CONSULTANCY: Assessment of Commodity Supply Chains to Identify Deforestation Risks and Compliance Gaps in the Southwest and Southeast Landscapes of Ethiopia (Oromia and South West Ethiopia Peoples’ Regional States)

Project: Harnessing Forests and Ecosystems for a Climate-Nature-People Triple Win (HARNESS)
Issued by: Environment and Coffee Forest Forum (ECFF), on behalf of the HARNESS Consortium
Location: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Issue Date: November 13, 2026

1. Background

HARNESS is a consortium project led by Farm Africa, in partnership with the Environment and Coffee Forest Forum (ECFF), NABU Ethiopia, and SOSS Ethiopia. The project operates across eleven priority woredas in Oromia and the South West Ethiopia Peoples’ Region (SWEPR), with the aim of reducing deforestation, restoring ecosystems, strengthening climate resilience, and promoting inclusive green growth.

The project aims to bring 228,509 hectares of forest and associated landscapes under improved management and is expected to benefit more than 150,000 people.

ECFF is seeking a qualified consulting firm to assess selected commodity supply chains, with a particular focus on coffee, to identify deforestation and forest degradation risks and assess compliance gaps with Ethiopian laws and international market requirements, including the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).

The assessment will establish a baseline for HARNESS project interventions and provide recommendations for a prioritized action plan.

2. Scope of Work

The selected consultant will be responsible for carrying out the following nine tasks:

1. Inception and methodology design.
2. Commodity and supply chain mapping.
3. Assessment of production systems and land-use dynamics.
4. Geospatial and deforestation risk assessment, including the development of risk maps.
5. Legal and regulatory compliance assessment.
6. Assessment of compliance with EUDR and other international market requirements.
7. Stakeholder consultations and validation.
8. Integrated risk and compliance gap analysis.
9. Development of recommendations and an action plan.

3. Deliverables

All deliverables must be submitted in English in editable formats (Word and Excel) as well as PDF. GIS data must be provided in standard formats.

The key deliverables include:

• Inception Report: To be submitted within 10 working days of contract signing.
• Field Progress Brief: Documenting fieldwork progress and preliminary findings.
• Draft Integrated Assessment Report: To be submitted within 45 working days.
• Validation Workshop Report: Documenting stakeholder feedback and validation outcomes.
• Final Assessment Report: To be submitted within 60 working days, including a five-page executive summary.
• Costed Risk and Compliance Gap Action Plan: Presenting prioritized interventions and estimated implementation costs.
• Summary Products: Including a PowerPoint presentation, a four-page decision-maker brief, and cleaned and anonymized datasets.

Duration: The assignment shall be completed within a maximum of 60 working days, spanning approximately four calendar months from the date of contract signing.

Eligibility and Qualifications

The assignment is open to consulting firms or consortia holding a valid and renewed business license and meeting the following minimum requirements:

• At least seven years of experience in forest governance, sustainable commodity value chains, land-use planning, or environmental and social assessments.
• Experience in at least three similar assignments completed within the last five years, preferably including EUDR readiness assessments.
• Demonstrated capacity in remote sensing, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and ground-truthing.
• Strong knowledge of Ethiopian forestry, agriculture, land, and environmental policies and legal frameworks.

5. Required Key Experts

The consulting firm must propose a qualified multidisciplinary team comprising the following experts:

5.1. Team Leader – Supply Chain and Forest Governance

• Master’s degree or higher in a relevant field.
• At least 10 years of professional experience.
• Demonstrated knowledge of EUDR requirements and deforestation-free supply chains.

5.2. GIS and Remote Sensing Specialist

• Master’s degree or higher in a relevant field.
• At least seven years of experience in land-use change analysis and deforestation mapping.

5.3. Legal and Policy Expert

• Degree in Law or Environmental Policy, preferably at Master’s level.
• At least seven years of experience in Ethiopian land, forestry, environmental, and trade legislation.

5.4. Value Chain and Market Systems Specialist

• Master’s degree or higher in a relevant field.
• At least seven years of experience in commodity value chain analysis, preferably involving coffee and forest products.

5.5. Social Development and Gender Specialist

• Master’s degree or higher in a relevant field.
• At least five years of experience in participatory assessments, gender, and social inclusion.

Field Enumerators: Field enumerators must be proficient in Afaan Oromoo, Amharic, and the relevant languages spoken in the South West Ethiopia Peoples’ Region.

6. Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated using a 70% technical and 30% financial weighting system.

Only technical proposals scoring a minimum of 70 out of 100 points will qualify for financial evaluation.

7. Payment Schedule

Payments will be made according to the following milestones:

• 20% upon approval of the Inception Report.
• 40% upon approval of the Draft Report and geospatial products.
• 40% upon approval of the Final Report, action plan, and summary products.