The Government of Lesotho, with support from the EU and the BMZ, has embarked on an ambitious "National Programme for ICM (ReNoka)" ("re noka" in Sesotho means "we are a river"). Its aim is to rehabilitate degraded watersheds across the country and to put in place prevention measures that will halt the further degradation of Lesotho"s catchment areas. The sustainable management of Lesotho"s catchments are of critical importance for water, land, energy and food security not only in Lesotho itself but in the entire Orange-Senqu Basin and Gauteng Province, one of Southern Africa"s economic centres.
The GIZ has been commissioned by the EU and the BMZ as part of its transboundary water management (TWM) programme for Southern African Development Community (SADC) to implement a technical cooperation project (Action) to support ICM / ReNoka in Lesotho. The overall objective of the Action is that "ICM facilitates socio-economic development and adaptation to climate change in Lesotho", while the specific objective is "ICM is institutionalised and under full implementation in Lesotho, based on gender equality and climate adaptation principles". To achieve this objective, the Action work concurrently on five interlinked outputs:
- Output 1: Effective and efficient, gender sensitive and climate-resilient policy framework for ICM is developed and applied.
- Output 2: Effective and efficient institutions for ICM are established, with equitable representation of women and youth.
- Output 3: Capacity, skills and knowledge of public, private sector and civil society for sustainable ICM is facilitated.
- Output 4: ICM measures are implemented.
- Output 5: Capacity strengthened for coordination, monitoring, supervision and general programme management.

Lesotho is sub-divided into six Catchment Management Areas of (CMAs) to facilitate the planning and management of its three river basins (Senqu river basin, Mohokare river basin and Makhaleng river basin). The six CMAs are Upper Senqu, Lower Senqu, Upper Mohokare, Central Mohokare, Lower Mohokare and Makhaleng. Lesotho"s Long-term Water and Sanitation Strategy (2014) calls for the preparation of Integrated Catchment Management and Development Plans (ICMDPs) in consultation with stakeholders and guidelines for their elaboration as key components to support Integrated Catchment Management in Lesotho.
So far two of the six ICMDPs have been elaborated, these are two ICMDPs for Upper Mohokare and Makhaleng CMAs. The objective of this assignment is therefore to elaborate four ICMDPs for the following CMAs: Upper Senqu, Lower Senqu, Central Mohokare and Lower Mohokare.

The objective of the assignment is to elaborate 4 Integrated Catchment Management and Development Plans (ICMDPs) for the 4 Catchment Management Areas (CMAs) of Lesotho namely: Upper Senqu, Lower Senqu, Central Mohokare and Lower Mohokare. The elaboration of these four (4) ICMDPs in Lesotho will contribute to the programme objectives of "Action", "Support to Integrated Catchment Management in Lesotho (ICM)" which is part of the Transboundary Water Management in the SADC (TWM). Relevant specific objective of the action is "to ensure ICM is institutionalized and under full implementation in Lesotho, based on gender equality and climate adaptation principles and relevant indicator being "Number of climate resilient and gender sensitive Integrated Catchment Management and Development Plans (ICMDPs) at Catchment Management Area level based on national guidelines developed and approved by respective structures." This objective aligns with overall TWM module objectives:
The contractor is responsible for providing the following work packages and for achieving the corresponding deliverables below.
WP 1: Project planning and stakeholder engagement
Tasks
1.1: Thoroughly familiarizes with the ICM landscape in Lesotho, the goals of the national ICM program (ReNOKA) and carry out the kick-off meeting,
1.2: Development of methodology for stakeholder consultation and the desktop review.
1.3: Planning of activities and preparation of inception report
Deliverable WP 1: Inception report with detailed activity plan
WP 2: Situation analysis and diagnostic (problem) analysis
Tasks
2.1: Carry out a desktop data review according to the guidelines of annexes 2.
2.2: Conduct stakeholder consultations to collect additional relevant information and data about the 4 CMAs.
2.3: Elaboration of the situational analysis for the 4 CMAs according to annexes 1&2.
2.4: Elaboration of the diagnostic (problem) analysis for the 4 CMAs according to annexes 1&2
The consultant shall develop the situational analysis for the 4 CMAs according to the attached annexes 1&2 and perform a diagnostic (problem) analysis based on the findings of the situational analysis in the following sequence:
- Identification of the main ICM related problems for each CMA.
- Elaboration of cause - impact chains for each of the identified problems.
- Development of criteria to establish a ranking of Sub-Catchments where identified problems are most prominent (PSC listing).
Deliverable WP 2: Draft situation analysis and diagnostic analysis for the 4 CMAs

WP 3: Strategic Action Plan (SAP) and finalization of four (4) ICMDPs)
Tasks
3.1: Presentation of situational and diagnostic (problem) analysis and development of the SAP for the 4 ICMDPs during workshops.
3.2: Finalization of four (4) ICMDPs. The SAP must:
- Define the vision and strategic objectives for CMAs and define its strategic actions and interventions based on the diagnostic (problem) analysis and its causes - impact chains.
- Ensure that all strategic activities include climate change adaptation components.
- Design a medium term (5-year) strategic framework to guide the development of integrated sub-catchment management plans (ISCMPs) and local council action plans.
- Consider upstream and downstream linkages with other catchments.
- Identify multi-year integrated water resource management (IWRM) and development interventions.
- Elaborate on financing options and suggest a management and reporting structure for the implementation of SAP according to existing legal framework of Lesotho.

Deliverable WP 3: Strategic Action Plans for the 4 CMAs
The delivery of the assignment is planned for a duration of 7 months after award of the contract. The contractor will be responsible for steering the consultants, reporting, cost management, supplies and equipment, ensuring backstopping and data protection.

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