Formulation of Policy Note on Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning Towards Supporting Implementation of the African Union Blue Economy Strategy 252 views0 applications

Background

Africa is abundantly blessed with a coastline of over 30,000 Kilometers, adjacent to vast expanse of oceans and seas. Maritime zones under Africa’s jurisdiction total about 13 million square Kilometers including territorial seas and approximately 6.5 million square Kilometers of the continental shelf. The continent is also endowed with huge networks of rivers, lakes, floodplains, waterways, catchments and wetlands with massive potential for socio-economic growth, advancement and prosperity of the continent. These natural aquatic endowments represent significant opportunities for social and economic development much of which remains untapped, unexploited and underutilized. Some of these opportunities include fisheries, aquaculture, transport, energy and minerals, tourism, rural economic development and increased ecosystem conservation and environmental sustainability. Thirty nine of the fifty five African Union Member States are adjacent to the coastline.

Africa’s ocean, sea and inland waters (lakes, rivers and reservoirs) provide significant benefits in the continent in terms of: i) food and nutrition security from fisheries and aquaculture; ii) economic and social development from fisheries and aquaculture, marine and coastal tourism, shipping, mining, energy; and, iii) ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, water filtration, atmospheric and temperature regulation, protection from erosion and extreme weather events.

In a bid to fully harness these aquatic endowments for the benefits of the continent, the African Union developed the Africa Blue Economy Strategy. Noting that the blue economy has diverse components, the strategy focuses on the following five thematic areas of the blue economy, considered as essential and crucial to blue economy growth, development and prosperity in Africa:

1. Fisheries, aquaculture, conservation and sustainable aquatic ecosystems
2. Shipping/transportation, trade, ports, maritime security, safety and enforcement
3. Coastal and maritime tourism, climate change, resilience, environment, infrastructure
4. Sustainable energy and mineral resources and innovative industries
5. Policies, institutional and governance, employment, job creation and poverty eradication, innovative financing

Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) is identified as a tool for better coordination and synergy in blue economy development. In recent years, few AU Member States have initiated the MSP process as part of their national developmental programs but the implementation still remains a significant technical challenge for a majority of the AU Member States. MSP is essential to balancing sustainable use and conservation imperatives and mitigating conflicts and creating synergies amongst the users, particularly during this time of the growing Blue Economy initiative on the continent.

Rationale

MSP provides an integrated planning framework that moves away from sectoral management to address multiple objectives related to achieving economic and ecological sustainability and the need to reduce conflicts in marine ecosystems and environment. As it is most commonly defined, MSP is a “public process of analyzing and allocating the spatial and temporal distribution of human activities in marine areas to achieve ecological, economic, and social objectives that are usually specified through a political process”. MSP is therefore a practical way to organize the use of the ocean space, and the interactions among human uses (e.g. fisheries, aquaculture, shipping, tourism, renewable energy production, marine mining) and between uses and the marine environment.

As some African countries have recently started developing MSPs and implementing pilot projects, it is critical to develop policy note that gives a concise summary and advocacy brief on MSP, the policy options to deal with it, and some recommendations on the best option. The Policy note would mainly aim at government policymakers and inter-Governmental Organizations that are interested in formulating or influencing policies in AU Member States and in regions.

With support of the Kingdom of Norway, the African Union-InterAfrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR), has organized regional workshops on Marine Spatial Planning. The workshop enhanced awareness of AU Member States, regional institutions, Non-States on MSP. During the awareness enhancing workshop, highly informative presentations were made by knowledgeable experts on MSP. Following up to the highly successful awareness workshop, AU-IBAR, with support of Kingdom, is seeking a qualified consultant to formulate a Policy Note on MSP that would conceptualized understanding of the MSP, outlined stepwise approach to MSP implementation and governance, the lessons and best practices.

Objectives of the Policy Note on MSP and assignment

Within the context of Africa Blue Economy Strategy, the overall objective of this consultancy is to develop a policy note that gives a stepwise guide to implementation and governance of Marine Spatial Planning, including balanced information and advocacy brief to support decision-making by policymakers in AU Member States and Regional Economic Communities.

The specific objectives will be to provide the following in the policy note:

1. Synopsis of MSP concept;
2. A stepwise approach or guide to implementation and governance of MSP;
3. Advocacy brief to support implementation of MSP in AU Member States;
4. Enhance knowledge on the critical steps in planning and Implementing MSP and governance; and,
5. Share experiences on lessons, best practices on implementing and governing MSP and with key policy messages.

Methodology of conducting the assignment

During the consultancy, the Consultant is expected to:

• Gain access to, and be thoroughly conversant with, the Africa Blue Economy Strategy
• Identify and review other related AU and global instruments and best practices on blue economy and on MSP);
• Liaise with AU-IBAR for access to the highly informative presentations on MSP made at the Awareness enhancing Regional workshops ion MSP; and,
• Consult electronically and/or virtually with relevant staff at AU-IBAR, AUDA-NEPAD and DARBE.

The assignment will be executed primarily from home with electronic interaction with stakeholders.

Deliverables/Outputs

The consultant will be expected to submit to the Director, AU-IBAR the following:

• A draft inception report within five (5) calendar days of signing the contract. The inception report should demonstrate a clear understanding of the assignment by the consultant. The report should also include a detailed work plan, timelines and deliverables of the assignment;
• First draft on Policy Note on Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning within 10 man-days;
• Final draft of the Policy Note that will incorporate comments and suggestions made by the relevant staff; and,
• A comprehensive report on the consultancy with lessons and best practices.

Qualification

The consultant selected for the assignment should possess advanced degree in blue economy related discipline: i.e. natural (aquatic) resources economics; fisheries and aquaculture; including climate change and environment. PhD degree in related discipline would be an added advantage.

General experience

The successful candidate is expected to have the following experiences:

1. More than 5 years in capacity development on sustainability issues relating to blue economy related themes (ideally covering the environment, economics, and social dimensions, aquatic sciences);
2. Record of formulation of relevant policies, strategies and frameworks for AU member states and regional institutions to support sustainable blue economy resources governance and development.
3. Demonstrated record of experience on enhancing regional management systems in African transboundary aquatic ecosystems
4. Record of capacity building of African stakeholders (including Member States, Regional Institutions, NSAs) on blue economy concepts

Specific experience

1. Evidence of familiarization and in-depth knowledge of Africa blue economy sector;
2. Evidence of peer-reviewed publications of knowledge-products on Africa blue economy related tools
3. Evidence of promoting development of blue economy strategies at national, regional and continental levels in Africa;
4. Evidence of advancing knowledge of stakeholders in Africa on MSP concept

Other essential attributes

1. Record of good writing skills and scientific publications in relevant fields of blue economy;
2. Record of delivery assignment within tight schedules; and,
3. Proficiency in at least two AU official languages.

Evaluation criteria and scores

Criteria Scores

Qualifications 15

General experience 20

Specific experience 40

Methodology and approach 10

Other skills (writing skills, computing skills, publications) 10

Proficiency in AU Language 5

Duration of assignment

20 man-days effective but conducted within 40 days calendar days

Remuneration

The maximum fee for this consultancy is USD 6000 (Six Thousand US Dollars). No other costs will be paid for.

Payment schedule for individual consultant:

1. 30 % payment for first approved draft of the Policy Note on MSP
2. 70 % payment of the final approved Policy Note on MSP

Selection Criteria

The consultancy will be awarded on the basis of evaluation of CV, and of the following proposals submitted by the consultant to AU-IBAR:

• Detailed CV of consultant
• A Technical proposal on how the applicant will do the assignment: detailed description of the proposed methodology; including qualifications and experiences

Supervision and approval of report

Under the supervision of the AU-IBAR Fisheries Management Expert with oversight supervision by the Director of AU-IBAR.

Equipment

The consultant will use own laptops and other data capturing equipment deemed necessary during execution of the assignment.

Insurance cover

The consultant will be responsible for own medical and life insurance cover for the duration of the assignment.