GIS Mapping Consultant

Position Summary

Department - Program

Country (ies) - South Sudan

Duty Station - Eastern Equatoria State, South Sudan

Expected Start Date - 1st April, 2024

Duration of Contract - 1 Month

Reporting to - Project Manager

Contract Type - This is a National Consultancy

Background

VSF Germany (VSFG) and Enjojo Foundation (EF), have partnered to implement the project “Fostering Peace and Natural Resource Governance in NaturAfrica- supported landscapes in South Sudan”.

VSFG is the consortium lead and is responsible for the Livelihoods Component of the project; and EF is in charge of the Peacebuilding Component. The project is led by a Consortium Coordinator and supported by a Project Steering Team (PST).

VSF Germany is an international Non-Governmental Organization providing humanitarian aid and development assistance to pastoralists, agro-pastoralists and vulnerable rural communities in areas where livestock is of importance in the Greater Horn of Africa region.

Within South Sudan, VSFG partners with the government and various donors to support development and humanitarian programs animal health, climate smart livestock production; climate resilient agriculture, food security and nutrition; market systems and agricultural value chains in general. VSFG’s programs are embedded in rural communities spread across seven (7) out of the ten (10) states in South Sudan.

Local level capacity building as well as institutional strengthening are the cornerstones of VSFG’s programming approaches that mainstream peace building, conflict resolution and mitigation.

Enjojo Foundation is a non-profit conservation organization that manages protected areas in partnership with governments and local communities through a conservation model that fosters peace, supports sustainable community livelihoods and enterprises and enables socioeconomic stability.

In South-Sudan, Enjojo Foundation has a Co-management Agreement with the Ministry of Wildlife Conservation and Tourism for the conservation, rehabilitation and management of Kidepo Game Reserve and Lantoto National Park.

Enjojo Foundation is currently in the process of receiving a full management mandate from the Ministry of Wildlife Conservation and Tourism for the Kidepo Game Reserve and Lantoto National Park.

1.The Project

VSF Germany and Enonjo Foundation secured 30-months’ funding from the European Union to implement the project “Fostering Peace and Natural Resource Governance in NaturAfrica- supported landscapes in South Sudan” covering:

• Kidepo Game Reserve (Ikotos & Budi Counties, Eastern Equatoria State); and
• Lantoto National Park (Yei & Maridi Counties, Central and Western Equatoria States).

The project contract was issued at the end of December 2023 and the project implementation period scheduled as 1st January 2024 to 30th June 2026 under the EU instrument: ACT-60408 “Peace, rule of law, and reconciliation” (NDICI AFRICA/2023/446-389 – Fostering peace and natural resources governance in NaturAfrica-supported landscapes in South Sudan-13.10.2023).

Project Objectives.

The overall objective is “to contribute to an inclusive and peaceful society in South Sudan that respects the rule of law and human rights; through enhanced social cohesion, reconciliation, and sustainable management of natural resources.

The specific objective aims to promote peace and enhance resilience in NaturAfrica-supported landscapes in South Sudan, specifically Kidepo Game Reserve and Lantoto National Park.

The action will build on the overall objective through the following three outcome areas:

1. Local initiatives / mechanisms for conflict resolution, reconciliation and trauma healing are strengthened.
2. Community resilience is strengthened through increased economic opportunities and sustainable livelihoods.
3. Communities, including women, youth and disadvantaged groups are empowered and increasingly able to meaningfully participate in local and broader political, peace and security processes.

The project seeks to adopt a holistic approach linking non-violent conflict resolution and peacebuilding to livelihood recovery and economic opportunities to enable sustainable peace and social cohesion.

It is also aimed at reducing food insecurity through diversifying livelihoods and provision of economic opportunities as peace dividends.

Concurrently the project will strengthen social cohesion through inclusion of marginalized groups, advocacy and capacity building aimed at strengthening inter and intra community relations through awareness on conflict resolution and reconciliation.

The active participation of community members in peace building activities through the establishment of peace committees and the facilitation of community dialogues will strengthen trauma healing.

In particular, the three outcomes will be delivered through various activities and related outputs in the results chain. Broadly, these will include but not limited to:

• Capacity building of the local leaders (village chiefs, Payam administrators and executive directors) from the 35 bomas neighboring Kidepo Game Reserve in human rights, peaceful co-existence, conflict sensitivity, sustainable environmental management and the role of women and local leaders in peace building.
• Skills transfer to various cadres of local leaders (representatives of the youth, women, religious leaders, elders, handicapped etc.) at village level on the benefits of a peaceful environment. In turn, they will sensitize the wider community.
• Establishment of 43 peace committees with clear roles and responsibilities (1 per boma; 1 per Payam level); paying special attention to equal representation of women and men in the Payam peace committees.
• Restructuring peace committees on county level to accommodate for representation from the members of the Payam peace committees.
• Institutionalizing the establishment of peace committees via by-laws made by the Local Legislative Councils of Ikotos & Budi Counties under the Local Government Act.
• Developing an early warning system in consultation with the Payam and County peace committees Local Government Officials, the Wildlife Service and the Police.
• Training of police officers in the 8 Payam Police Posts to transfer skills in community policing, ethics and integrity.
• Equipping Payam Peace Committees and 2 County Peace Committees as well as the Police on Payam and county level with High Frequency (HF) radios for ease of communication among themselves, the police and the project team.
• Training of peace committees on community dialogue skills and conflict resolution
• Training of 35 selected youth (one from each of the 35 bomas of Kidepo Game Reserve) as peace scouts to address tribal conflicts, intercept retaliatory attacks, gather information, mitigate livestock theft, lead reconciliation initiatives, and promote peace in their communities. In collaboration with the Peace Committees, they will take the lead in identifying and organizing cultural or sport events, that unite different ethnic tribes to build trust among the communities in the Kidepo Game Reserve.
• Empowering the peace scouts to host a weekly 2-hour radio program on Voice of Eastern Equatoria Radio FM 95.5 in Torit to sensitize the wider community on the need for peace building, reconciliation and conflict resolution. This will be achieved through interviews with national and local community leaders, religious leaders, marginalized groups, women organizations, talk shows, quiz, etc.
• Provision of peace dividends in the form of livelihood recovery and economic opportunities to enable sustainable peace and social cohesion and reduce food insecurity.
• Active engagement intensively with the youth cattle keepers to identify their needs of grazing land, waterholes, and other challenges. In the Lantoto National Park, the project will focus on increasing the resilience of the communities through livelihood support and support to the honey business.
• Map livestock, livestock migration routes, location of water resources, grazing areas, cattle camps, disease risk zones in Kidepo Game Reserve
• Strengthening social cohesion through inclusive consultative meetings involving all stakeholders so that project ownership is created
• Holding regular coordination meetings with members of the National and State Legislative Assembly originating from Budi and Ikotos Counties

2. Purpose of the Consultancy

The project team requires a consultant to undertake a comprehensive study that shall focus on developing a comprehensive GIS model map showing livestock locations, migration routes and patterns; conflict hotspots, location of water resources, grazing areas, cattle camps, human settlements, farm lands, potential sites for water facilities development, disease risks zones in the 35 bomas of Kidepo Game Reserve. This mapping will be an important input into the NaturAfrica project which will take into account these findings into the establishment of a Land use plan and community development plan for the Kidepo Game Reserve.

3. Specific Objectives of the Consultancy

1. Collection of ground data from the specific project areas and develop sketches showing livestock locations, migration routes and patterns.

2. Identification and sketching the location of water resources, grazing areas, cattle camps, human settlements, farm lands, potential sites for water facilities development outside the reserve, and disease risks zones in the specified project areas.

3. Provide a spatial and temporal framework documenting traditionally agreed livestock migration routes and shared grazing areas in Kidepo, the surrounding Dongotona and Didinga hills, and the juxtaposed Counties (e.g. The Kapoetas)

4. Conversion of ground data in the form of sketches into digital maps using the various GIS tools such as ArcGIS and QGIS to show the spatial representation of the livestock migration routes, shared grazing land and any other relevant natural and man-made features of the area.

5. Generation of shapefiles for the various land-based activities within the areas of interest and development of a Land use mapping for the Kidepo Game Reserve,

6. Develop requisite attributes for the spatial mechanisms and demonstrate spatial linkages between the various project activities.

   4. Scope of work

The scope of the consultancy is limited to collecting data and generating information that will be used to develop GIS model map showing livestock locations, migration routes, grazing lands and patterns. The geographic focus will be all the named project locations (the 35 bomas) in Kidepo GR. The scope of the work to be undertaken includes desk review of the project literature, meetings with the project team, key stakeholders and partners at Juba and field levels. The consultant will also propose appropriate data collection tools ensuring accuracy and reliability of information collected.

5. Mode of Delivery

The consultant will adopt the direct field visit approach for data collection on the ground via Global Positioning System (GPS) pickings and the rest of the compilation through home-based working approach. This shall involve collecting, labelling/naming and compilation of accurate GPS coordinates of the migration routes and patterns. The final mode of delivery will be developed in close consultation with the project team due to the context nature. The final output will be delivered after all comments from the client have been satisfactorily incorporated into the maps and plans.

6. Key Tasks

The consultancy shall be tasked to carry out the following:

• Consultant will have a kick off meeting together with the Consortium Coordinator to ensure complete understanding of the project and to collect all the required reference docs.
• Read and understand the key project documents, which include; project proposal narrative, EU guiding documents, and approved project log-frame.
• The consultant shall submit an electronic copy of the draft inception report. The draft inception report should include a detailed mode of delivery including tools to be used to gather data/information and a work plan.
• The consultant team will be asked to make an oral presentation of their proposed methodology and instrumentation.
• The consultant team will be facilitated by the project team to undertake all the required field work in various locations.
• The field teams will arrange meetings and access to various project areas in line with the duly approved field itinerary.
• Carry out GIS mapping, using the various GIS tools such as ArcGIS and QGIS to show the spatial representation of the livestock migration routes, shared grazing land and any other relevant natural and man-made features of the area;
• Consult various data sources including topographical maps, satellite imagery, sketching and profiling of the existing land uses. The features to be captured in the maps will include but not limited to: the area’s coordinates, contours, rivers, wetlands, manmade features including physical and social infrastructure
• After that, the consultant will work on and submit Draft Maps which will be shared back after incorporating feedback provided by the project team.
• The consultant will then prepare The Final Maps and the accompanying outputs based on several iterations as outlined above; ensuing that the highest quality standards are appropriately met.

7. Outputs

The following outputs will be produced:

1. Three (3 No) reference sketches; Budi & Ikotos Counties and combined (both Budi and Ikotos) directly derived from the analogue data indicating the livestock locations, migration routes and patterns.
2. Five (5 No) geo-referenced maps (GIS) depicting livestock locations, migration routes and patterns specifically location of water resources, grazing areas, cattle camps, human settlements, farm lands, potential sites for water facilities development outside the reserve, disease risks zones in the 35 bomas of Kidepo game reserve. (Two (2 No) for Budi County and Two (2 No) for Ikotos County and Two (2 No) combining all the two) in soft copies (PDF and JPEG Formats),
3. Shapefiles for each of the maps for the 2 Counties and one combined (Two (2 No) for Budi County and Two (2 No) for Ikotos County and Two (2 No) combining all the two and a land use plan.
4. Thirty (30 No) coloured print out copies of the geo-referenced maps (GIS); fifteen (15) for each County and ten (10 No) combined in A0 size (0.84 m x 1.19 m) in a plain paper.
5. A spatial framework documenting traditionally agreed livestock migration routes and shared grazing areas in Kidepo and the surrounding Counties.

8. Time Frame

Considering the vastness of project area and the poor infrastructure, it is expected that the assignment will take approximately 28 days, broken down as follows: 4 days of travel, 1 day to review the project documents, 18 days in the field to collect data/information, meet stakeholders, and produce the draft report, and 5 days to produce the final deliverables.

Qualifications and Experience of the Consultant

A multidisciplinary team is required with proven delivery of high-quality digitalized maps It is foreseen that the following mix of skills will be needed:

1.Academic Qualifications:

At least a first-degree level training in any or a combination of the following or closely related field: Geomatics Engineering and Geospatial Information Systems- GIS; Cartography/ Engineering Surveying. Additional professional qualifications such as Remote Sensing, Satellite Imaging or Photogrammetry will be added advantages.

2. Experience:

At least 10 years of work experience in one or all of the following:

• GIS mapping, remote sensing and satellite imaging;
• Survey in photogrammetric mapping and GPS control surveys
• Use of ArcGIS software Mapping.
• Extensive experience with planning and Execution of Topographical and Engineering Surveys
• A practitioner in Surveying, GIS/ satellite imaging, Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing

Experience with implementation of internet GIS applications based on ESRI technology

How to apply

Prospective candidates may submit technical and financial proposals that clearly explain their understanding of the Terms of Reference, Approaches and Methodologies to be used and the budget to undertake the assignment. In addition, prospective consultants are required to submit their updated CVs with accessible referees. It is also required that copies of similar work successfully completed in South Sudan over the last 10 years be submitted as evidence of the consultant’s capability. Please find the complete ToR from the link: https://www.vsfg.org/jobs-career/ on our VSF Germany website.

The bidding documents should be submitted through the following link: https://forms.gle/HLiJWhvUYnuKwyKw7 or sent to the following Email Address: admin_hr@vsfg.org indicating on the subject line “GIS Mapping-Fostering Peace and Natural Resource Governance in NaturAfrica- supported landscapes in South Sudan”. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for interviews. All applications must be received by 11th March, 2024.