Consultancy for Ground survey of land-use in Mondulkiri province

The objective of the consultancy is to estimate, and precisely map, the potential areas within Mondulkiri province where coffee expansion is ecology and legally suitable, to help Kofi plan for and prioritise their efforts and investments in encouraging farmers to adopt coffee.

Kofi and DFCD have already collaborated on an assessment, based on secondary data, that:

1. Identified the areas of Mondulkiri which are bio-physically suitable for coffee growing;
2. Assessed deforestation risks based on forest cover and deforestation / degradation trends;
3. Identified additional risks linked to protected areas, land status and land concession; and
4. Recommended to Kofi suitable locations and strategies to mitigate the risk of forest loss and degradation.

While this assessment included local consultations, it primarily relied on secondary data. The condition on the ground of areas identified as suitable for coffee has not been determined, and in-depth local consultation about existing land-use patterns on this land, the bio-physical conditions, and the legal/ownership/rights issues related to this land has not been conducted.

The original assessment identified four high priority villages and 9 medium priority villages where the expansion of coffee could be promoted, with a rough estimate of 37,000 hectares being suitable for coffee expansion.

This assignment needs to conduct extensive ground-truthing of the findings of the original report and further local data collection, in combination with satellite analysis, in order to more precisely assess suitable expansion areas, and the existing land-use in those areas.

The expected tasks include:

• To review existing report of deforestation risk assessment and E&S Assessment reports to identified loopholes for further analysis.
• Propose and agree suitable methodology, sampling strategy, and field research plan.
• Conduct farm-level surveys in 13 villages (minimum 260 farmers).
• Collect-localised spatial, economic and agricultural data from other public agencies.
• Collate these data into a land-use assessment which clearly identifies the suitable areas for coffee expansion and calculate with more precision the suitable ha for coffee expansion without deforestation
• Produce a series of detailed maps with indication of these areas using field measurements and satellite data
• Conduct workshops with Provincial department of land and the District and Commune authorities, and other conservation NGOs, projects to validate and improve the maps/data.
• Develop a summary report.

Requirements

• Legal registered firm in Cambodia
• Strong track record in conducting remote surveys. A minimum of 5 years’ experience in related area.
• Proven track record in similar assignments;
• Availability of a high quality team.
• Fluency in written and oral English.