Please visit the CI Procurement site for more information: https://www.conservation.org/about/procurement-opportunities

Conservation International (CI) is seeking consultancy services provided by a suitably qualified
consulting firm or organization (for simplicity, referred to as “Consultant” in this document) to
contribute to the development of a GCF Funding Proposal for the Program based on the Concept
Note described in Section 1 of this RFP. The Funding Proposal (FP) development work will be
funded in part by CI co-financing and in part by a GCF Project Preparation Facility grant to CI
(“PPF Grant”). The Consultant’s work will be subject to the requirements of GCF and its fiduciary
agent, the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), as included in the eventual
contracting agreement.

The PPF Grant includes work on four PPF activities:
PPF Activity 1: Pre-feasibility and feasibility studies
PPF Activity 2: Environmental, social and gender studies
PPF Activity 3: Program design
PPF Activity 4: Identification of program-level indicators

The Consultant will support CI and its partners to: develop feasibility studies; design interventions;
develop indicators; provide detailed recommendations and information on environmental and
social safeguards, gender mainstreaming, economic and financial impacts; develop the
implementation timetable; and conduct stakeholder engagement with the countries participating
in the Program as described in this TOR for PPF Activities 1-4 (collectively, “PPF Activities”). The
consultant shall ensure alignment with GCF policies, frameworks, and Funding Proposal
requirements. Work is expected to begin no later than March 2025 (subject to prime donor
funding) and proceed according to the delivery schedule included in Section 5 below.

The Consultant will report to, liaise regularly with, and take technical guidance from Conservation
International’s Center for Sustainable Lands and Waters (SLW). SLW staff will supervise the
Consultant’s performance and be responsible for review and acceptance of all written
deliverables. The Consultant will also conduct its Activities in close consultation with CI, CIVentures, the governments of the participating countries and the AROMA program partners: CIMexico, TechnoServe (Guatemala and Honduras) and the Uganda Coffee Development Agency
(UCDA/Ministry of Agriculture). The Consultant will incorporate feedback from the stakeholder
engagement process, CI technical experts, the CI-GCF Agency (acting as the PPF and Program
GCF Accredited Entity [AE]), and the GCF. Payments for all deliverables are subject to approval
by both SLW and the CI-GCF Agency.

The consultancy will preferably be carried out by a team of professionals under the supervision
of a Lead Consultant and include sub-contracted national consultants with relevant experience
based in each country in order to successfully complete the deliverables for PPF Activities
required by CI to develop the Funding Proposal. The consultancy objectives, responsibilities,
outputs and required qualifications included in Section 5 have been organized under fields of
expertise but can be re-arranged depending on the team composition proposed by the Consultant.
CI values consortia that are inclusive and diverse in composition, leveraging the breadth of
national expertise in the Program countries to best achieve the consultancy aims and objectives.

While the consultancy is 24 months, all deliverables will be drafted within 14 months of signing
the consultancy agreement / contract. The consultant(s) shall undertake revisions based on CI
and partner feedback during months 16-18, and will be available to address any
feedback/requested revisions from the GCF Secretariat and the GCF’s ITAP during months 18-
24.

Minimum Requirements
The make-up of the consultancy team is expected to include the following positions/areas of
expertise to be effective in producing quality deliverables:
a) Team Leader
b) Professional Specialist in Environmental and Social Safeguards
c) Professional Specialist in Gender
d) Professional Specialist in Monitoring and Evaluation
e) Professional Specialist in Economics and Financial Studies

In addition to the key positions above, which may be either international or local consultants, CI
anticipates that the consultancy team will also include additional consultants based in Guatemala,
Honduras, Mexico and Uganda (referred to as national consultants in this RFP) to ensure the
project meets the local needs and the context in these countries. Local consultants should be
fluent in the local language(s).

Minimum qualifications and experience for all positions include:
a) Postgraduate or other advanced university degree in area of expertise (at least master’s level,
or equivalent, in biology, ecology, sociology, economics or related social science).
b) Demonstrated analytical ability, project design, and proposal and/or report writing skills.
c) Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
d) Competence in the use of standard Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Access,
PowerPoint).
e) Strongly preferred: Experience working in Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico or Uganda or
similar-type countries on climate change mitigation and adaptation programs, coffee sector
and smallholder farmer interventions, sustainable financing, Indigenous Peoples’ issues
and/or environmental sustainability issues.

Submission Details
a) Deadline: Proposals must be received no later than Friday February 7, 2025 midnight EST.
Late submissions will not be accepted. Proposals must be submitted via email to
ciprocurement@conservation.org with the subject “Development of GCF Funding Proposal”
with the intention to participate and attaching all requirements. All proposals are to be
submitted following the guidelines listed in this RFP.
b) Validity of bid: 120 days from the submission deadline
c) Clarifications: Questions may be submitted at ciprocurement@conservation.org by the
specified date and time in the timeline below. Responses to questions that may be of common
interest to all bidders will be posted to the CI website and/or communicated via email.