Work Order 17
Climate Change Adaptation in Lake Victoria Basin
Context and Justification
The African Collaborative Centre for Earth Systems Sciences (ACCESS) is a regional body
of African Scientists registered in Kenya since 1997 as a Non Profit Organization. It is based
at the University of Nairobi, a leading centre of scholarship and professional development in
East Africa. Amongst other activities, ACCESS is fostering global change research on a
regional scale, including the impacts of climate change on water resources, food security,
ecosystem, health and sustainable development in Sub-Saharan Africa. The primary functions
are to develop human resources and enhance regional capacity; provide support for policy
formulation and institutional development in the region. Lake Victoria is the largest
freshwater lake in Africa and also the second largest lake of the world. Its catchment is
surrounded by mountains on all sides. The basin supports one of the densest and poorest rural
populations in the world. Its watershed is home to over 40 million people. This is due to its
favourable conditions for agriculture, fishing and other economic activities. There is however
some evidence of increasing climatic variability, resulting into increasing frequency and
intensity of drought and flooding in the region
ACCESS, together with the International Union for Conservation of Nature – Eastern and
Southern Africa Regional Office (IUCN-ESARO), will soon start implementing a USAID
funded programme on Climate Change Adaptation: “Implementing a Resilience Framework
to support Climate Change Adaptation in the Mt Elgon Region of the Lake Victoria Basin”.
The progamme aims at creating enhanced societal and ecological resilience to adverse
climate impacts within the programme area. The project goal is to enhance coordination and
adaptive action between stakeholders, informed by timely, accurate and comprehensive
information. The interventions are structured around 4 key result areas: Improving scientific
knowledge on CC information; Demonstration of increased social and ecological resilience in
hot spots of climate vulnerability in the hotspot using adaptation strategies including
ecosystem based adaptation (EBA); Integrating evidence from adaptation approaches into
policies across sectors and; Enhancing learning on CC adaptation strategies at local and
regional levels.
Institutions that will work on this area include (ACCESS, ICPAC, LVBC, IUCN)
ACCESS needs include:
1. Strengthening Institutional capacity to downscaling techniques.
2. Set up a database management system for Mt. Elgon ecosystem.
3. Capacity building on data updating and processing.
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ACCESS, in view of enhancing their implementing capacity for the above-described
programme as well as to strengthen their general ability in addressing climate change
adaptation and natural disaster (CC induced) risk reduction in their working area, ACCESS
applied for technical support from the Intra-ACP GCCA programme. Specifically, ACCESS
requests for training in climate change adaptation in mountain areas, wishing to benefit from
existing experiences in this specific area; requests for expert advice in the design of a M&E
system for pilot areas in the above-mentioned programme; and requests for support in
downscaling climate change models to be used as important tools/information sources for
present and future interventions in the area.
The requested support is clearly linked to two of the GCCA priority areas: adaptation and
disaster risk reduction (erosion, landslides, droughts and floods).
Description of the Assignment
Objectives:
 General objective: To increase adaptive capacity to adverse climate change impacts in
the Lake Victoria Basin.
 Specific objective: To strengthen ACCESS’ capacity in addressing adaptation needs
and CC-induced disaster risk reduction in the Lake Victoria Basin, their working area.
Specific tasks:
1. Review and compile work done on climate change adaptation in mountain areas.
Focus should be on: risks and needs specific to mountain ecosystems, existing CC
adaptation policies, best practices in adaptation measures and risk reduction in areas
with similar conditions. Advice on climate change measures to be taken with limit to
Mt. Elgon water towers only. (6 days)
2. Assist ACCESS in the design of an M&E system for pilot areas in Mt Elgon. The
system should allow to measure implementation progress as well as impact in pilot
areas. (10 days)
3. Based on the findings of activity 1 and 2, prepare a technical briefing paper and power
point presentation to be used during a training workshop. (4 days)
4. Conduct a 2-day training workshop on climate change adaptation in Mt Elgon area
and train local/community /professional staff of ACCESS, IUCN-ESARO and LVBC
(Lake Victoria Basin Commission) on how to use the M&E system to measure impact of
interventions on the ground in pilot areas (3 days inclusive of travel)
5. Assist in downscaling – global to regional and local level, i.e. Mt Elgon area.
Consultant will be working with local experts from Kenya and Uganda and will
collect and collate data for generating RCM outputs through downscaling in the basin,
the consultant will also Review previous work on climate downscaling. Including
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changes in rainfall and flow regimes. ET based IFPRI (2008) hydromodel
stimulations, KIZZA et al 2009 outputs from RCMS (Anyah,Sermazzi 2006 ). Data
available for downscaling include (Max/Minimum temperature, Surface temperature,
rainfall and humidity from LVB). (18 days)
Outputs to be delivered:
 Technical briefing paper and training materials regarding climate change adaptation in
mountain areas and an M& E system for the pilot areas.
 M&E system for the pilot areas for the “Implementing a Resilience Framework to
support Climate Change Adaptation in the Mt Elgon Region of the Lake Victoria
Basin” programme.
 Mt Elgon pilot areas climate change models. RCM outputs Validation with local
observation outputs from Ensemble models e.g CORDEX or from PRECIS)
 Mission reports (each consultant will produce one), including putting the outputs in
annex.
Organisational and Methodological issues
Place: Home-based, Uganda and Kenya
Duration & Indicative Planning:
The inception workshop of the USAID-IUCN project implementation took place in October
2012. So, the assignment should be carried out as soon as possible.
If there is a justifiable need for the consultant to continue working during weekends and/or
public holidays, an agreement on this matter can be arranged. The agreement will be based on
a written request (e-mail) from the consultant to CSF and a written positive reply (e-mail)
from CSF to the consultant, with cc to the BBSC members.
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For the CC in Adaptation and development of an M&E system for Pilot study areas
assessment:
Home-based preparatory phase (3 days): establish a Plan for the in-country
phase and start desk-research and reading background materials, data and
studies provided by the national coordinator and other in preparation for the
technical phase in-country. Arrange for a briefing session with the national
coordinator to brief the consultant about the pilot sites before leaving for the
in-country phase; also discuss the Planning for the in-country phase. ACCESS
will provide the science underpinning Mountain areas projects in the Lake
Victoria basin. Start preparation of training materials.
In-country, Kenya (19 days): tasks 1 – 4 as above under “Specific Tasks”
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International travel: 2 days
Report writing (home-based) and debriefing (Brussels) (1 day): Debriefing
will take place after submission of the mission report and in consultation with
the ACP Secretariat. If the consultant is not based in Belgium, debriefing will
take place by telephone or Skype.
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For the Climate modelling, downscaling to local:
Home-based preparatory phase (2 day); establish a Plan for the in-country
phase and start reviewing background materials, data and studies provided by
the national coordinator and other in preparation for the technical phase incountry. Get in touch with the national coordinator to discuss the Plan and
make arrangements for the in-country phase.
In-country, Kenya (18 days): task 5 as above under “Specific Tasks”
International travel: 2 days
Report writing (home-based) and debriefing (Brussels) (1 day): Debriefing
will take place after submission of the mission report and in consultation with
the ACP Secretariat. If the consultant is not based in Belgium, debriefing will
take place by telephone or Skype.
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Budget support for organising workshop and training sessions
o Training workshop about climate change adaptation in mountain areas, Mt.
Elgon and on application of the M&E System in pilot areas....EUR (1 day/15
participants)
Total days in-country: 37 days.
Inputs required
1. To be provided by the Climate Support Facility
CSF consultant in CC Adaptation (category “non-key senior experts”): 25 working
days; one return ticket to Kenya (Nairobi- Europe); one return ticket for local travel
(Nairobi- Entebbe); per Diems (19 x Kenya =>28 x 282€/day)
Consultant’s profile:
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Master’s degree (PhD preferred) in Natural Resources Management,
Environmental Sciences, Environmental/Agricultural Economics or a related
field
- Solid understanding and 10 years extensive experience of working on
adaptation, climate change issues and climate-related impacts, risk and
resilience, particularly in mountain ecosystems – preference for experience in
ACP countries
- In-depth technical expertise in developing and managing Monitoring and
Evaluation systems for community-based climate change adaptation
monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment, evidenced by project
experience or publication in peer-reviewed journals
- Proven experience in giving presentations, training and coaching groups
- Good organisation skills, flexibility, excellent facilitator and communicator
- Excellent written and spoken English – knowledge of Kiswahili would be an
added advantage
CSF consultant in Climate modelling category “non-key senior experts”): 23 working
days; one return ticket to Kenya (Nairobi- Europe); one return ticket for local travel
(Nairobi- Entebbe); per Diems (18 x Kenya =>27 x 282€/day)
Consultant’s profile:
Master’s degree (PhD preferred) in Environmental Sciences, Meteorology,
Climatology, Geography, Ecology or a related field
- Minimum five years demonstrated professional experience in the use of
downscaling methods and techniques using Global Climate Modelling
products into scales relevant for regional and local studies to assess ecosystem
dynamics and climate change impacts
- Extensive experience and demonstrated knowledge of climate change and
landscape dynamics in tropical mountain regions and ability to combine
knowledge, field measurements and modelling to understand landscape
dynamics and climate change impacts at multiple scales, indicated by
publication in peer-reviewed journals or project experience
- Strong communication skills with the ability to communicate technical issues
and share knowledge with different audiences
- Good organisation skills, collaborative by nature, resilient, team oriented
- Excellent written and spoken English
It is estimated the consultancy will be a total of 48days.
The consultants will be based in Nairobi and travel to the field for site evaluations and
on the ground assessments. Travel will be between Nairobi to Kisumu and Nairobi
and Entebbe Uganda by flights and to the sites by road
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2. To be provided by the Beneficiary:
Transport for travelling outside Nairobi – to field sites in Kisumu and in Uganda and
relevant visas; relevant contacts and documents; organisation and logistical
arrangements for the training sessions (the CSF will provide financial support).
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