  Rainforest Alliance is committed to deploying or developing best-in-class tools to better identify and understand the climate risks, vulnerability levels and adaptation needs of producers and rural communities in the geographies where we work, and to use this information to design tailored solutions that address these needs and build climate resilience across farms, forests, and landscapes.

We are seeking a consultant who can help us to a) identify and review the tools, frameworks, and methodologies for measuring and monitoring climate risk, vulnerability, and resilience in the landscapes and production systems where we work, b) assess the relative strengths, weaknesses, and applicability of different tools, frameworks and methodologies, and c) propose a suite of solutions that Rainforest Alliance can use to measure and monitor climate risk, vulnerability and resilience of farmers and rural communities. 

Contractor Services at a minimum

1) To review and summarize the tools, frameworks, and methodologies currently being used to measure, monitor, and report on climate risks, climate vulnerability levels, adaptation needs and climate resilience of farmers, foresters, agricultural production systems, and rural communities by key actors (e.g., international conservation and sustainable development NGOs, multilateral and bilateral organizations, UN agencies, climate donors and funds) working in sustainable agriculture, sustainable forestry, and integrated landscape management

2) To evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, applicability, ease of access, quality, and limitations of the tools, frameworks, and methodologies identified and provide recommendations on which tools, methodologies, or frameworks Rainforest Alliance could apply across our projects and initiatives to measure and monitor climate risks, vulnerability levels, and climate resilience.

3) Provide recommendations for how Rainforest Alliance could systematically integrate climate risk, vulnerability, and adaptation needs assessments into new initiatives and programs across the farms, forests, and landscapes where we work 

Deliverables 

The study will produce various deliverables, including:

1) A report that a) summarizes the main tools, frameworks and methodologies being used to measure climate risks, vulnerability, adaptation needs and resilience of farmers and rural communities; b) analyses the relative strengths, weaknesses and applicability of the tools for Rainforest Alliance’s context; and c) provides recommendations on which tools, frameworks and methodologies the Rainforest Alliance could use to assess climate risks, understand vulnerability levels, and identify adaptation needs, including suggestions of how to systematically incorporate these tools and methodologies across its initiatives and programs.

2) A comprehensive excel file that summarizes the different tools, frameworks, and methodologies used for evaluating climate risk, vulnerability and resilience, with links to key documents   

3) PowerPoint presentation summarizing the findings of the research and recommendations for use across Rainforest Alliance projects and initiatives 

General terms and conditions for Request for proposal

• Proposals and/or any additional information received after the submission time and date are subject to rejection by The Rainforest Alliance. Incomplete proposals may be rejected by RA at its discretion.

• The Rainforest Alliance reserves the right to request additional information at any time during the procurement process.

• RA is at liberty to make multiple or no selections as part of the proposal process. RA also reserves the right to cancel the procurement.

• All proposal costs shall be borne by the applicant and will not be reimbursed by RA. 

Selection Criteria

• Familiarity with methods, frameworks and tools for assessing climate risk, vulnerability, resilience and adaptation needs in agricultural and forestry settings

• Experience in comparing the strengths, weaknesses and applicability of different tools or methodologies for climate adaptation and resilience

• Knowledge and understanding of climate risks, vulnerability levels and adaptation needs of smallholder farmers

• Familiarity with the major actors (NGOs, multilateral development organizations, ODA organizations, etc) working on adaptation and resilience issues in the agriculture and forestry sectors

• Agricultural background with familiarity of and experience in the tropical agricultural supply chains, experience in coffee, cocoa, tea, or banana value chains preferred

• Experience in project monitoring and evaluation frameworks and approaches

• Ability to communicate clearly in English

• Strong technical writing skills, with a track record of high-quality, concise reports or articles

• Available to work at least 50 days before October 30th, 2023 

Proposal Process and Format Interested parties should apply to Rainforest Alliance, skerin@ra.org, by August 11th, 2023

Proposal submission should include

• Current C.V., including

• A list of previous engagements that addresses the above experience desired

• Proposed workplan and methodology, including a timeline for deliverables and financial proposal (fixed price (USD))

• Contact details of recent references

• Finalists will be notified no later than 14 days after closing date of RFP 

Thank you for your interest in working with The Rainforest Alliance