1.0 Context

Tanzania has been one of the countries which is most generous in the context of hosting refugees, not only in East Africa, but also globally. In 2000, the country had the largest refugee population in Africa, with more than 680,000 refugees living in camps along the northwest border of the country. Although many Burundian refugees repatriated back to Burundi in 2006 and 2007, in 2015 there was an influx of Burundian refugees who settled in Tanzania. These refugees were settled initially in the Nyarugusu refugee camp, a Congolese refugee camp established in November 1996. The additional refugee case load almost tripled the camp’s original planned capacity, making it one of the world’s largest and most overcrowded camps. To ease congestion and provide accommodation for new arrivals from Burundi, two former refugee camps were reopened in Kibondo and Kakonko districts: Nduta, opened in October 2015, and Mtendeli, opened in January 2016.

To date Tanzania hosts 243,611[1] refugees in three camps, namely Nyarugusu, Nduta and Mtendeli in Kigoma region, in north western Tanzania. Majority of the refugees originated from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda. Approximately 86% of the refugee population in Tanzania is accommodated in the three refugee camps located in Kigoma region, namely: Mtendeli with a population of 31,791; Nduta with 73,181 residents; and Nyarugusu with a population of 131,891. The refugee populations of the camps in Kasulu, Kibondo and Kakonko districts accounts for about 10% of Kigoma’s total population.

The increasing demand for wood resources and pressure on land utilization are the biggest environmental issues in the Kigoma region. Both refugees and host communities collect woodfuel as the main source of energy for cooking. The vast majority (around 95%) of all refugees living in the refugee camps in Tanzania depend on firewood sourced outside the camp perimeters for cooking. Competition for the same scarce resource has caused tensions and conflicts between refugees and host communities. The Government of Tanzania has already expressed its concern over the environmental degradation in refugee hosting areas and calls for the roll-out of sustainable energy solutions.

Although implementation reports cite a range of negative environmental setbacks including land degradation, woodland loss, competition for wood resources, and unsafe access to wood energy for cooking, clear interventions have been a challenge due to lack of information on the extent and drivers of the problem. UNHCR, to demonstrate its commitment to work with Government and partners in addressing deforestation challenges in refugee and host communities, designed an assessment to generate information for improved management of natural resources in refugee impacted areas. Using RS/GIS techniques, the resultant change detection will give valuable results about land use/ cover changes over longer periods. The results will further provide soil susceptibility analysis, deforestation and flood detection, forest biomass estimation and provide biodiversity conservation recommendation measures. Thus, there is an urgent need to better understand the dimensions of the natural resource impacts of the refugees and assist the Government of Tanzania to develop and finance intervention strategies that can help alleviate and mitigate pressures on land and other natural resources.

2.0 OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

2.1 PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The purpose of this assignment is to conduct a diagnostic assessment of Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) changes within the areas impacted by refugees in North Western Tanzania and contribute to improved management of natural resources in these areas.

Specifically, the objectives of this consultancy are;

a) Assess the LULC spatial and temporal changes detection, assess landscape composition, condition and dynamics within the camps and their perimeters;

b) Analyze spatial and temporal datasets for LULC changes detection using Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) techniques for Nduta, Mtendeli and Nyarugusu refugee camps;

c) Assess critical (both direct and indirect/underlying) drivers and agents of deforestation and forest degradation;

d) Identify priority options to mitigate the pressure on the environment, ensure access to energy for cooking and contribute to building the resilience of the refugee and host communities;

e) Identify the socio-economic, environmental and institutional barriers (and agents) for forest enhancement and sustainable management at the affected areas;

f) Provide recommendations for an environmentally friendly model for UNHCR and government interventions.**

3.0 APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY

The consultant will be required to develop a detailed approach and methodology to be used in order to address the objectives outlined in this TOR and produce the required outputs. It is expected that the methodology designed by the consultant will capture both primary and secondary data from different sources. The consultant will need to develop data collection tools and test the tools before administering them to the respondents. The following activities will be carried out;

i. Develop the Methodology and Tools for Data collection

The consultant will need to develop data collection tools and test the tools before administering them to the respondents. **

ii. Conducting Descriptive Data Collection:

It is expected that the consultant will collect a combination of datasets involving both primary and secondary data. The secondary data will be collected through desk review from existing relevant documents and the use of RS/GIS analysis to identify areas of forest/biomass loss and of land degradation. Structured and semi-structured interviews will be conducted with the key informants for data triangulation. Consultative interviews will be conducted with the key informants and through focus group discussions (FGDs).

iii. Assessing Spatial and Temporal Assessment of LULC changes

It is anticipated that the consultant will acquire and analyse very high-resolution satellite imagery to determine LULC changes over the areas of interest cropped within the radius of 10 km around each camp. This step will entail acquisition and analysis of satellite images, geometric correction, generation of land use and cover classes, perform change detection and prediction and maps generation. Change detection will cover 5-year intervals dating back from 2010, 2015 and presently 2020. The change prediction will be forecasted for the coming 10 years. Image classification will be conducted using very recent analysis software of raw digital remote sensed data. The output of this performance will be the generation of preliminary maps to be used during Ground-truthing exercise for validation of LULC classes.

iv. Performing Data Analysis and Suggesting Intervention Options

Findings from this study will support proposition of interventions options for addressing key natural resource challenges observed through data analysis. This analysis will combine also socio-economic data on population and activities of refugees to establish linkages attributable to resource use by refugee and host populations. The analysis of intervention options will consider existing institutional capacities as well as the broader range of stakeholders (including NGOs and international organizations) already engaged in support of refugees and host communities in the broad area of engagement. The analysis should also focus on the full range of technical options (e.g. forest rehabilitation, reforestation, woodlots, improved cook stoves, wood fuel alternatives, soil and water conservation practices, etc.) and combinations of options that might be appropriate in specific contexts. The proposed Intervention should consider gender dimensions (e.g. mitigating possible additional risks of gender-based violence for women involved in tree-planting and woodland management activities). Reference should be made to existing good practices, for example, the energy saving stoves distributed in the camp by UNHCR through its environmental partners.

v. Data presentation

Before the final report, the consultant will present the findings to UNHCR and incorporate the comments from the client before generation of the final report.

4.0 DELIVERABLES

1. Inception Report:** the consultant will present a brief, descriptive plan based on these ToRs, on how the assignment will be carried out, the methodology to be used, RS/GIS techniques be adopted, proposal tentative timeframe, and products that are expected. The plan will also identify any advice, support or other input that might be required from the UNHCR environmental team.
2. Technical Report:** This should provide a clear finding of the practical assessment of forest resources degradation issues and analytical information. The report should include clear maps, GIS images, photographs as appropriate, and should be based on a combination of desk-based analysis and field assessment. The technical report should also propose specific intervention strategies and delivery modalities.
3. Summary document:** This should summarize the headline issues of the technical report in a highly readable and concise manner – suitable for key decision-makers. It should provide a clear narrative on the need to address natural resource management sustainability issues in the context of refugee impacted areas in North West Tanzania, a clear summary of the range of available intervention options available, and recommendations for delivery modalities and indicative costings.

5.0 REPORTING

The consultant will report on a regular basis to the UNHCR Environment Officer and Environment Associate based at the Kibondo Field Office.

6.0 TIME FRAME AND REPORTING SCHEDULE

The activities under this contract must be completed within a period of 4 weeks from signing the contract which will be from 1^st October 2020 to 31^st October 2020. The consultant shall submit narrative and financial reports in line with the format to be provided by UNHCR. The report submission modality will be set by UNHCR and shall cover the cost of travel and subsistence during the presentation of the draft report. After the presentation meeting, the Consultant will update the report according to the comments and inputs from reviewers and resubmit to UNHCR as a final report for approval.