Call for proposal consultancy firm: Feasibility study of a carbon credit component in sustainable woodfuel project, Democratic Republic of Congo Consultancy

CIFOR-ICRAF
The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and World Agroforestry (ICRAF) envision a more equitable world where trees in all landscapes, from drylands to the humid tropics, enhance the environment and well-being for all. CIFOR and ICRAF are non-profit science institutions that build and apply evidence to today’s most pressing challenges, including energy insecurity and the climate and biodiversity crises. Over a combined total of 65 years, we have built vast knowledge on forests and trees outside of forests in agricultural landscapes (agroforestry). Using a multidisciplinary approach, we seek to improve lives and to protect and restore ecosystems. Our work focuses on innovative research, partnering for impact, and engaging with stakeholders on policies and practices to benefit people and the planet. Founded in 1993 and 1978, CIFOR and ICRAF are members of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food secure future dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security, and improving natural resources.

Overview

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), shifting cultivation agriculture and the production of woodfuel are the main income-generating activities for peri-urban populations – yet these are also the main causes of deforestation and forest degradation. In the Yangambi landscape, which covers 220,000 hectares of tropical forest landscape in DRC’s Tshopo Province, charcoal supply to the big urban centre of Kisangani has led to forest degradation, with no sustainable practices in sourcing and inefficient carbonization. About 81% of Kisangani’s households use charcoal for cooking with a total demand of 2.7 million m3 of fuel wood per year. Only around 16% of households used a type of improved cookstove in 2021.

To address the overexploitation of woodfuel resources and ecosystem disturbance in the Yangambi landscape, since 2020, several options on sustainable fuel wood are being tested by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) in order to contribute to reducing anthropogenic pressure on forests and improving livelihoods of local communities in the Yangambi landscape.

In fuelwood production areas, CIFOR supports producer households in setting up agroforestry plantations as sustainable sources of fuelwood. Acacia auriculiformis trees were intercropped with food crops such as maize, cassava, peanuts, cowpeas and rice in rotational agroforestry plantations. In a rotation system of 6–7 years, the tree plantations will contribute to two main objectives: first, to create a reliable source of woodfuel that can be harvested annually (starting in 2026) to meet increasing urban demand; and second, to reduce pressure on surrounding intact forests.

About 900 hectares of plantations (750 ha acacia and 150 ha of native trees) have already been established in the Yangambi landscape (between January 2020 and May 2023) to help reduce pressure on natural and intact forests, but also to diversify the sources of income for fuelwood producers.

Producers are also trained in improved carbonization techniques to improve the performance of their kilns and increase their yield in order to avoid the loss of woody biomass during the wood carbonization. process. The yield for producers doubled from average 11% of traditional earth kilns to 22-24% of improved traditional earth kilns on dry-wood basis.

In the city of Kisangani, 4 local micro-enterprises that manufacture improved stoves and who were supported on the basis of their performance, produced more than 10,000 additional stoves for the year 2022. The performance of these improved stoves varies between 28 to 31% fuel savings and 18% reduction in cooking time.

Taking into account its objectives and the progress made, CIFOR is preparing to set up a carbon project to contribute to the sustainability of these achievements in the sector of sustainable production and consumption of wood energy in the Yangambi landscape. All 3 following activities are expected to be eligible for registration under a carbon standard and issuance of carbon credits:

• The plantation and maintenance of 4000 hectares of agroforestry systems including trees for fuelwood, of which 2000 hectares, planted between 2020-2026, becoming productive from 2026 onwards and a total 4000 hectares becoming productive from 2032 onwards.

• The manufacture and distribution of cookstoves at production of 50 000 cookstoves from 2026 onwards. (2023: 20 000, 2024: 30 000, 2025: 40 000 cook stoves).

• The promotion of improved-efficiency kilns to transform efficiently (<20%) 12 000 – 25 000 tonnes of biomass from woodlots annually and monitoring via fixed storage and selling points to distribute 2500 – 5000 t per year of sustainable charcoal to urban households.

Duties and responsibilities

The Carbon consultancy firm is required to provide the CIFOR-ICRAF with expertise in land use carbon project financing under the VCS. This support will be provided in 3 phases:

1.Refining Carbon project cost/benefit profile for the 3 schemes, including:

• Reviewing existing info and reports on the 3 schemes that are intended to be registered as carbon projects.
• Concluding on a recommendation of carbon standard for use on each of the scheme
• Simulating carbon credit output under a specific methodology, including an assessment of all probable discounts applicable to issuable volumes
• Simulating carbon-associated costs for PDD writing, registration, monitoring campaigns, verifications and issuance of credits

This phase may be based on both remote and field work:

• Information review to assess land and project eligibility against carbon standard methodology.
• Identify carbon accounting methodology(ies) and formulas.
• List information missing for the project to reach eligibility.
• Initial GIS assessment of existing and available data to confirm land eligibility.
• Support fine-tuning of project activity timeline for carbon-relevant activities.
• Field visit for site assessment, standard-compliant stakeholder consultation, baseline assessment and project scenarios.
• Risk assessment as per VCS’s NPRA tool.
• Proposition for non-carbon impact report under the VCS.
• Set forth project viability conditions.
• Calculate ex-ante carbon credit output.

2.Inputs to business case

Support CIFOR-ICRAF in the setup of an investment case for the selected schemes, that will determine the sequence and funding of further steps such as PDD development, project registration, monitoring, verification, etc. over the lifetime of the project(s)

CONTRACTING

Successful conclusion of items 1 and 2 will be crucial to determine the opportunity to cooperate in a longer timeframe throughout the carbon project, including PDD writing and registration, support through monitoring and verification campaigns).

Education, knowledge and experience

• Staff capacity to work and report in English and French.
• The firm and expert(s) documented credentials in supporting similar projects throughout the whole carbon project cycle, down to the issuance pf credits, will be evaluated.
• Experience on all elements (agro-forestry woodlots, carbonisation and cookstoves) and in the Central African region would be most helpful.
• Capacity to propose smart, operational, cost-efficient solutions to go beyond carbon standard requirements and seek the inclusion of CIFOR-ICRAF’s expertise in the domains of the carbon project where it applies.
• Transparency on costs and resources mobilized is a must.

Terms and conditions

• This is a consultancy position for firm, not individual consultants.
• Period of the consultancy in total is 3 months.
• Work location: remote and/or Yangambi Engagement Landscape, Democratic Republic of Congo.
  To apply, please visit our career site at: http://www.cifor.org/careers and https://www.worldagroforestry.org/working-for-icraf
  To learn more about CIFOR-ICRAF, please visit our websites at: https://www.cifor.org and www.worldagroforestry.org
  CIFOR-ICRAF promotes Gender Diversity – Applications from women professionals are encouraged.
  CIFOR-ICRAF is an equal opportunity employer. It fosters a multicultural work environment that values gender equality, teamwork, and respect for diversity.

Application process

The application deadline is 23 Jun-2023
We will acknowledge all applications, but will contact only short-listed candidates.