Consultancy - Identify and Capacity Build Grazing Committees/ Associations and Producers For Grazing and Livestock Service Plans at SNV Netherlands Development Organisation

Job Description

This assignment focuses on all the four outcomes mentioned above and is targeting Laikipia, Isiolo and Samburu counties.

• Strengthen the capacities of grazing committees, associations, and producer organizations to effectively improve their climate resilience, adaptation and effective protection of their biodiversity and ecosystems by implementing sustainable rangeland management.
• Local communities, private/group ranches, private/community conservancies, and government officials working together, experimenting with putting holistic management principles into practice, learning, and building relationships.
• Established best practice learning sites amongst communities not excluding private ranches and conservancies across the three counties, resulting in covered soils, increased biomass and restored degraded lands.
• Integrate livestock and ecological management within the conservancies and ranches for sustainable regeneration of the ecosystems.
• Planned grazing arrangements within the ranches and conservancies for both landscape restoration and increased biodiversity and livestock productivity.
• Enhance adoption of participatory approaches in landscape and grazing management by the county government, communities, and other stakeholders.

Scope of work

The consultants will work with the selected group/private ranches, community/private conservancies, and non-conservancy community councils i.e., dheeda councils in the rangelands of Laikipia, Isiolo and Samburu.

The specific activities will include but not limited to:

• Conduct capacity needs assessment of the identified grazing committees/associations and other key actors to implement holistic management.
• Development of grazing committees/associations training content, coaching and a clear methodology.
• Undertake an analysis of the existing policy and legal frameworks responsible for safeguarding an enabling environment for integrated landscape and grazing management systems.
• Review and synthesize the status of the County governments and community-based rangeland grazing arrangements and identify prevailing gaps and any best practices for benchmarking and upscaling.
• Review the grazing plans of the selected conservancies/ ranches for piloting and align the plans to integrated landscape management that regenerates ecosystem.
• Carry out a detailed ecological condition of pastures and existing vegetation, rangeland degradation types, rates, and levels, along with the current grazing system.
• Delivery of training and capacity building of grazing committees and producer associations
• In a participatory manner, support the communities to develop simple management plans for their grazing areas.
• Build the capacity of project staff and selected grazing champions on integrated landscape management.
• Organize and hold one workshop to train county extension staff, grazing committees/associations on participatory methods for assessing rangeland condition, production, and sustainability considering plant composition, soil fertility and ecosystem considerations.
• Offer strategic support to the identified ranches/conservancies on the implementation of the regenerative landscape management.
• Support in development of a grazing committees specific road map/action plan.
• Define and develop Participatory Ecological Monitoring of the landscape.

Deliverables

• Grazing plans reviewed and aligned to regenerative land management.
• Project staff and grazing champions capacity built, and training report developed.
• Develop as part of the grazing plans a map of the ranches and conservancies divided into zones with water points, grazing areas and road network.
• Strategic support offered to identified conservancies/ ranches on regenerative land management for improved livestock productivity.
• Report on regenerative landscape management in select three conservancies/ranches (one per county)
• Develop action plan for scaling up the conservancies/ranches in 5 above.

Qualifications

• Extensive work experience and proven track record in capacity development and training.
• Individuals with relevant university degree and relevant consultancy work experience in rangeland management and Climate smart agriculture related qualification and experience.
• Proven ability for teamwork, facilitation, presentation, and communication.
• Good understanding of and experience with the participatory approaches in landscape & grazing management in the context of pastoralist, herd mobility, resilience building, and sustainable utilization of natural resource.
• Experience working in Arid and semi-Arid areas in assignments related to livestock production and integrated Landscape Management.

Additional requirements

• Good verbal and written communication skills.
• Excellent report writing and presentation skills.
• Show successful models previously done.
• Sensitive and committed to gender equity and inclusion of youth.