Consultancy to Identify Area-Specific Issues on Climate Risk on Agricultural Production, Including Suggestions and Feasible Solutions via Expert Interventions at 03 SIDT Area Levels

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) Knuckles Project – “Strengthening Climate Resilience of Subsistence Farmers and Agricultural Plantation Communities Residing in the Vulnerable River Basins, Watershed Areas and Downstream of the Knuckles Mountain Range Catchment of Sri Lanka” – is a six-year initiative funded by the GCF and the Government of Sri Lanka, with an estimated investment of approximately USD 51 million. The project is executed by CIFOR-ICRAF and the Department of Irrigation under the Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Livestock and Irrigation (MoALLI) of the Government of Sri Lanka.

The project aims to enhance the adaptive capacity of approximately 1.34 million people (51.4% women) residing in the Knuckles Mountain Range catchment and its downstream areas across the Matale, Kandy, Polonnaruwa, Kurunegala, Anuradhapura, and Puttalam districts. It seeks to improve the resilience of farm and land management practices while climate-proofing the underlying ecosystems in the Knuckles/Amban Ganga highlands and lowlands, and to protect 346,000 hectares of upland and lowland agro-ecosystems and natural ecosystems from climate variability and change. The Knuckles Mountain Range, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of Sri Lanka’s most critical natural assets, encompassing key biodiversity hotspots and forest reserves.

The project adopts a three-pronged approach: (i) safeguarding ecosystem goods and services generated in the Knuckles catchment area; (ii) increasing productivity and climate resilience of primary production in the Knuckles catchment area and its command area; and (iii) securing financing mechanisms for sustainable land management, including upgrading value chains with the private sector and establishing Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) mechanisms.

Climate change poses significant and growing threats to agricultural production in the project area. Analyses show higher and more intense rainfall projected for key growing season months in the highlands, exacerbating floods and soil erosion that generate sediment flow to reservoirs. Simultaneously, higher temperatures and reduced rainfall in lowland areas intensify drought conditions. These changes directly affect crop yields, livestock productivity, water availability, and the sustainability of farming livelihoods.

Under Component 2 of the project, Activity 2.1.1 focuses on domestic value chain mapping and green market assessments for products from smallholder and subsistence farmers. A critical sub-activity (Activity 2.1.1.4) requires hiring a consultancy to identify area-specific issues on climate risk affecting production, development of feasible solutions, and facilitation of expert interventions at the three Sub-basin Integrated Delivery Team (SIDT) area levels. The three SIDT areas represent distinct agro-ecological zones:
 • SIDT-1 (Matale – Sudu Ganga Sub-catchment,Laggala-Pallegama, Upstream): Characterised by steep terrain, mixed plantation agriculture (tea, rubber, spices), home gardens, and rainfed smallholder farming. Key climate risks include soil erosion, landslides, changing rainfall patterns, and temperature fluctuations affecting crop phenology and pest dynamics.
 • SIDT-2 (Kandy – Udadumbara, Meemure, Upstream): Covers the eastern sub-catchments with significant forest cover, traditional farming systems including chena cultivation, and high biodiversity value. Climate threats include deforestation-linked microclimate changes, water source depletion, and increased frequency of extreme rainfall events.
 • SIDT-3 (Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa & Kurunegala, Downstream): Dependent on reservoir-based irrigation systems (including the Moragahakanda-Kalu Ganga multipurpose scheme and cascade tank systems). Major climate risks include sedimentation of reservoirs, prolonged droughts, flood damage to crops, and heat stress on paddy and field crops.

This consultancy will generate critical baseline knowledge and actionable recommendations that directly feed into and support the implementation of multiple inter-linked activities under the project workplan all three components including the activities of sustainable landscape management and training, green farming certification, climate adaptation strategies for youth, farmer group investment, and value chain development.

Duties and responsibilities

Overall Objective:

To conduct comprehensive, area-specific climate risk assessments on agricultural production systems across the three SIDT areas within the GCF Knuckles Project landscape, and to develop evidence-based, feasible solutions through expert interventions that strengthen the climate resilience of smallholder and subsistence farming communities.

Specific Objectives:

• Assess and document the current and projected climate risks (including temperature changes, rainfall variability, droughts, floods, landslides, and extreme weather events) affecting agricultural production in each of the three SIDT areas.
  
• Identify and characterise area-specific vulnerabilities of key production systems (food crops, cash crops, livestock, home gardens, plantation agriculture, and irrigated farming) to climate hazards in each SIDT area.
  
• Characterize area-specific vulnerabilities related to FLR, increasing cropping intensity and intensification of sustainable production systems (both smallholder and largescale) in both upstream and downstream.
  
• Quantify the economic, social, and environmental impacts of identified climate risks on production capacity, yield quality, food security, sustainable landscape management and livelihood sustainability using appropriate analytical frameworks.
  
• Engage local communities, farmers (including women-headed farm families), and expert stakeholders through participatory methods to document indigenous knowledge, existing adaptation practices, and priority intervention needs.
  
• Develop tailored, technically sound, and economically feasible climate-smart adaptation solutions for each SIDT area through expert consultations and stakeholder validation workshops.
  
• Create SIDT-level implementation roadmaps with prioritised short-term, medium-term, and long-term climate adaptation interventions that integrate with the broader GCF Knuckles Project activities.
  
• Produce knowledge products including climate risk maps, technical guidance materials, training resource inputs, and policy briefs to support evidence-based decision-making and project implementation.

Scope of the Assignment

The consultant/consultancy firm shall undertake the following tasks across all three SIDT areas:

A. Climate Risk Assessment and Profiling

• Collect and analyse historical climate data (including but not limited to temperature, precipitation, humidity, wind patterns) and available future climate projections specific to each SIDT area using downscaled climate models and datasets from the Department of Meteorology and relevant research institutions.
  
• Identify and rank key climate hazards (erratic rainfall, prolonged droughts, increased temperatures, intense precipitation events, hailstorms, landslides, floods, and dry spells) affecting production and landscape management systems in each SIDT area.
  
• Conduct crop-specific and production system-specific vulnerability assessments covering major farming systems in each area, including paddy, vegetables, spices (pepper, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg), plantation crops (tea, rubber, cocoa), livestock, and home garden systems.
  
• Map interdependencies between production systems and ecosystem services (water regulation, soil conservation, pollination, biodiversity, microclimate regulation) in each SIDT area.
  
• Develop GIS-based hazard maps, vulnerability maps, and composite climate risk maps for each SIDT area.
  
• Quantify potential economic losses and productivity impacts under different climate scenarios, including estimation of crop yield losses, income reductions, and livelihood disruptions.
  

B. Participatory Community-Level Assessments

• Conduct participatory risk assessments with smallholder and subsistence farmers, including women-headed farm families, in all three SIDT areas using Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) techniques.
  
• Facilitate Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with farmer groups, women’s groups, youth groups, Farmer Organisations, and community-based organisations to document local perceptions of climate change, observed impacts on production, and existing coping and adaptation strategies.
  
• Conduct Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) with Agricultural Instructors, Divisional Secretariat officials, irrigation engineers, agrarian service officers, and other relevant institutional stakeholders in all SIDT areas.
  
• Document indigenous and traditional knowledge on climate patterns, seasonal calendars, early warning indicators, and locally developed adaptation practices.
  
• Assess the current capacity, resource constraints, and institutional support available to farming communities for adopting climate-smart practices.
  
• Prepare comprehensive socio-economic profiles of climate vulnerability for different farmer typologies (smallholders, subsistence, women-headed, youth) in each SIDT area.
  

C. Expert Consultations and Solution Development

• Organise and facilitate expert consultation workshops (minimum one per SIDT area, total of three workshops) bringing together climate scientists, agricultural researchers, irrigation engineers, soil scientists, agronomists, agricultural economists, and local knowledge holders.
  
• Engage subject matter experts to develop area-specific technical solutions addressing priority climate risks, covering: climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices, improved water management and irrigation efficiency, soil and water conservation techniques, crop diversification and climate-resilient variety selection, agroforestry integration, livestock management improvements, and post-harvest loss reduction.
  
• Conduct cost-benefit analyses and feasibility assessments for proposed interventions in each SIDT area, considering resource constraints and capacities of target farming communities.
  
• Develop detailed implementation guidelines for recommended interventions, tailored to the specific agro-ecological, socio-economic, and institutional contexts of each SIDT area.
  
• Design monitoring indicators and an evaluation framework for tracking adoption and effectiveness of proposed climate adaptation interventions.
  
• Facilitate stakeholder validation workshops to present draft findings and refine recommendations based on feedback from farmers, government agencies, and technical experts.
  

D. Linkages with Other Project Activities under the Workplan

The consultant shall ensure that the climate risk assessment findings and recommendations are directly linked to and supportive of the following inter-connected project activities:

• Activity 2.1.1.1 (Interagency Committee): Provide climate risk intelligence to inform integrated planning sessions and progress review workshops of the district-level interagency committees in 4 districts.
  
• Activity 2.1.1.2 (Farmer Identification and Baseline): Contribute climate vulnerability profiles to the farmer database and web-based farmer profiles being developed across 4 districts, enabling targeted climate adaptation support.
  
• Activity 2.1.1.3 (Value Chain Assessment): Integrate climate risk information into domestic value chain maps and green market assessments to identify climate-resilient value chain opportunities and inform e-marketing initiatives.
  
• Activity 2.1.1.5 (Climate Risk Strategies for Youth): Provide the evidence base for developing and implementing strategies to overcome climate risk in agriculture and promote innovation among youth through two programmes across 4 districts.
  
• Activity 2.1.1.6 (Sustainable Agriculture Training): Inform the design of training curricula, farmer field school programmes, and practical training materials on climate-smart sustainable agriculture for farmer groups.
  
• Activity 2.1.1.7 (Farmer Group Infrastructure): Guide investment priorities for common infrastructure that enhances climate resilience, product quality, and post-harvest management for smallholder farmer groups.
  
• Activity 2.1.1.8 (Green Farming Certification): Support the development of green farming certification criteria and monitoring protocols that incorporate climate resilience performance indicators.
  
• Activity 2.1.1.9 (Green Product Promotion): Provide the scientific basis for selecting, certifying, and promoting climate-resilient green farming products in local and export target markets.
  
• Activity 2.1.1.10 (Market Platforms): Inform the design of comprehensive e-business platforms and market platforms for green farming products with integrated climate risk information for market actors and consumers.
  
• Activity 2.2.3 Guide the establishment and monitoring of eco system services relevant to PES
  
• Activity 3.1.3 Provide scientific evidence to the governance mechanism to guide sustainable landscape management interventions under component 1.
  

E. Knowledge Products and Dissemination

• Prepare comprehensive SIDT-level climate risk assessment reports with actionable, prioritised recommendations for each area.
  
• Develop practical toolkits, training materials, and technical guidance notes for use by extension workers, SIDT officers, and farmer groups.
  
• Create GIS-based visual resources including hazard maps, vulnerability maps, risk maps, infographics, and data visualisations for dissemination and awareness.
  
• Produce policy briefs with strategic recommendations for scaling successful climate adaptation interventions to other areas within and beyond the project landscape.
  
• Present key findings and recommendations at project steering committee meetings and relevant stakeholder forums.
  
  

Education, knowledge and experience

The consultant/firm shall submit the following reports and comply with the reporting arrangements below:
 • All reports shall be submitted electronically in Microsoft Word and PDF formats to CIFOR-ICRAF Sri Lanka Country Office. GIS deliverables shall be submitted in standard formats (shapefiles, GeoTIFFs, or equivalent).
 • Community-level materials, toolkits, and training guides shall be provided in Sinhala and/or Tamil as appropriate, in addition to English.
 • Electronic copies of all raw data, GIS files, analysis databases, and survey instruments shall be handed over to the CIFOR-ICRAF Sri Lanka Country Office upon completion.
 • Bi-weekly progress meetings shall be conducted with the CIFOR-ICRAF Sri Lanka Country Office (virtual or in-person as appropriate).
 • Monthly written progress reports shall be submitted to the CIFOR-ICRAF Sri Lanka Country Office highlighting progress against work plan milestones, challenges encountered, and proposed remedial actions.
 • The consultant shall present key findings and progress at relevant project steering committee meetings and technical working group sessions as requested by the CIFOR-ICRAF Sri Lanka Country Office.
 • All data collected, GIS files, analysis databases, and intellectual property generated under this assignment shall remain the property of the GCF Knuckles Project and CIFOR-ICRAF.
 Consultancy Requirements
 A. For Individual Consultant / Team Leader
 Educational Qualifications:
 • A PhD or Master’s degree in Climate Science, Agricultural Sciences, Environmental Management, Natural Resource Management, Agricultural Economics, or a closely related field from a recognised university.
 Professional Experience:
 • Minimum of 10 years (for PhD holders) or 15 years (for Master’s holders) of professional experience in climate change adaptation, climate risk assessment, or climate-smart agriculture.
 • Demonstrated experience in conducting climate vulnerability and risk assessments in agricultural contexts, preferably in tropical or South Asian settings.
 • Proven track record of designing and implementing climate-smart agriculture interventions and adaptation strategies.
 • Strong experience in participatory research methodologies including FGDs, KIIs, PRA techniques, and community-based assessments.
 • Experience in GIS-based hazard and vulnerability mapping and spatial data analysis.
 • Experience working in mountainous, watershed, or irrigated agricultural landscapes.
 • Familiarity with GCF-funded projects or similar international climate finance mechanisms is highly desirable.
 • Excellent facilitation, analytical, report writing, and presentation skills in English.
 • Working knowledge of Sinhala and/or Tamil is an added advantage.
 
 Composition of the team: the team members may comply with the similar requirements given under minimum team composition in B below.
 
 B. For Consultancy Firm (if applicable)
 • The firm must be a legally registered entity with a valid business registration in Sri Lanka or the country of origin.
 • Minimum of 5 years of organisational experience in climate change, agriculture, environmental management, or related consultancy services.
 • Demonstrated institutional capacity to field a multidisciplinary team with expertise spanning climate science, agriculture/agronomy, soil science, hydrology, GIS/remote sensing, agricultural economics, and social research.
 • Proven track record of successfully delivering similar assignments for government agencies, international organisations, or climate finance institutions.
 Minimum Team Composition (if firm):
 • Climate/Environmental Scientist (Team Leader) – PhD with 10+ years’ experience
 • Agricultural/Agronomic Expert – MSc/PhD with 7+ years’ experience in Sri Lankan farming systems
 • GIS/Remote Sensing Specialist – MSc with 5+ years’ experience in hazard/vulnerability mapping
 • Socio-economic/Community Development Expert – MSc with 7+ years’ experience in participatory research
 • Agricultural Economist – MSc with 5+ years’ experience in cost-benefit and economic impact analysis
 C. Evaluation Criteria
 Proposals will be evaluated using a combined scoring method (70% technical, 30% financial). Technical evaluation criteria:
 • Relevance of educational qualifications and professional certifications (15%)
 • Relevant professional experience in climate risk assessment, climate-smart agriculture, and adaptation planning (25%)
 • Proposed methodology and technical approach, including appropriateness of analytical frameworks, participatory methods, GIS capabilities, and expert engagement strategy (30%)
 • Understanding of assignment context: Knuckles landscape, SIDT areas, GCF project framework, and demonstrated linkages with other project activities (15%)
 • Quality of proposed work plan, team composition (if firm), timeline feasibility, and resource allocation (10%)
 • Language skills (Sinhala/Tamil) and local knowledge of Sri Lankan agricultural systems (5%)
 
 A minimum technical score of 70 out of 100 is required for further consideration. Only technically qualified proposals will proceed to the financial evaluation stage.
 
 D. Application Requirements
 Interested consultants/firms should submit:
 • Technical Proposal (maximum 20 pages excluding annexes): cover letter, understanding of the assignment and project context, detailed technical approach and methodology, proposed work plan and timeline, team composition and responsibilities (if firm), and description of relevant past experience with at least three examples of similar assignments.
 • Financial Proposal: Detailed budget breakdown covering professional fees (per day rates), travel and accommodation, field data collection costs, workshop costs, GIS and analytical tool costs, and any other related expenses. All applicable taxes must be clearly indicated.
 • Supporting Documents: Updated CVs of the consultant(s) and/or proposed team members; copies of relevant academic qualifications and profession

Terms and conditions

• The consultant/firm shall comply with CIFOR-ICRAF’s procurement and operational policies, including safeguarding, anti-fraud, anti-corruption, and conflict of interest provisions.
 • The consultant shall adhere to the Environmental and Social Safeguards (ESS) framework and the Gender Action Plan of the GCF Knuckles Project throughout the assignment.
 • All information, data, and findings obtained during the consultancy are confidential and shall not be disclosed to third parties without prior written approval from CIFOR-ICRAF and the PMU.
 • The consultant shall obtain any necessary ethical clearances and research permits prior to commencing field data collection.
 • Payments will be made in instalments upon satisfactory completion and approval of deliverables by the PMU, subject to applicable tax deductions as per Sri Lankan tax regulations.
 • Work location: Knuckles Mountain Range Catchment Area, Sri Lanka (with field visits to all three SIDT areas in Matale, Kandy, Anuradhapura, and Kurunegala Districts)
 • CIFOR-ICRAF reserves the right to terminate the contract for non-performance, breach of terms, or failure to meet agreed deliverable standards
 • Application deadline: 27 March 2026
 • Interested and qualified consultants/firms are invited to submit their applications (Technical Proposal, Financial Proposal, and Supporting Documents) .
 • Late submissions will not be considered. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for further assessment. CIFOR-ICRAF reserves the right to accept or reject any application and is not bound to assign any reason for its decision.
 • We will acknowledge all applications but will only contact short?listed applicants.
 • Please read the full details in the attachment file.
 
 
To learn more about CIFOR-ICRAF, please visit our websites at:
 https://www.cifor-icraf.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.