Request for Proposal - LKR land degradation impact consultancy
Summary of procurement
World Resources Institute intends to award a fixed term consultancy contract to individuals or organizational consultants to (1) analyze the socioeconomic impacts of land degradation on food security, income, poverty and labor productivity; (2) to develop a land use land cover analysis and identify potential restoration opportunities in the Lake Kivu & Rusizi River Landscape, building on initial data baseline developed by WRI.
About the World Resources Institute
Founded in 1982, The World Resources Institute (WRI) is a global environmental think tank that goes beyond research to put ideas into action. We work with governments, companies, and civil society to build solutions to urgent environmental challenges. WRIโs transformative ideas protect the earth and promote development because sustainability is essential to meeting human needs and fulfilling human aspirations in the future.
Background
The Lake Kivu and Rusizi River (LKR) landscape, covering Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), is a critical ecological and economic zone with over 11 million population as of 2020 across a total area of 13,449 kmยฒ, divided into 2,706 kmยฒ (20.2%) in Burundi, 6,227 kmยฒ (46.5%) in DRC, and 4,452 kmยฒ (33.3%) in Rwanda (ABAKIR, 2020). This landscape includes Rwandaโs Western province, DRCโs North and South Kivu provinces, and Burundiโs districts of Bujumbura Mairie, Bujumbura Rural, Cibitoke, Bubanza, Rumonge, and Bururi (figure 1).
The LKR landscape provides essential ecosystem services such as food, water, and biodiversity; and supports energy generation through hydropower plants. Its rich biodiversity, fertile soils, and freshwater resources sustain vibrant fishing, agriculture, and energy industries, making it indispensable for regional economies. However, rapid population growth, unsustainable agricultural expansion, unregulated charcoal production, and natural resource extraction have contributed to serious environmental challenges, including land degradation, deforestation, and soil erosion on steep, hilly terrain. These pressures not only threaten local ecosystems but also jeopardize the food and water security and the resilience of local communities (GIZ, 2021).
In the Lake Kivu and Rusizi River basin, historical records suggest that the mid-1980s marked a period of significant land cover changes in western Rwanda, which contributed to substantial landscape degradation. During this time, the region experienced deforestation, soil erosion, and unsustainable land-use practices, which disrupted ecological balance and led to severe environmental issues. The degradation has exacerbated natural disasters, with landslides and flooding becoming more frequent and severe, particularly in areas with steep slopes and deforested hills. These events have had lasting impacts on local communities, agriculture, and infrastructure, creating a cycle of vulnerability and degradation in the landscape (Nsengimana et al., 2016).
Despite some records on land use changes in specific parts of western Rwanda, there remains a gap in comprehensive historical data across the entire Lake Kivu and Rusizi River basin. This lack of data complicates efforts to understand the full extent and causes of degradation across the landscape, which is essential for designing effective restoration strategies. Restoration interventions that do not fully address the primary drivers of land degradation might struggle to achieve lasting impact, as they risk overlooking root causes like population pressure, agricultural expansion, and inadequate land management practices. Without a holistic understanding of these drivers, interventions may only offer temporary relief rather than long-term solutions for ecosystem recovery and resilience.
Furthermore, a feasibility study for landscape restoration conducted around the Rusizi River provides initial mapping of parts of the landscape. While additional mapping and geospatial analyses exist, there is inconsistency in target years and land cover classes, making data aggregation a challenge. To create impactful restoration interventions in the Lake Kivu and Rusizi River basin, it is therefore critical to address the landscape's unique historical context. Comprehensive baseline data, incorporating both historical land use land cover changes and current socio-economic conditions, will be instrumental in guiding strategic and effective restoration efforts that directly mitigate the underlying causes of degradation, enhancing resilience against future environmental challenges (FAO & UNEP, 2020).
WRI is looking for a comprehensive land use and land cover map analysis that provides historical and contextual information about the LKR landscape, forming a critical basis for identifying degraded areas and guiding restoration efforts. This mapping will establish a baseline that captures historical land degradation trends in LKR, along with their biophysical and socio-economic impacts at both local and national levels. Such a foundation is crucial for assessing the severity of degradation and planning effective interventions. Alongside this mapping, gaining insights into farmers' knowledge, preferences, and perceptions of sustainable agronomic practices, particularly agroecology and regenerative agriculture, will be vital to identify gaps and opportunities for adoption. The baseline data from this study will also serve as a foundation for monitoring and evaluating the long-term impacts of restoration initiatives.
Scope of work
The objective of this 5-month consultancy, spread over 120 days is to (1) analyze the socioeconomic impacts of land degradation on food and nutrition security, income, poverty and labor productivity; (2) to produce a land use land cover change and degradation analysis and potential restoration opportunities in LKR.
First, the consultant will develop an inventory of potential restoration interventions that could reverse the trends of land degradation, particularly those impacting food production and agricultural livelihoods. These interventions will also address the key degradation drivers of affecting food systems.
The consultant will lead primary socioeconomic data collection in the 3 countries of the landscape which will allow the establishment of a socioeconomic baseline for analyzing the impacts of land degradation on the key livelihood aspects of the local communities, including food security, agricultural income, and labor productivity in the LKR.
Second, in line with the second objective, the consultant will begin with developing an inventory of relevant LULC datasets and conducting a thorough desk review to identify key land degradation and land cover change events across LKR, highlighting significant dates. The aim is to establish a foundational understanding of past landscape changes that can inform current and future interventions. Following this review, the consultant will create new geospatial LULC datasets for LKR from 2015 to 2023/2024, capturing data at 3-year intervals. The consultant will integrate the datasets with other information to identify and map out land degradation hotspot across the LKR landscape. Additionally, the consultant will produce maps indicating areas suitable for restoration interventions, distinguishing between tree-based and non-tree-based approaches. This work will provide valuable guidance for targeted restoration strategies within the LKR.
The consultant is expected to:
- Deliver an inception report outlining the consultant(s)' understanding of this assignment as discussed during the inception meeting. It should clearly define the proposed methodology, tools, and analysis methods for the assignment. Additionally, the report should address any adjustments to the deliverable timeline that may be necessary based on insights gained during the inception meeting.
- Deliver an analysis report detailing the best-bet practices related to interventions that promote food security, as informed by data that WRI should take up food intervention with restoration champions. Key questions to be addressed are โ what best-bet practices were implemented? Where and why, they were implemented?
- Develop an inventory of potential LULC datasets and conduct a desk review to identify significant land degradation and land cover change events in the LKR landscape, pinpointing key dates.
- Generate new geospatial LULC datasets for the LKR from 2015 to 2023/2024 at a 3-year interval.
- Perform land use land cover change analysis from 2015 and integrate other dataset (such as soil, erosion, slope, etc) to identify degradation hotspot.
- Identify potential areas for restoration across the LKR landscape distinguishing between areas suitable for tree-based restoration