Job Description

The scope of work for the identified agency includes the following: Conservation and Rejuvenation of Water Resources: Conduct a detailed hydrological study and prepare an integrated water resources conservation plan by adopting watershed level planning approach to ensure long-term water availability. This would require identification of the type of water conservation structures and suitable areas for creation of new structures in six village. Adoption of Sustainable Agricultural Practices To identify and document the current cultivation practices and locate sites for adoption of non-paddy Rabi crops by farmers based on opportunity of residual soil moisture. To identify areas suitable for adoption of vegetable cultivation in Rabi season based on critical irrigation from available surface water To locate areas for cultivating paddy through water efficient methods such as Alternate Wet and Drying (AWD), System of Rice Intensification (SRI) Recommend landscape specific package of practices for integrated nutrient and pest management (INM and IPM) with special focus on areas recognized under Individual Forest Rights lands and farms alongside the forest edges To identify potential site and farmers/ user groups for creation of a community owned common bio-input preparation facility utilizing cattle manure and biomass at village level To come-up with combination of native trees and horticultural crops for adoption under agri-horti-forestry model and identify potential sites for adoption on farms and marginal productive lands Sustainable Forest Management and Conservation of Biodiversity To carry out forest inventory for documentation of biodiversity with the help of biodiversity management committees of each village To identify sites for mixed species enrichment plantation in the Community Forest Resource rights (CFR) areas, in consultation with CFR management committees of each village To identify sites for rejuvenation of the declining bamboo population in CFR areas, in consultation with CFR management committees of each village To identify sites for development of grazing pastures within CFR areas by identifying resource efficient native grass species from forest and develop strategy for pasture maintenance, in consultation with CFR management committees of each village To identify potential site and farmers/ user groups for developing nursery in each village by ensuring community ownership and to calculate potential cost for developing it Improved Market Linkage Identify potential activities to improve forward linkages for surplus agricultural / agri-horti- forestry production. Assessing Fund Requirement Prepare estimates of cost required for implementation of each interventions mentioned above Assess willingness of farmers (women, men, small and marginal and tenant farmers) to contribute for the implementation of identified interventions on farms Identify and review relevant government policies and schemes which comes up during discussion with stakeholders, to highlight the possibilities of convergence for implementation of interventions mentioned above Roles and Responsibilities: In preparation of DPR the applicant will keep WRI India apprised, consult with block administration and key departments and coordinate with AAA, in the following specific activities: Engage with key stakeholders. This will involve exhaustive field work for village level participatory planning, watershed planning, human resource planning, scanning of capacity of village level community institutions, civil society organizations of the block Collect baseline information through field surveys, scientific analysis, regular interaction with community and local administration on: current and traditional agricultural practices, major crops cultivated, cropping intensity, pests and disease incidents in major crops, seed source, end-use of the agri-produce water and irrigation sources and total area under irrigation soil health and nutrition, quantification of different types of agri-inputs, sourcing of agri-inputs, observed risks of soil/land degradation diversity and density of trees on farmland, including IFR lands livestock holding per household, fodder provisions, livestock health status and utilization of livestock derived resources village level socio-economic and resource sharing scenarios, covering at least 30% of the households in each village village wise CFR boundaries maps, inventory of forest resources, disposal of collected minor forest produce and forest management strategies adopted by communities in the past existing forward linkages/market mechanisms for dealing with surplus agricultural production and collected minor forest produce possible bottlenecks towards adoption of identified interventions Work closely with the WRI India and AAA and participate in a bi-weekly partner calls to co-create the project . Qualifications and Requirements The organization/institution should be a legal entity registered in India The organization/institution should have prior experience of working in rainfed region with tribal communities and developing at least two Detailed Project Reports for similar projects of at least 12 lakhs INR The team should essentially be inter-disciplinary with expert from the field of agriculture/agronomy, hydrology, forestry, a social scientist and an economist Team should have exceptional research and analytical skills; should be able to carry out qualitative and quantitative surveys and have good report writing skills Should have at least one team member well versed with Marathi language to capture nuanced details on interaction with community Team should be willing to spend considerable time in villages for field assessment and baseline information gathering Prior experience of working in Gadchiroli district will be an added advantage Interested institutions/organizations should submit a concept note on developing Detailed Project Report for Gadchiroli, Maharashtra. The concept note: Should not exceed 10 pages using standard page margin and 12pt font Should mention the methodology that the applicant proposes to follow for preparing the DPR and highlight past experiences that support their application. Should be submitted by 6th October 2023 Submitted concept notes will be screened, and most suitable organizations/institutions will be invited to submit the proposal. The shortlisted organization/institutions would be informed through an email within 10 days from the end date of submission WRI India reserves the right to accept/ reject one or all concepts note or stop the process of approval at any stage, without assigning any reasons and this action shall not attract any liability on WRI India

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