ASSESSMENT OF HIV/AIDS IMPACT ON THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR AND THE SECTOR’S CAPACITY TO RESPOND TO THE IMPACT OF THE EPIDEMIC

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TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF

HIV/AIDS IMPACT ON THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR AND THE SECTOR’S CAPACITY TO RESPOND TO THE IMPACT OF THE EPIDEMIC

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Introduction

The contribution of the agricultural sector to the economy of Botswana has been declining from 40% share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 1966, to 2.6% (1999/2000).  This is said to be partly due to the rapid development of the mining sector, which currently dominates the economy as well as a significant decline in performance of the agricultural sector. Botswana is currently very highly dependent on agricultural imports and is a net importer of cereals, fruits and vegetables, dairy products and processed foods (except beef, which is a major export commodity for Botswana).

The agricultural sector’s main challenge in the last decade has been to increase its capacity to produce enough to meet national food requirements. According to the food security policy adopted in 1991, the emphasis has been on diversification of agricultural activities to enable households and individuals, access to food and other basic needs.  However the challenge of ‘access’ to food and other basic needs has remained elusive, at the household level, particularly for low resource households. Thus though food security is considered to have been achieved at national level, the distribution of secure livelihoods is still skewed with the national poverty level estimated at 30% in 2002/03. Indications are that the situation is more severe in the rural areas. Many rural households still experience chronic low agricultural production and poor access to alternative economic and employment opportunities.

The current situation with food insecurity and overall poverty has been compounded in the recent years by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Current studies indicate that AIDS prevalence in southern Africa account for 20% to 40% of those infected, depending on the demographic category. For instance the 2006 HIV Sentinel Surveillance report in Botswana indicated that prevalence among pregnant women averaged 32.4% nationally. The national prevalence rate, according to the Botswana Impact AIDS Survey II (2004) stands at 17.1%.

The impact of HIV/AIDS can be looked at from the perspective of how it affects the capacity and performance of individual households and communities, in this case, farming activities of individual households and communities. This can be reviewed in terms of access to labour and other farm production assets including management and decision making at the farm level. The impact on the household in terms of access to support services such as purchase and utilization of farm inputs, marketing activities, access to advisory services and information as well as other support facilities such as credit institutions, farmer organisations and secure land tenure are important.

The effects of HIV/AIDS can also be viewed from the perspective of how the institutions that provide support services to farming communities have been impacted on and how this has affected their performance. In the case of the agricultural sector, the impact of HIV/AIDS on the MOA and other relevant service providers is critical especially in terms of how this institutions capacity to support agricultural productivity under the demand for sustainable increased production. Their innovativeness to design programmes and implement strategies that address HIV/AIDS in rural communities is vital.      

The Terms of Reference

The main aim of the impact assessment is to provide information and better understanding of the current impact and potential effects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic on the agricultural sector; in order to develop strategies, plan and implement appropriate response geared at sustainable agricultural production and raise food security

The Specific Terms of Reference of the impact assessment should address the following:

• Conduct the impact assessment from a gender perspective. This should include gender dis-aggregation information.
• Impact on the farming population in terms of both quantity and quality agricultural production by examining the economic, financial and social pressures on the household structure and their capacity to engage in farming. Factors that need to be considered should include assessment of the HIV/AIDS impact on the household structure with respect to availability and access to labour and farm managerial capacity;
• Impact of HIV/AIDS on the farming community with respect to access to farm resources and other factors of production. This would entail examining issues related to how the pandemic has impacted different household categories with respect to land tenure and access to land and other economic and social production assets including livestock ownership, membership in farmer associations and other farming support groups.
• The impact of the pandemic on farmers’ ability to access support facilities such as advisory services/information, credit and marketing facilities and other services.
• Assess how the HIV/AIDS impact on the population in terms of numbers and structure will affect agricultural production levels.
• Assess whether there is a significant impact on the agricultural sector performance and some prediction of anticipated future scenario performance should be made. Attempts should be made to link impact on agricultural production to different household categories of farming systems.
• Assess the impact on the sector’s staffing position and service delivery by Extension Workers
• Assist with the facilitation of a Review Workshop for all sub sectors and stakeholders to look at the present situation and progress to date, and exchange experiences and good practices.
• Assess the impact of the pandemic on household decision-making process in agricultural production
• Assess the impact of the pandemic on gender roles in current agricultural production and its implications for agricultural productivity.
• Come up with specific short and long term mitigation strategies to minimise the negative effects of HIV and AIDS on agricultural production.
• Attend Reference Group and other meetings as required.

Time Frame

The exercise is expected to be completed in a period of 3 months upon signing of the contact.

Outputs

1.                   An Inception Report

2.                   Document the process and produce an in-depth Report of the findings – including models of best practice and recommendations for the way forward

3.                   A Situation and response analysis for both internal (workplace) and external (service delivery) domains

4.                   A report of the sub sector and stakeholders analysis workshops

5.                   A final report on the impact of HIV/AIDS and Capacity assessment to respond to the Epidemic, including recommendations and suggested timelines.

Payments to the Consultants

Terms and conditions of payments of the UNDP shall apply.

Profile of Consultants

The team of consultants should comprise of the following:

1. A Lead consultant in possession of an advanced degree in Agricultural economics and proven wide experience on impact assessment, with at least some work experience in sub-Sahara Africa. The Lead consultant should also have proven ability for applying agricultural models in agricultural production.
2. A Sociologist with proven experience on AIDS related studies, with at least 5 years work experience in Botswana. The consultant should also have proven ability to apply participatory appraisal methods.
3. The Team must also comprise of an Extension/Institution Specialist with at least advanced degree in social sciences and proven experience on institution capacity building, with at least 5 years work experience in the sub-region. The consultant should also have proven ability to appraise institutional performance.
4. The team must comprise of a person with proven knowledge in gender analysis and gender mainstreaming methodologies.
5. The Team of Consultants should be able to communicate effectively in spoken and written English. At least one member of the team must be able to communicate in the local language (Setswana).

Clarification and solicitation of documents

UNDP invites you to submit a Proposal Document to be used for selecting a contractor. The Offeror shall seal the Proposal in one outer and two inner envelopes, as detailed below.

(a) The outer envelope or email shall be addressed to The Human Resources Manager, United Nations Development Programme, UN Place, 22 Khama Crescent, P.O. Box 54 Gaborone and, marked with “Assessment of HIV/AIDS impact on the agricultural sector and the sector’s capacity to respond to the impact of the epidemic”.

(b) Both inner envelopes shall indicate the name and address of the Offeror. The first inner envelope shall contain copies duly marked “Technical Proposal-Original” and “Technical Proposal-Copy”. The second inner envelope shall include the price schedule duly identified as “Financial Proposal-Original” and “Financial Proposal-Copy”.

Interested offerors are kindly requested to collect detailed project documents and Terms of Reference from the UNDP Office 1^st floor, at UN Place, 22 Khama Cresent, Gaborone. Should you require additional information please contact patrick.tema@undp.org or gaone.thaelo@undp.org at 3952121 ext 286/237.

Deadline for submission of proposals

Proposals must be received by UNDP at no later Friday 19 June 2009 at 14.00 hours, local Botswana time.