CONSULTANCY FOR VALIDATION OF EMISSION REDUCTION PROJECTS

1. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT

Fairtrade Africa is implementing a Climate Academy project in three Fairtrade Certified coffee producer organizations; Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers’ Cooperative Union and Sidama Coffee Farmers’ Cooperative Unions in Ethiopia and Rung’eto Farmers’ Cooperative Society in Kenya. The projects aim to contribute to enhanced living income and sustainable livelihoods through the sale of carbon credits by promoting the production and adoption of energy-efficient cookstoves. DONUTS: Climate Academy- Sustainable Chain of Ethiopian and Kenyan Coffee projects have proposed the distribution of energy-efficient cookstoves for carbon finance registration of Sidama and Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers’ Cooperative Union in Ethiopia and Rung’eto Farmers’ Cooperative Society in Kenya. The cookstoves dissemination aims at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving indoor air quality, saving on energy and cost in cooking, and generating additional revenue for the producer organizations and their members through the sale of carbon credits. By distributing efficient cookstoves to local communities and coffee farmers, the organizations will tap into the growing carbon market while contributing to environmental conservation and community development. The project involves the distribution of clean and efficient cookstoves to coffee farmer households and surrounding communities. This is expected to reduce fuel consumption of households by half (50%) and emit lower air pollutants compared to traditional stoves, resulting in reduced carbon emissions, and improved indoor air quality. The project will involve production, distribution and monitoring the usage of these cookstoves to quantify and verify the emission reductions for carbon credit issuance under Gold Standard (GS)

2. OBJECTIVE

This assignment aims to carry out validation of emissions reduction under the voluntary scheme of Gold Standard for Sidama Improved Cook Stove Distribution project (GS12882), Yirgacheffe Improved Cook Stove Distribution project (GS 12883) and Rung’eto Improved Cook Stove Distribution project (GS -12884). The terms of reference therefore seek engage services of a suitable GS authorized designated operational Entity (DoE)

3. SCOPE OF WORK The DONUTS

Ethiopian Coffee project is being implemented in two Fairtrade Certified coffee unions: Sidama and Yirgacheffe. The Sidama Coffee Union is in the Sidama region of Ethiopia, while the Yirgacheffe Coffee Union is situated in the Gedio Zone of southern Ethiopia. The DONUTS Kenya Coffee project is being implemented in one Fairtrade Certified coffee cooperative, the Rung’eto Farmers’ Cooperative, which is in Kirinyaga County, Kenya.

The consultant shall perform the following tasks:

• Review and validate the three project documents.

• Conduct field visits and monitoring.

• Collect and analyze data from stakeholders and project beneficiaries.

• Conduct Corrective Action Request and Clarification questions (CAR & CL) in rounds.

• Submit draft and final validation reports to FTA and GS.

The validation shall apply updated GS methodology, TPDDTEC “Technologies and Practices to Displace Decentralized Thermal Energy Consumption Version 4.0) as per GS rules and requirement.

4. DELIVERABLES

The validator will perform all validation activities to ensure accuracy, completeness, compatibility, consistency, cost-effectiveness, reliability, validity, and transparency in accordance with GS-VVB rules and requirements. This process will involve overseeing all stages of validation, from the initial steps to the preparation and submission of the final validation report to GS and responding to any GS comments or queries until the validation is approved by GS.

5. DURATION OF THE ASSIGNMENT

Field visits, data collection, validation report preparation, and submission of the final validation report are expected to take six months. The contract is anticipated to run for six months, starting in August 2024.

6. QUALIFICATIONS AND DESIRED SKILL SETS

Required:

• The DOE (validating entity) should be authorized by GS and must be on DoE list of GS.

• The DoE should have similar experiences on validation of energy efficiency projects in Africa under GS with similar methodology (TPDDTEC).

EXPERTISE/QUALIFICATIONS

Required:

The consultant/consulting firm’s team must be comprised of qualified experts, with a demonstrated track record in conducting Validation of GS projects.

• The overall experience of the Consultant(s) or firm should be more than 5 years

• Fluent in English

• Proven capacity to deliver similar works with the highest quality and within set timelines.

• CV alongside two samples of similar previous works (profiling your professional experience and suitability for the job)

• Experience working with producer organizations or smallholder communities in East Africa or African regions.

• Budget including travel costs and any other relevant costs. Please note that all related costs to this work should be factored into the budget.

• Work plan and timelines.

• Company profile and include evidence of previous work done.

• At least 3 references from the organization with whom similar assignments have been undertaken to outline the consultant’s role, performance, and project deliverables.

Desirable:

• Experience conducting similar evaluations

• Experience carrying out similar assignments in Kenya and Ethiopia

• Experience working with Fairtrade and/or a deep understanding of the Fairtrade system.

7. STUDY MANAGEMENT AND COORDINATION

The consultant will report directly to the DONUTS Senior Project Officers (Ethiopia and Kenya) with secondary reporting to HOAREC&N.