Tender Notice for Hiring a Consultant/consultancy Firm to Conduct a Feasibility Study and a Quick Needs Assessment for Mushishito Marshland Rehabilitation Activities

TENDER NOTICE

TENDER TITLE: HIRING A CONSULTANT/CONSULTANCY FIRM TO CONDUCT A FEASIBILITY STUDY AND A QUICK NEEDS ASSESSMENT FOR MUSHISHITO MARSHLAND REHABILITATION ACTIVITIES

LOCATION: NYAMAGABE DISTRICT, KIBIRIZI and UWINKINGI SECTOR, MISHISHITO Marshland

CLIENT: DUHAMIC-ADRI

The deadline for submission of bids: Wednesday September 13 ,2024

Bid submission Time: 11:00AM 

Bid Opening Time: 11:30AM

Profile of DUHAMIC-ADRI

DUHAMIC -ADRI is a Kinyarwanda acronym that stands for Duharanira Amajyambere y’Icyaro.

Translating to ‘’ we strive for the development of the rural community ‘’in English. It is a non-profit organization located in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda, within the kicukiro district, Niboye sector.it was established in 1979 by a group of Rwandans who identified the crucial need for rural development in the country.

DUHAMIC-ADRI is a Non-Governmental Organization legally granted by Rwandan law and legally recognized by the Ministerial Order No. 943 of July 12, 1985. Its statutes were amended and accepted by the Ministerial OrderNo.025/11of21th March 2005. With the vision to have « A rural world responsible for its self-socio-economic development », DUHAMIC-ADRI has a mission of « Supporting integrated development through the initiatives of the rural population in their struggle for self-development». DUHAMIC-ADRI’s interventions reaches 27 districts of Rwanda

Background

 Since July 2024, DUHAMIC-ADRI has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) through a signed Partnership Framework Agreement (PFA) to implement Phase II of the Climate-Smart Agriculture and Market Development for Enhancing Livelihoods of Refugees and their Host Communities in Rwanda.

The Climate-Smart Agriculture initiative aims to improve food security and self-reliance for 2,036 beneficiaries (732 refugee and 1,304 host community households, including 1,091 women and 945 men). By 2026, this project will benefit over 7,851 family members through climate-smart agricultural practices and a market development approach.

Specifically, the partnership focuses on contributing to achieving the following outcomes of the project: Outcome 1: Increased Agricultural Productivity and Outcome 2: Increased Household Income

As part of the project preparatory work, DUHAMIC-ADRI would like to engage a consultancy firm accredited to carry out a Quick need’s assessment, feasibility and technical design study for MUSHISHITO Marshland Rehabilitation activities to inform appropriate marshland development activity.

Rationale

As of October, 2023, Rwanda hosts over 135,000 refugees (91% based in camps and 9% in urban areas).  Predominately refugees come from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Burundi. The Government of Rwanda (GoR) provides a favorable policy and protection environment for the refugees, allowing them the right to work, freedom of movement, access documentation, access to finance and register formally their businesses or properties.

The Government of Rwanda (GoR) and UNHCR are committed to advancing the agenda of promoting refugees’ access to economic opportunities to improve self-reliance and reduce dependency on humanitarian assistance. In 2016, the GoR announced commitments including the promotion of economic opportunities for refugees. In addition, the GoR made pledges to the Global Refugee Forum (GRF) in Dec 2019, including promotion of joint agricultural projects between refugees and communities.

The Ministry in charge of Emergency Management (MINEMA) and UNHCR developed a joint strategy (2021-2024) to enhance refugee self-reliance and economic inclusion. The strategy envisions that by 2030, refugees and host communities would be able to fulfill their productive potential as self-reliant members of the Rwandan society who contribute to the economic development of their host districts.

In line with the GoR commitment to promote self-reliance through the joint agricultural projects between refugees and host communities, a pilot joint agriculture project was initiated in 2018 on Misizi marshland of 55 hectares (ha) availed by Gisagara District that hosts Mugombwa refugee camp. The Misizi Marshland joint agriculture project model proved to be successful in enabling refugees and host communities to work together for improved income, food security and peaceful coexistence. The success of Misizi project was an incentive for other refugee hosting districts to avail of the marshlands for replication of the similar joint agriculture project on two publicly owned marshlands (measuring about 93ha), namely, Mushishito marshland (70ha) in Nyamagabe District covering Kigeme refugee camp and Nyabicwamba marshland (23ha) in Gatsibo District covering Nyabiheke refugee camp.

Following the establishment of availability of additional marshlands in Mushishito and Nyabicwamba, UNHCR Rwanda received funding support from the Government of Denmark for the implementation of a three-year (January 2024-December 2026) joint agriculture project between refugees and the host community farmers entitled “Climate–smart agriculture and market development project for enhancing livelihood of refugees and their host communities in Rwanda”.

Objective  

The main objective of this consultation services is to conduct a feasibility study, needs assessment, and develop a detailed BoQ for upgrading infrastructure and implementing erosion control measures for Mushishito marshland surrounding areas. This assessment will also quickly examine the root causes of flooding on Mushishito marshland and develop the engineering work needed to overcome this challenge.

With this work, the consultancy firm will undertake the works:

• The whole technical study and cost estimates of the project, the examination and interpretation of the historical hydrology data collected from the local authorities, the prospective competent organization such as meteorology agency, UNHCR and MINAGRI (RAB) as well as formulation of recommendations.
• The preparation of all the documents and reports making up the provisional and the final dossiers.
• Providing technical advice, guidance and drawings of the reclamation work considering water and soil patterns of the marshland. The overall objective for the reclamation work will be having a marshland that is productive three seasons a year and its buffer zone well protected against soil erosion.

Qualification of the firm and profiles of consulting firm’s key staff required

• Qualification of the firm

The bidding company should possess the following minimum qualification:

• Be recognized consultancy firm operating in Rwanda;
• Be known in irrigation consultancies for last 3 years (with proof documents);
• Have conducted successfully four (3) similar studies (with proof documents);
• Being in the sector of marshland reclamation and related feasibility studies for more than five years.

Profiles of consulting firm’s key staff

• Team Leader

Qualification and experience: the team leader should have a Master’s degree in the field of Rural Engineering (Irrigation), soil and water conservation engineering, Civil Engineering or Water Resources Engineering. He/she must have 7 years of drainage and irrigation experience with 3 references (team leader of marshland drainage and irrigation scheme design studies) on similar assignments (in terms of complexity) in African countries (preferably in the sub-region).

 Responsibilities of Team Lead shall include but not limited to:

• Coordinating the work of the Consultant and for ensuring that the agreed implementation program adhered to;
• He/she shall be the main contact and focal point between the members of his team and the Client;

Shall be capable of formulating an overall design of the marshland drainage-irrigation system and all related technical aspects;

• Shall have strong managerial capacity and interpersonal relations.

 Civil Engineer

Shall have a Master’s degree in Civil Engineering, Hydraulic Engineering, Water Resources Engineering, or a related field is highly desirable, especially for projects involving complex hydraulic structures and environmental considerations with at least 7 years of professional experience in civil engineering, with a focus on hydraulic structures, water management, or similar projects.

Hydrologist

Shall have at least bachelor’s degree in Hydrology, water resources engineering or equivalent with five (5) years of extensive experience in conducting hydrological studies and three (3) references in similar studies. The Hydrologist will be responsible for the hydrological analysis. Must also have practical experience related to rainfall-runoff and numerical modelling in data scarce areas with knowledge of GIS and Earth observation techniques and software. Must demonstrate field experience in hydrological modelling, collection of all relevant data concerning the rainfall and river discharge in the study area; assess values of the design flood events, peak value and flood volume, assess the effect of irrigation structures on floods (peak, volume, reservoir flood routing, river flood routing).

Geotechnical engineer

Shall have least bachelor’s degree in geotechnical, physical land resources or other related fields with five (5) years of extensive experience in engineering project (3) references in similar studies. The Geotechnical engineer shall prepare the program and detailed specifications of geotechnical investigations for the dam and appurtenant foundations and construction materials for embankment and aggregate for structures. The expert will work closely with the hydraulic engineer, especially in seepage and stability analysis of the embankment, abutment and reservoir slopes.

Topographic surveyor

S/He shall have a Bachelor’s degree in surveying studies with at least five years of relevant experience on field and three (3) references in similar studies. He will be responsible for surveying works and drawings.

Other Professional Staff

It is expected that the profiles of the Engineering Surveyors (topographic survey), AutoCAD specialists and other relevant staff will be defined by the Consultant. They will however, be expected to hold a basic qualification in their areas of specialization and at least 4 years of relevant experience.

GENERAL CONDITIONS

• The Consultants shall commence work not later than (3) days after the date of signature of the contract, and shall, as promptly as practical, notify the Client in writing of the date on which field operations are to commence.
• The parties shall agree to be bound by the General and Special Conditions of Contract for Consultancy Services by the Public Procurement Directorate, Ministry of Finance.

SITE VISIT

A mandatory site visit will be organized and conducted on 5^th September, 2024 in Nyamagabe District; Kibirizi and Uwinkingi Sectors; Mishishito Marshland and its catchment area for each working day from 09:00 AM to 03:00PM. Each bidding company shall be represented in the visit by at least one person who will be involved in the project. It is also advisable to contact DUHAMIC-ADRI staff on 0783158706 (Project agronomist) or 0783543150 (Project Engineer) or 0788814732 (Project coordinator) for any facilitation and guidance.

Instructions to Consultancy firm, Data Sheet

Proposed timeline for this consultancy

DUHAMIC-ADRI expects to have final report no later than 20 days upon the signing of the contract.

The following timeline was proposed when any force majeure do not happen to interrupt this consultancy work. 

Submission Modalities for Bid Offers

Submission Requirements:

The deadline for submission of bidsof technical and financial proposals for development of Mushishito Marshland is 13^th September, 2024 at DUHAMIC-ADRI head office located in Kicukiro District, Niboyi, Sector at 11:00 AM

 Bidders are required to submit their offers in one main sealed envelope. This main envelope must contain two separate sealed envelopes:

• Envelope A: Technical Proposal
• Envelope B: Financial Proposal
• After registration of the bid sender at DUHAMIC-ADRI reception office, the sender will be directed to a bid box for bid submission.

Opening of Proposals:

Technical Proposal Opening:

• The technical proposals (Envelope A) will be opened first in a public session on 13th September 2024 at DUHAMIC-ADRI OFFICE at 11:00AM
• During this session, only the technical proposals will be evaluated based on the criteria outlined in the bidding documents and the financial proposal will remain sealed and returned in the bid box in the front of every participant.

Financial Proposal Opening:

• Only bidders whose technical proposals meet the required standards and are shortlisted will be invited to the opening of the financial proposals (Envelope B).
• The financial proposals of the shortlisted bidders will be opened in a separate public session. The date, time, and location of the financial proposal opening will be communicated to the shortlisted bidders.
• Bidders not shortlisted in the technical evaluation will not have their financial proposals opened, and their financial proposals will be returned unopened.

Done at Kigali, August 30,2024

MUHIGIRWA Benjamin

Executive Secretary