Consultancy to Provide Communications Service on Irrigation Plan Supporting Agricultural Production

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Provide communications service on Irrigation Plan Supporting Agricultural Production

Background to the Assignment

About SNV Netherlands Development Organization

SNV is a global development partner, deeply rooted in the countries where we operate. We are driven by a vision of a better world: A world where across every society all people live with dignity and have equitable opportunities to thrive sustainably.

We help strengthen institutions and effective governance, reduce gender inequalities and barriers to social inclusion, and enable adaptation and mitigation to the climate and biodiversity crises.

Building on 60 years of experience we support our partners with our technical and process expertise and methodological rigour. We do this in more than 20 countries in Africa and Asia with a team of approximately 1,600 colleagues.
SNV has been working in Vietnam since 1995, and currently has over 50 national and international staff. SNV Vietnam’s team works hand – in - hand with communities, government agencies, and businesses in more than 40 provinces, including the remotest and poorest areas of the country. We operate from a country office in Hanoi as well as project offices in Ho Chi Minh City, Tra Vinh, Da Lat and Buon Ma Thuot. Our work focuses on three sectors – Agri-Food, Water and Renewable Energy.

About TRVC project

In the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, SNV Vietnam is implementing the project “Transforming the Rice Value Chain for Climate Resilient and Sustainable Development” (TRVC) in An Giang, Dong Thap, and Kien Giang provinces. This exciting and innovative project aims to use a results-based financing mechanism to incentivize private enterprises in the rice value chain (RVC) to invest in scaling sustainable rice production among smallholder farmers (SHFs) and marketing domestically and internationally in the most rice intensive production provinces over five years (2022 2027). It is built on three core strategic objectives, namely

• Improving climate resilience,
• Optimizing rice value chain linkages,
• and developing carbon markets.

Further project information can be found: https://trvc.vn/.

SNV’s TRVC project is committed to supporting the sustainable agriculture-food system development in line with the priorities and green growth strategy of the Government of Vietnam.  One of the immediate outcomes from the TRVC interventions in the three most rice intensive provinces is to save the water for rice irrigation, specially under the water resources scarcity and adverse climate change phenomena i.e. El Nino. In line with the Department of Water Resources’ (DWR) implementation plan to enhance communication efforts to disseminate information, provide warnings, and guide the prevention and management of droughts, water shortages, and saltwater intrusion, improving the operational efficiency of irrigation projects to expand the coverage, reduce the time required for information delivery, support water supply management for agricultural production and domestic use, and optimize water usage efficiency; SNV through its TRVC project support the DWR to produce two key communication reports.

Objectives of the assignment

The objective of the assignment is to call for quotations from professional communications agencies to provide services for producing media reports aimed at enhancing the dissemination of information, warnings, and guidance on drought, water scarcity, salt intrusion, and the effective operation of irrigation systems for agricultural production and domestic use, as well as improving water use efficiency.

Detailed Tasks

The expected tasks to meet this objective are as follows:

1. Producing the feature Report on Solutions for Drought and Salinity Mitigation during the Dry Season 2023-2024 in the Mekong Delta Region

A detailed script will be developed by SNV and the Department of Water Resources, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Materials from news bulletins, feature reports, and segments that have been recorded and broadcast on various media channels, detailing the directives and operations of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Department of Water Resources, and conferences on response efforts. These include work programmes, summaries of severe drought events, saltwater intrusion, and other related issues. This also encompasses solutions implemented by local communities and relevant central and local agencies, which have been interviewed, recorded, and broadcast. Additional interviews with representatives from the Australian Embassy and SNV, discussing their experiences with drought and saltwater intrusion in agricultural production, as well as ongoing and planned projects in Vietnam, will be included. Other available materials from the entity producing the feature report are also considered.

2. Producing the News Report/Feature on Water Resources Situation and Water Extraction Plans for Winter-Spring 2024-2025 Rice Cultivation in the Red River Delta Region

Information provided by the Department of Water Resources through directives, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's water extraction schedule notifications; official dispatches, summary reports on water extraction conditions from the Department of Water Resources, and practical materials on water preparation and extraction progress collected from various localities, as well as other available materials from the entity producing the feature report.

Deliverables and timeframe

The work specified above is expected to be completed by December 2024. The following deliverables and timeframe are expected, although consultants can suggest their own proposed timetables:

1. Feature Report on Solutions for Drought and Salinity Mitigation during the Dry Season 2023-2024 in the Mekong Delta Region

• Duration: 10-15 minutes
• Broadcast: Shown at the Festival of Scientific Conferences and a series of scientific workshops and exhibitions, and on several digital platforms.
• Air Date: November 14, 2024
• Feature report file that can be displayed on digital devices and platforms.