Environmental Monitoring Training Consultant at Creative Associates International

Creative Associates International provides outstanding, on-the-ground development services and forges partnerships to deliver sustainable solutions to global challenges. Its experts focus on building inclusive educational systems, transitioning communities from conflict to peace, developing sustainable economic growth, engaging youth, promoting transparent elections and more. Creative is recognized for its ability to quickly adapt and excel in conflict and post-conflict environments.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Environmental Monitoring Training Consultant

Job Location: Abuja

Project Summary

• The USAID-funded West Africa Trade and Investment Hub (the Trade Hub) is a five-year, $140 million trade and investment facilitation activity that seeks to improve private sector competitiveness in West Africa through market-based approaches.
• The Trade Hub is inspired by the Better Utilization of Investment Leading to Development (BUILD) Act passed by Congress in 2018 to leverage blended finance.
• The Trade Hub aims to achieve a 5:1 leverage ratio through co-investment grants, and investment and finance are key drivers for enterprise and economic growth and export competitiveness.
• An integral part of the Prosper Africa initiative, the Trade Hub partners with the U.S. and West African private sector firms and financial institutions to generate new private sector investment in key sectors to create jobs and increase trade between the U.S. and West Africa, including through increased utilization of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
• The Trade Hub is also an important pathbreaking activity for USAID’s New Partnership Initiative (NPI).  Private sector engagement through competitive solicitations and co-creation processes aim to create innovative partnerships with private companies.
• Given the size of $96M Co-Investment Fund, this may be USAID’s largest co-investment grant facility in the world.
• The Activity is a laboratory to innovate, experiment, and explore new methods of blended finance, PSE, co-creation, and NPI opportunities, in this new generation and unique model of Trade Hubs.  Trade Hubs are complex as regional programs.
• This Trade Hub works through buy-ins with 8 bilateral missions, West Africa and Sahel regional missions, and Women’s Economic Empowerment (formerly W-GDP), Prosper Africa and up to 12 USG agencies through Prosper Africa.

This Activity comprises two main components:

• Design and administration of a grant-making facility for private sector partnerships with companies and financial institutions.
• Technical assistance (TA) that directly supports, coordinates, and engages with qualifying recipients (i.e., partners and grantees) to achieve USAID’s trade, investment, and food security objectives through a process of co-creation and design of co-investments and technical support for implementation and impact.
• The Trade Hub also focuses on co-investment partnerships that increase agricultural productivity and profitability of smallholder farmers in Nigeria under a Research and Development (R&D) Fund towards innovating and modernizing practices across five targeted value chains in seven States.

Objective

• USAID requires that all grant applications are evaluated for environmental risks and as needed, mitigation measures integrated and budgeted to ensure adverse environmental impacts are minimized.
• Therefore, to assist the Trade Hub to evaluate a proposal’s effects on the environment, all applicants are required to complete the Environmental Review (ER) process before funding is approved.
• As of September 2021, several dozen Environmental Review Forms (ERF) have been completed by applicants and 33 grantees are now active in numerous countries across West Africa.
• Upon submission to USAID Activity Managers, the Mission Environmental Officer must approve the ERF included in the grant package.  In addition to reporting on milestones and project indicators, each grantee is expected to report on their mitigation efforts related to activities deemed “Medium Risk” in their  Environmental Mitigation & Monitoring Plan (EMMP).
• As the project enters its third year of programming, the Trade Hub seeks a consultant that will assist the project team to effectively monitor awarded grantees in the field and review EMMPs and related documents.
• This effort will include travel to Nigeria to work with the Environmental Officer in Abuja, PPP and MEL teams to present best practices for environmental monitoring. The visit will also include a field visit to a grantee in a targeted Feed the Future state.
• The purpose of this consultancy is to enhance environmental monitoring by Trade Hub staff and reporting by grantees.
• The analysis and recommendations to Creative aim to achieve optimal reporting and compliance to submitted EMMPs and USAID environmental regulations per 22 CFR 216.

Tasks to Be Performed

• Develop a draft work plan and activity implementation timeline in consultation with the Project team and conduct a consultative session with Trade Hub team to discuss and set expectations.
• Conduct consultations and training with Environmental Officer, PPP and MEL teams to discuss objectives and best practices for environmental monitoring
• Work with the Environmental Officer to put into place monitoring systems and track monitoring effectively of grantees
• Meet with USAID Nigeria Mission Environmental Officer and COR to discuss objectives of visit
• Conduct grantee field visit with Trade Hub staff members to conduct sample environmental monitoring visit
• Prepare trip report with detailed activities, conclusions, recommendations and annexes, such as finalized monitoring form for Trade Hub project staff

Results and / or Deliverables