Climate Change Adaptation Concept Note Development Consultant

Result of Service

Single country concept note endorsed by UNEP and the National Designated Authority of Madagascar for submission to the Adaptation Fund.

Work Location

Home-Based with 1 mission to Madagascar.

Expected duration

The expected contract duration is for a period of 6months. The consultant will work part-time for a total of 28days over the 6-months period.

Duties and Responsibilities

Organization setting United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment. UNEP promotes increased action and investment in climate change adaptation, with a focus on incorporating nature-based solutions as part of an overall adaptation strategy. UNEP’s Climate Division supports developing countries in accessing funding to address their climate change adaptation needs, including funding from several multilateral funds established under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Background The Adaptation Fund was established in 2001; it supports developing country Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, in increasing their resilience through concrete adaptation projects and programmes that reduce the adverse effects of climate change facing communities and sectors. The Adaptation Fund provides funding to LDCs and SIDS to address their immediate and urgent climate change impacts identified through the country Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), National Policies on Climate Change, National communications on Climate Change and National Adaptation Plans. The Government of Madagascar has requested UNEP's support to develop a new single country project proposal to the Adaptation Fund which objective is to strengthen the adaptive capacities of vulnerable agricultural communities in the Atsinanana region through the adoption of agroecological practices in pilot communities, and to reinforce national capacities for the scale-up of agroecology in the country. Madagascar is one of the world’s most climate‑vulnerable countries. In Atsinanana region (East coast), livelihoods are predominantly agriculture‑based and climate-sensitive, with food and cash crops (rice, cassava, sweet potatoes, litchis, coffee, bananas, cane sugar, citrus) underpinning household income and regional exports. Rain‑fed production, limited infrastructure, and expansion of unsustainable practices—including tavy (slash‑and‑burn)—have driven land degradation (soil erosion, gullying/lavaka, sedimentation of rice valleys), resulting in a decline in soil fertility and humidity. Climate change compounds these human pressures through: (i) more intense cyclones causing crop loss, infrastructure damage, and accelerated erosion; (ii) erratic rainfall with below-average rainy seasons and longer dry spells; and (iii) rising temperatures, particularly increases in minimum temperatures, affecting crop cycles and evapotranspiration. Coastal areas also face heightened flood risk and salinization from sea‑level rise. Together these impacts reduce yields, disrupt planting calendars, intensify pest/disease pressures and deepen food insecurity and rural poverty. Women, youth, and smallholders relying on subsistence agriculture are disproportionately affected. Nationally, Madagascar has established a National Climate Change Policy (PNLCC) and a National Adaptation Plan (NAP) prioritizing climate‑resilient agriculture, as well as updated NDC commitments highlighting ecosystem‑based approaches, sustainable land and water management, and capacity building for climate‑smart agriculture and resilient livestock systems. The Atsinanana region (especially Brickaville/Vohibinany and Vatomandry) is flagged for high agricultural climate risk and urgent adaptation needs. Agroecology is adopted as the project’s core adaptation approach as it provides long‑term adaptive capacity needed for resilient food and land‑use systems under evolving climate risks. Agrocology is prioritized under Madagascar’s NDCs and the NAP and is internationally recognized as a key pathway for climate resilience including the IPCC’s 2019 Special Report on Climate Change and Land and the 2019 HLPE report of the Committee on World Food Security. Moreover it has important biodiversity conservation benefits, critical in Madagascar, as well as mitigation benefits. To achieve the objective three preliminary components have been identified as follows: Component 1: Strengthening strategic and institutional frameworks for agroecology This component reinforces the policy and institutional foundations needed to scale agroecology in Madagascar. It strengthens national and regional frameworks, aligns them with climate‑adaptation priorities, integrates agroecology into training institutions, and identifies suitable agricultural zones through land assessments. Component 2: Establishing agroecological climate‑resilient practices in Atsinanana This component introduces agroecology in four pilot villages and supports men and women farmers through sensitization, training and tailored inputs. Local trainers guide farmers in adopting agroecological techniques practices such as soil and water conservation, agroforestry, and organic fertilization across 15,000 hectares of cultivated land to strengthen landscape‑level resilience in alignment with the Integrated Land Management Plans. Component 3: Capacity building and production of evidence for national scale‑up This component strengthens learning, communication, and evidence generation by establishing regional and local knowledge networks that bring together practitioners, extension services and local institutions. These networks draw on practical manuals, technical guidelines and regular agroecology‑focused events, such as open days, exchange visits and demonstration sites, which promote hands‑on learning and peer‑to‑peer exchange. An accessible information and knowledge management system will ensure that field experiences and lessons learned are systematically collected, shared, and used to inform implementation. Continuous monitoring tracks progress across all sites will support adaptive management. Component 4: Assessing the impact of agroecology on the climate change adaptive capacity of farming communities In parallel, local climate risk assessments and impact evaluations will be conducted to understand how agroecological practices reduce farmers’ vulnerability to extreme events and climate change. The findings will be translated into awareness‑raising tools and policy‑relevant scientific knowledge products, strengthening national understanding of the role of agroecology in climate change adaptation and informing future scaling‑up efforts. . The proposal will align with the Government of Madagascar national adaptation priorities, among other relevant national and sub-national policy and planning instruments, as well as with the Adaptation Fund Strategic Results Framework. The consultant will report substantively to the Chief of the Climate Change Adaptation Section in the Adaptation and Resilience Branch in UNEP' Climate Division. Duties and Responsibilities Task 1: Conduct desk review and stakeholder consultations in coordination with UNEP, Ministry and State-level focal points. The concept note should be prepared with the involvement and validation of national and local stakeholders. A combination of field-level and virtual consultations should take place, including with vulnerable groups. The information gathered should be location-specific and quantitative as far as possible. Data and information should be recent and referenced. Task 2 Draft an Adaptation Fund single country concept note addressing all sections of the template and ensuring the following key aspects are incorporated: • Climate change adaptation problem tree and statement based on consultations with communities and national stakeholders, ensuring a clear logical flow of the problem statement, root causes of the problems, and definition of the preferred solutions and barriers to implementation. Ensure an evidence-based articulation of the climate and non-climate problems giving rise to the adaptation challenge in the proposal, as well as a rationale underpinning site selection, target communities and beneficiaries, and relevant information on the selected sites. • Solution tree and clearly describe what the proposal will focus on based on consultations with communities and national stakeholders; • Description of project adaptation alternative (components, outcomes and outputs) including a clear description of how the project interventions build resilience to climate change. A diagram may be used to show contributions to climate resilience including metrics. • Table or matrix that aligns key climate threats (like increased flooding or reduced rainfall) with corresponding interventions would help illustrate how each action is targeted to address expected climate changes as well as baseline drivers of vulnerability. • Theory of change with clear pathways of change, including assumptions and drivers and paying attention to the project sustainability and exit strategy; • Information on the investment solutions proposed including experience and results with their use in the country; • A cost effectiveness analysis that compares the project approach with alternatives including quantify potential savings or avoided costs due to enhanced resilience.; • Description of the beneficiary target groups; • Description of the project benefits across economic, social, and environmental dimensions; A gender analysis that identifies the different needs, capabilities, roles, and knowledge resources of women and men to engage in the project with clear targets for women to participate in the project. Gender differences in exposure, sensitivity and adaptative capacities should also be considered in the proposal design. • An analysis of how the project aligns with each country's priorities as expressed in national strategies and policies and current investment approaches; • Identification of lessons learned and good practices from relevant initiatives, for replication and/or upscaling through this project and ensure that the project intervention strategy aligns with lessons learned; • Identification of other ongoing and planned initiatives for the project to coordinate and collaborate with, indicating how duplication of efforts has been avoided. • A structured knowledge management framework that sets clear goals for capturing and sharing lessons learned throughout the project. • A section on the field level and national consultation process in generating the concept; • Screen the project for environmental and social safeguards risks using UNEP's screening tool (Safeguard Risk Identification Form, SRIF Task 3: Address comments from UNEP and project stakeholders at the district, state and national level to refine the concept note. Task 4: Present the final concept note for validation by project stakeholders through virtual meetings. Task 4: Address comments from the Adaptation Fund’s review sheet.

Qualifications/special skills

A Master's degree or higher in an environmental science, climate change, economics, development studies, development policy or a closely related field is required. A Bachelor’s degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of a Master’s degree. A minimum of seven (7) years of progressively responsible experience in climate change adaptation or environment management projects. Demonstrated experience in successfully developing Adaptation Fund, Global Environment Facility or GCF project proposals is required Experience in Madagascar or the region will be an added advantage. Knowledge of UN systems and processes is an asset.

Languages

Fluency in oral and written English and French is required

Additional Information

Not available.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.