Consultant on Systemic Change in Tertiary Irrigation in East Java

Consultant on Systemic Change in Tertiary Irrigation in East Java

 

Company Overview  

 

Palladium is a global leader in the design, development and delivery of Positive Impact - the intentional creation of enduring social and economic value. We work with foundations, investors, governments, corporations, communities and civil society to formulate strategies and implement solutions that generate lasting social, environmental and financial benefits.

 

For the past 50 years, we have been making Positive Impact possible. With a team of more than 2,500 employees operating in 90 plus countries and a global network of more than 35,000 technical experts, Palladium has improved - and is committed to continuing to improve - economies, societies and most importantly, people's lives.

 

Palladium is a child-safe organisation, and screens applicants for suitability to work with children. We also provide equal employment to all participants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, veteran or marital status.

 

Project Overview and Role

 

Background

 

The Government of Indonesia partners with the Government of Australia on an initiative to boost smallholder farmers’ incomes: The Australia-Indonesia Partnership for Rural Economic Development (AIP-Rural). AIP-Rural is a suite of programs that improves smallholder farmers’ access to new markets, better inputs, knowhow, technology, irrigation, and small loans. Its goal is to achieve a sustainable 30% increase in the net incomes of 1,000,000 male and female smallholder farmers in Eastern Indonesia by 2022. AIP-Rural operates in East Java, West and East of Nusa Tenggara, Papua and West Papua.

The program focuses on agricultural sectors that display strong growth potential and are the main source of income for many smallholder farmers. All of this is done via co-investing in new business models with local, regional, national and international market players to create business models that improve the agriculture sector’s competitiveness, especially for smallholder farmers.

Tertiary Irrigation Technical Assistance (TIRTA) is one of four sections of the AIP-Rural program.  TIRTA’s overarching goal is aligned with other AIP-Rural initiatives, i.e., to increase farm incomes for smallholders in Eastern Indonesia. TIRTA specifically aims to increase the net income of 7,500 farmers by 60% through improvements to the efficiency and economic viability of tertiary irrigation schemes.

In Indonesia, irrigation is managed at three levels: the national and provincial level, which handles large schemes of primary canal systems (from 1,000 to 3,000 Ha); and the district level, which manages smaller schemes (<1,000 ha). Schemes that are smaller than this are called “tertiary”. TIRTA focuses exclusively at the tertiary irrigation level, where some of the systemic failures are most evident. The geographic area covered by TIRTA is in East Java – specifically, Bojonegoro and Tuban districts.

 

The Program

 

TIRTA is pioneering the market systems development approach in the irrigation sector; the programme seeks to facilitate private sector investments in tertiary irrigation by addressing systemic constraints that curtail the private sector’s participation in the market. The central concept of TIRTA is that the private sector is willing to commercially invest in and manage tertiary irrigation schemes, and that private sector-led tertiary irrigation is sustainable (also in relation to community led schemes), and can provide reliable income change for farming households.

TIRTA’s strategy is to catalyse private sector investments in tertiary irrigation and facilitate improvements to the efficiency, technical and economic viability, and scale of irrigation schemes is achieved by addressing key systemic constraints to irrigation provision through three intervention areas:

Irrigation technical assistance - as poor irrigation system design, operation and maintenance remain the main factors leading to the sub-optimal performance and gaps in operations of tertiary irrigation;

Productivity enhancement - focusing on the integration of improved agricultural inputs and GAP promotion in the irrigation business model, as the profit and long-term sustainability of irrigation businesses is strictly dependent on yields, being irrigation paid for in-kind and as a share of the harvest, and;

Irrigation management capacity improvement - since many HIPPA[1]s are limited in functionality, face financial constraints and often fail to provide best quality irrigation to farmers and/or serve only a limited number of farmers, significantly below what the full irrigation system capacity would allow.The three thematic interventions are being implemented in different combinations to establish, expand or improve irrigation schemes.

 

Current status of the program

 

TIRTA is in its final year of implementation (to December 2018). Since its inception, TIRTA has gone through a steep learning curve and modified its approach leading to increasingly systemic outcomes. This includes shifting its strategy from HIPPA focused interventions to proving the viability and sustainability of private sector-led irrigation schemes; managing a project which embeds components of infrastructure development within a market systems model; partnering with local, individual entrepreneurs as opposed to regional or national business entities; and introducing new business models which were either absent or inefficient. TIRTA has by now established models of co-investment that are achieving impact on the ground and, in select cases, are already on a clear pathway to achieving systemic change.

 

[1] Himpunan Petani Pemakai Air (farmers' group or water users’ association) on Irrigated land; these water users’ association are usually formed by the government departments, receive infrastructure support (e.g.: pump, pipe) and one-time grants to set up and manage the irrigation systems

 

Responsibilities          

 

The assignment

 

Within this context, TIRTA is now looking for experienced consultant to capture its learning towards achieving systemic change in the tertiary irrigation sector. The learning will be captured in the form of a case study for its key stakeholders and wider audience in order to contribute to the broader evidence and lessons on market systems and private sector development, and to highlight key areas of the program’s success.

 

The scope of the assignment

 

In consultation with TIRTA management, the consultant should:

1. Review existing documents and quickly grasp the workings of TIRTA in detail;
2. Detail out a research methodology and framework for assessing systemic change;
3. Interview key TIRTA staff, partners, beneficiaries and relevant stakeholders to gather specific evidence and narratives relating to the assignment;
4. Convert the narratives into an easily understandable and logically flowing case study;
5. Respond to comments and feedback from internal and external reviewers, and incorporate these into final version
6. The case study should capture challenges, key learning from the project, TIRTA’s approach and contribution in achieving systemic change in tertiary irrigation; and also provide recommendation on consolidating and deepening the systemic changes in tertiary irrigation. 

 

The methodology

 

The case study will depict TIRTA’s approach to systemic change and will show how systemic change creates win-win situation for market players such as private entrepreneurs as well as small farmers.  Common frameworks for assessing progress towards systemic change include Springfield/Katalyst developed Adopt-Adapt-Expand-Respond (AAER) framework, Kenya Market Assistance Program’s (MAP) Behaviour Change Framework and African Enterprise Challenge Fund’s (AECF) Indicators of Systemic Change. For developing this case study, the consultant will propose a methodology and the framework, which may follow one or a combination of the above-mentioned frameworks. The final methodology and the framework will be determined in collaboration with TIRTA management.

Deliverables

 

Following deliverables will be produced during this assignment:

1. Research methodology, framework for assessing systemic change, detailed timeline and table of contents for the report
2. Draft report with presentation, including evidence of interviews conducted for future reference
3. Final report incorporating all feedback

 

Requirements

 

Key terms and conditions

 

Selection criteria

 

The consultant should have the following key criteria:

 

1. Strong conceptual understanding of the Market Systems Development (MSD) approach, with practical field experience, preferably within the Indonesian context;
2. Proven track record in producing written case studies or other relevant equivalent written work, preferably on market systems programs;
3. Proven experience in applying qualitative and quantitative research methods;
4. Additional specific expertise in the irrigation sector is preferable;
5. Strong written and verbal communication skills in English; some skills in spoken Bahasa Indonesia preferred;
6. More than one consultant can jointly submit a proposal; but in such case, the proposal should clearly mention the roles and responsibilities of each consultant.

 

Duration

 

The assignment will include both desk research and one in-country visit to East Java, Indonesia for field visit and discussion with key market actors. The case study is expected to require LoE of twenty-five (25) days, including approximately ten days in-country visit. Total input (number of days) and length of field visit is subject to final agreement between TIRTA and the consultant.

The consultant will propose detailed schedule following the tentative timeline mentioned below. However, the final report must be produced before June 30, 2018.

March-April:       Desk research and field work

May:                     Draft report

June:                     Final report

 

How to apply

 

The consultant will submit a proposal which will include, among others:

Research methodology, framework for assessing systemic change and detailed timeline

CV including demonstrated evidence of required skills as mentioned in the selection criteria

Proposed daily rate and total inputs (no. of days)

 

The proposal should be sent through Palladium Website.

Deadline for submitting the proposal is March 23, 2018.