Summary
Date Posted: Tuesday, August 17, 2021 , Base Salary: Not Disclosed

JOB DETAILS:
WeForest is a fast growing international non-profit association with headquarters in Belgium and legal entities in France, USA, Ethiopia and Zambia. Our aim is to demonstrate, through the restoration of entire regions, that well planned reforestation can be the solution to today’s biggest challenge: global climate change. The organization is promoting Forest Landscape Restoration best practices, creating a movement, engaging the greatest brands and their millions of customers to act positively. Our activities are growing and the organization is urgently looking for an experienced Governance and sustainability training expert to further capacitate its Zambia team.

Zambia programme
WeForest has been active around reforestation in Zambia since 2011, starting in Kitwe and expanding to Luanshya district in a later stage. Currently, four projects are running, two in the Copperbelt and two in Muchinga province:
The Copperbelt project, started in 2015, has worked with over 900 farmers to put more than 2,500 hectares of Miombo woodland under restoration through Assisted Natural Regeneration (ANR) on individual farmland. The project is also supporting alternative, forest-friendly value chains and local farmer associations. We operate in Mpongwe, Ndola and Luanshya districts and directly works with farmers associations.
The Katanino project, which started in 2019, aims to work with local communities to revive Joint Forest management of a degraded 4,500 ha forest reserve in Masaiti. We support a transition toward a more sustainable and local community based forest management model, including forest-friendly livelihoods as alternative for charcoal production.
The Chintumukulu project, which started in 2020, aims to establish and functionalize a community conservancy of 10,000 ha and support sustainable income sources to run the conservancy in the long-term.
The Mafinga project, which started in 2021, aims to establish a community forest with sustainable management practices away from resource depletion by implementing training, environmental stewardship and changing agricultural techniques. This is a project led by WECSZ.

Intro
Fuelwood: The fuelwood crisis in most Southern African Development Cooperation (SADC) countries has been highlighted since 1980 (International Institute for Environment and Development, 1980), but it is still exacerbating yearly. About 90% of the total energy consumption (biomass, petroleum, electricity and coal) of Zambia is fuelwood, compared with only 14% in South Africa (SADC, 1993). Most of the fuelwood is obtained from miombo woodlands, which are dry tropical woodlands covering nearly 3 million km². The demand for fuelwood is rising due to the relatively high cost of electricity and petroleum-based fuels (e.g. paraffin) as well as the rapid human population growth, particularly in urban areas. Charcoal contributes to the degradation of 190,000 ha of forest annually (Worldbank, 2019). Demand for fuelwood and charcoal will continue to grow, as substitutes are not readily available or are not affordable.
Commercial forestry: Most of the commercial forestry in Zambia occurs in the informal realm, largely driven by exports (Mukula) and domestic demand for woodfuel. Illegal and informal logging decimates the forest, threatens biodiversity, and damages associated ecosystems. It also constitutes a significant loss of formal income to the country. Removing hurdles to establishing a formal sector for forest users and establishing an enabling environment for investment are both paramount for sustainable forest management. At the same time, increased capacity for law enforcement and monitoring helps to ensure that commercial activities are sustainable and controlled. Finally, the establishment of clear land use rights and broad access to markets are essential to attracting the private sector to the sector. The plantation resource base is not sufficient to sustain advanced forest industries in Zambia and requires expansion. The regulation and formalization of commercial operations in natural forest bears significant opportunities for sustainable forest management and value addition from the forest resource. However, weak governance and low enforcement capacities hamper the formalization process.

Assignment
This assignment should help to i) review, ii) calculate and iii) formulate economically viable solutions to forest management of miombo woodlots, focused on sustainable harvesting of wood products, both on farms and in forest reserves (community and state forest). This should be through a combination of desk review (literature), data analysis of existing data and field ground-truthing. It should keep in mind the variability of the miombo landscape, in conditions (soil, rainfall etc.), in size (as small as 0.5 ha to several 1000s of hectares) and ownership (community, state or individual).

Expected deliverables:
1) Assessment of the impact of charcoal and timber production on miombo woodlands ecosystems services based on current practices in Copperbelt Province. The impact will be assessed both in private / individual farms and within forest reserves. The risks that it entails both for the environment and the communities will also be described under this section.
2) Charcoal and timber value chain assessment focusing on supply & demand, including:
a. A general overview of market player strategies and activities along the value chains
b. Current and potential demand: the current situation and perceptions of consumers and intermediaries in terms of product consumption, the different kinds of customers, wholesalers and retailers that have an interest in these products, the quality standards desired, buying frequency and desired quantities, where they are based and where they usually buy; preferences of potential clients, prices that they would agree to pay, consumer perceptions on the utilisation of these products.
c. Current and potential supply: the current situation and perceptions of input suppliers, producers and processors, the standards and methods applied, the equipment and supply used, the existing and potential financing and business models.
3) Compare current technologies of charcoal production with cost-benefit analysis, and research examples in Zambia where these technologies are successfully being implemented with potential for upscaling
4) Recommendations for economically attractive and sustainable forest management approaches for charcoal and timber production that reduce the impact on miombo woodlands. This section will describe: 1) forest management approach and sustainable harvesting and processing models adapted to different site conditions; 2) biomass growth estimates (propose a model that can be easily applicable and adapted to key site conditions); 3) biomass removal thresholds (disaggregated per tree species); 4) silvicultural practices to maximise tree growth (enrichment planting, fire management, coppicing, harvesting, etc); and 5) how and to which extend these recommendations will contribute to reduce the impact on miombo woodlands and the long term risks that have been described under section 1.
5) Opportunity cost analysis. The consultant will compare 2 different scenarios and for each scenario conduct an opportunity cost analysis taking into account the current demand and price for charcoal and timber and the projected price in a 20-year time horizon.
a. Scenario 1: opportunity cost analysis based on the potential benefits a farmer or a community misses out when choosing not to be involved in charcoal and timber production as it is implemented now and to limit forest resources use to non-timber forest products.
b. Scenario 2: opportunity cost analysis based on the potential benefits a farmer or a community misses out when choosing to adopt the recommendations described in section 2 instead of the current practices (periodic clear cutting followed sometimes by agriculture).

Possibility of follow-up work
Depending on the findings of the study, and the performance of the consultant, a follow-up study may be considered to (a) conduct more detailed value chain analysis; (b) identify individual entrepreneurs, companies, programmes and other relevant stakeholders or initiatives that could potentially impact the value chains and benefit our target groups: companies interested in buying sustainably produced charcoal or timber, government, NGOs or institutions supporting cooperatives, producer groups, etc; (c) propose costed intervention strategies and scenarios.

Terms & Conditions
Start date: As soon as possible
Duration of Contract: Three months with possibility of a short extension, to be considered based on performance and progress made.
Salary: Applicant can submit his/her consultancy fees, after which an evaluation will take place of the competitiveness in the field.
Location: Predominantly in the Copperbelt, in Luanshya, Ndola, Mpongwe and Masaiti district. The applicant has to be willing to reside in remote areas part-time.
Benefits: Not applicable. Consultant to submit consultancy rates.
Hours of Work: Full-time, working a minimum of 8 hours per day. Hours will however vary depending on project needs and flexibility is essential.
Reporting line: The consultant will work under the supervision and report to the Copperbelt Project Manager. Monthly payments depend upon submission of weekly progress reports and approval of timesheets by WeForest Zambia.

CANDIDATE PROFILE
• Possibility to apply alone or as a team (with one designated team leader)
• Strong and proven experience in natural resource management including on governance, economic exploitation and (sustainable) charcoal production and value chain assessments
• A minimum of 5 years’ relevant experience in research and studies around the growth of and economic returns from Miombo woodland, preferably in Zambia.
• Ability to work with stakeholders from different backgrounds
• Fluent in English and Bemba (both speaking and writing)
• Experience with community-based forest conservation and management would be considered a significant advantage
• Demonstrable skills: Excellent management, coordination and reporting skills
• Flexible in terms of traveling and living conditions

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: 60

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

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Job application procedure
INTERESTED?
Please contact Dr. De Beenhouwer (recruitment.zambia@weforest.org ) by 04/09/2021 at the latest, mentioning the job title in the subject of the email and providing:
• A cover letter outlining your motivation, experience and suitability to the role, confirming your availability to undertake this assignment.
• Your full CV and relevant certificates
• A 2-page technical proposal outlining a proposed methodology and workplan to carry out the expected deliverables. Include a budget with your consultancy cost and other necessary budget lines required. If applying as a team, please clearly present roles and responsibilities between team members.
• At least 3 professional references, including at least one from a previous employer, and one from a farmer or producer association that you have supported.
• One or two samples of similar work (reports, studies) carried out and authored by the consultant.

Applicants failing to deliver the above documents will not be considered. Due to the anticipated number of applicants, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. We thank you in advance for your interest. WeForest is an equal opportunity employer, we celebrate diversity and do not discriminate.

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