Job Description

The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is a global humanitarian organization with a mission to work with people in poverty and distress to create just and positive changes. ADRA Somalia belongs to the worldwide network, comprised of more than 130 supporting and implementing country offices. ADRA Somalia is seeking consultancy services for the development for climate resilience and sustainable energy policy fireworks in Somalia.

1. Background
2. Specific Objectives of the Assignment:

The Advancing Circular Technologies for Infrastructure and Value-chain Enhancement (ACTIVE) Project is a European Union-funded initiative implemented by ADRA, Windle, and READO to strengthen Somalia’s economic resilience by integrating renewable energy solutions into agriculture, livestock, and fisheries value chains. The ACTIVE Project is designed to drive economic growth by expanding access to renewable energy, thereby enhancing productivity across key economic sectors. By integrating sustainable energy solutions into agriculture, fisheries, and livestock industries, the project aims to address critical gaps in energy availability, efficiency, and affordability, which currently hinder market competitiveness and economic resilience.

In addition to improving energy access, the project places a strong emphasis on circular economy principles to minimize resource wastage and promote sustainability. By fostering efficient resource utilization, recycling, and regenerative production systems, the initiative will ensure that agri-food value chains operate in an environmentally responsible and economically viable manner. Furthermore, the project seeks to strengthen market-driven approaches within Somalia’s agri-food sector, ensuring that renewable energy investments align with actual market demands. By conducting rigorous market assessments and engaging key stakeholders, including MSMEs, investors, and policymakers, the project will facilitate evidence-based decision-making to direct energy investments toward high-impact, commercially sustainable value chains. This strategic approach will not only enhance the economic viability of renewable energy adoption but also create opportunities for job creation, private sector engagement, and long-term economic resilience.

The ACTIVE Project is strategically aligned with Somalia’s National Development Goals, the European Green Deal, the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7, and the Somalia National Transformation Strategy (NTA), reinforcing a shared vision for sustainable economic growth, energy access, and market competitiveness. The central focus of the project is to increase access to reliable and sustainable energy sources for productive use, particularly in agriculture, fisheries, and livestock sectors. By integrating renewable energy solutions, the project seeks to enhance energy efficiency, reduce dependency on costly and environmentally harmful fuels, and support climate resilience.

Ensuring equitable and affordable energy access will enable smallholder farmers, agro-processors, and rural enterprises to improve productivity and scale their operations. Beyond energy access, the project is committed to enhancing food security and strengthening market competitiveness through improved processing and storage infrastructure. Somalia’s agri-food sector is often constrained by post-harvest losses, inadequate cold storage, and inefficient food preservation methods, which limit economic growth and food availability. ACTIVE will address these challenges by promoting renewable energy-powered storage facilities, processing technologies, and logistics solutions, ensuring that agricultural products retain their quality and fetch competitive prices in domestic and international markets. A key driver of sustainable economic transformation in Somalia is private sector investment, and ACTIVE aims to stimulate private sector engagement in renewable energy solutions tailored for agri-food businesses. By creating an enabling policy environment, fostering public-private partnerships (PPPs), and identifying investment opportunities, the project will help unlock financing for renewable energy solutions, particularly for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) operating in agriculture and food production. This aligns with the Somalia NTP’s goal of strengthening economic diversification and energy security, ensuring that investments in renewable energy directly contribute to job creation, economic stability, and long-term sustainability. By aligning with these national and international frameworks, the ACTIVE Project will not only support Somalia’s transition to a greener, more resilient economy but will also lay the groundwork for sustainable development, food security, and inclusive economic growth in the country.

The project’s implementation will take place across seven regions: Banadir Regional Administration, Hirshabelle State, Jubbaland State, Galmudug State, Southwest State, Puntland and Somaliland. The project’s core objective is to strengthen Somalia’s energy-food nexus by ensuring that renewable energy investments are demand-responsive, commercially viable, and sustainable in the long term.

The overall objective of this consultancy is to support the development of a comprehensive policy and regulatory framework that fosters the integration of renewable energy technologies into Somalia’s agri-food systems, with a deliberate focus on enhancing climate resilience, sustainability, and productivity. This objective is central to the broader ambitions of the ACTIVE Project, which seeks to catalyze green and inclusive economic growth by embedding renewable energy solutions within key productive sectors such as agriculture, livestock, fisheries, and water. The consultancy will serve as a strategic lever to guide national efforts towards low-emission, climate-smart development while creating enabling conditions for investment, innovation, and policy coherence across sectors.

The specific objectives of the consultancy are as follows:

1. To develop a comprehensive market policy that promotes the uptake of renewable energy technologies in agri-food systems, encouraging sustainable production, improved market access, and climate adaptation.
2. To formulate a draft national renewable energy policy that prioritizes energy access for climate-resilient growth in agriculture and other productive use sectors, in close alignment with Somalia’s National Development Plan and energy transformation agenda.
3. To conduct a policy and investment gap analysis to assess existing climate and energy frameworks in Somalia, with the aim of identifying institutional, financial, and policy constraints that hinder the scaling of renewable energy solutions in the agri-food sector.
4. To develop a policy and regulatory framework that promotes the use of renewable energy across the agri-food value chain, including guidelines on production, handling, storage, marketing, and consumer awareness.
5. To ensure alignment and complementarity with other donor-supported initiatives, including those of the World Bank, AfDB, and IFC, as well as with the broader GEED action, through structured engagement with government and non-government stakeholders.
6. To strengthen national and sub-national policymaking capacities through inclusive consultation processes, technical validation workshops, and knowledge transfer to relevant ministries and agencies.
7. Scope of Work

The consultant/consulting firm will be responsible for leading the formulation of four interrelated policy instruments, along with a comprehensive policy and investment gap analysis, all aimed at supporting the integration of renewable energy solutions into Somalia’s agri-food systems and other productive sectors. This work will contribute to building a strong enabling environment that encourages the uptake of clean energy technologies, improves sector resilience to climate shocks, and promotes sustainable economic development. The assignment will involve extensive policy research and drafting, participatory consultations with a diverse range of stakeholders, alignment with national and international frameworks, and the development of high-quality technical documentation ready for review, validation, and potential legislative uptake. The consultant’s role will also require strategic coordination with key government entities and development partners to ensure the outputs are feasible, context-appropriate, and impactful. Specific tasks will include, but are not limited to:

A) Conduct a desk review of relevant national and sectoral policies, including Somalia’s National Development Plan (NDP), Somalia National Transformation Plan (NTP), National Energy Policy, agricultural development strategies, climate adaptation frameworks, and the GEED Action

1. Engage with key stakeholders from Federal and State Ministries (e.g., Ministry of Energy and Water Resources, Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, Ministry of Livestock, Ministry of Fisheries), the private sector, civil society organizations, academia, and donor agencies to identify policy priorities, implementation gaps, and opportunities.
2. Develop a comprehensive market policy for renewable energy-based climate resilience in agri-food systems. This policy should facilitate private sector participation, improved access to finance, investment incentives, and capacity development mechanisms.
3. Draft a national renewable energy policy for climate-resilient growth in agri-food and other productive use of energy sectors. The policy should outline priority interventions, targets, institutional mandates, and monitoring frameworks aligned with national energy goals.
4. Carry out a policy and investment gap analysis for climate resilience in the agri-food sector. This will include identifying current regulatory bottlenecks, infrastructure weaknesses, and investment shortfalls, and proposing corrective measures.
5. Formulate a regulatory framework on the utilization of renewable energy across agri-food value chains, with clear provisions on energy production, storage, handling, marketing, and consumer protection.
6. Ensure all policy products mainstream cross-cutting themes such as gender equality, conflict sensitivity, private sector inclusion, and environmental sustainability.
7. Organize and facilitate at least two national and sub-national policy validation workshops, incorporating feedback from diverse stakeholders into final drafts.
8. Coordinate closely with parallel donor-funded initiatives (e.g., World Bank, AfDB, IFC), ensuring that policy recommendations complement ongoing institutional capacity building and sector reforms.
9. Provide a final report that consolidates the outputs, outlines the consultative process, presents legislative recommendations, and includes a roadmap for policy adoption and implementation.

B) National Renewable Energy Policy for Productive Sectors

1. Design a comprehensive draft national renewable energy policy tailored to agri-food and other productive sectors.

The consultant will draft a national-level policy document that sets out a clear strategic vision for the role of renewable energy in driving economic productivity, with particular focus on agri-food, water management, rural livelihoods, and micro-enterprise sectors. The policy will outline priority investment areas, technology choices (e.g., solar irrigation, hybrid mini-grids, biodigesters), institutional mandates, and a roadmap for adoption. The policy must be consultatively developed, evidence-informed, and responsive to the challenges and opportunities unique to Somalia’s decentralized governance structure.

1. Ensure integration of climate resilience and energy efficiency aligned with Somalia’s NDP.

The policy must explicitly mainstream climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies, including the promotion of energy efficiency, drought-resilient production systems, and low-emission technologies. Alignment with the National Development Plan (NDP-9 and future iterations), National Transformation Plan (NTP), National Energy Policy, and relevant climate strategies (e.g., NDCs) will be essential. The consultant will ensure the policy addresses resilience to climate shocks while advancing inclusive growth.

1. Coordinate with Federal and State Ministries, especially MoEWR and MoAI.

Effective coordination will be central to the policy's legitimacy and adoption. The consultant will work closely with the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources (MoEWR), the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation (MoAI), and relevant line ministries at the Federal Member State (FMS) level including Fisheries and Livestock. The consultant will facilitate joint technical sessions, policy co-creation forums, and validation meetings, ensuring that the final product is co-owned by government and aligned with existing mandates.

C) Policy Gap and Investment Analysis

1. Conduct a diagnostic study to map existing climate and energy policies.

The consultant will carry out a comprehensive desk and field-based review of existing national and sub-national policies, strategies, and regulations related to energy access, agriculture, climate resilience, and rural development. This will include assessing overlaps, inconsistencies, and implementation bottlenecks. Particular focus will be placed on Somalia’s progress in implementing international agreements (e.g., the Paris Agreement), and how these commitments translate into actionable national plans.

1. Identify regulatory and investment gaps and propose reforms

Building on the diagnostic, the consultant will identify critical policy and regulatory gaps—such as the lack of licensing procedures for decentralized energy systems or weak land tenure frameworks—that hinder RE deployment in productive sectors. The consultant will also assess investment barriers, such as financing constraints, limited incentives, or lack of PPP frameworks. Recommendations will be developed for legal, institutional, and fiscal reforms to unlock both public and private investments, with clear timelines and responsible entities.

D) Draft Policy on RE Use and Regulation in Agri-Food Value Chains

1. Develop a regulatory framework for RE utilization in production, storage, marketing, and consumer awareness.

This draft policy will offer a detailed regulatory blueprint to support the integration of RE technologies across the entire agri-food value chain—from on-farm production (e.g., solar water pumps), to processing (e.g., solar dryers, cold storage), to distribution and end-user awareness. The consultant will outline standards, permitting procedures, and compliance mechanisms to govern the safe and efficient deployment of RE. It will also include guidelines for consumer education, quality control, and environmental safeguards.

1. Engage stakeholders including World Bank, IFC, AfDB, and align with existing initiatives.

To ensure complementarity and avoid duplication, the consultant will establish structured engagement with key donors and partners—particularly those supporting Somalia’s institutional energy reforms. These include the World Bank, IFC, EU, AfDB, and other GEED actors. The consultant will align policy recommendations with donor-supported frameworks and facilitate harmonization between federal and donor priorities. Coordination will also extend to technical working groups and private sector platforms.

1. Expected Deliverables
2. Required Qualifications and Experience

The consultant will deliver the following:

Deliverable

Description

Inception Report

Detailing methodology, stakeholder engagement, work plan, and validation plan.

Draft Market Policy

A policy proposal promoting RE-based market development in agri-food systems.

Draft National RE Policy

A full policy document supporting RE integration into productive sectors.

Gap Analysis Report

A study report on climate policy and investment gaps.

Draft RE Utilization & Regulation Policy

A regulatory framework for RE in agri-food operations and value chains.

Final Report & Stakeholder Briefing

Consolidated deliverables with policy briefs and legislative recommendations.

Experiences and Qualifications

Educational Qualifications:

The consultant must hold a Master’s degree or higher in a relevant field such as Public Policy, Renewable Energy, Environmental Economics, Climate Change and Development, Agricultural Development, or another discipline closely related to the objectives of this assignment. A PhD in any of these areas will be considered a strong asset.

Technical Expertise:

• A minimum of seven (7) years of progressively responsible experience in policy formulation, regulatory frameworks, or strategy development, preferably in sectors such as renewable energy, climate resilience, agriculture and food systems, or sustainable economic development.
• Demonstrated success in developing national or sectoral policies that have been adopted or formally endorsed by government institutions, preferably in the Horn of Africa or similar fragile and climate-vulnerable contexts.
• Proven track record in conducting consultative policy processes involving government, civil society, donors, and private sector actors, and facilitating high-level stakeholder engagement and consensus-building.
• Strong understanding of Somalia’s political, policy, and institutional landscape, particularly related to renewable energy, agri-food systems, rural development, and climate change adaptation.
• Experience in working with or advising donor-funded programs, particularly those financed by the European Union, World Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB), International Finance Corporation (IFC), or other multilateral initiatives supporting governance or energy sector reforms.
• Familiarity with the GEED Action and other global frameworks supporting energy access, climate resilience, and private sector engagement in fragile or conflict-affected states will be considered an advantage.

Analytical and Policy Skills:

• Strong demonstrated ability to draft technically sound, evidence-based policy documents, including action plans, institutional diagnostics, investment frameworks, and legislative instruments.
• In-depth knowledge of energy regulation, licensing procedures, investment incentive frameworks, and public-private partnership models, particularly within renewable energy and productive use applications.
• Ability to synthesize and translate complex inputs from technical specialists, local stakeholders, and political actors into coherent and actionable policy recommendations.
• Familiarity with tools for gender and social inclusion mainstreaming in policy processes is an added advantage.
• Excellent written and spoken communication skills in English; proficiency in Somali is desirable.

1. Duration and Location
2. Application Process

The consultancy will be conducted over a 5-month period (August to December 2025).

The consultancy must be conducted in Somalia.

Qualified individual consultants or consulting firms with demonstrated expertise in renewable energy policy, climate resilience, agri-food systems, and regulatory reform are invited to submit a comprehensive proposal in response to this Terms of Reference. The application should clearly outline the consultant’s qualifications, understanding of the assignment, and proposed approach to delivering high-quality policy instruments and analyses aligned with Somalia’s national development priorities and the objectives of the ACTIVE Project.

Submission Package:

Applicants must submit the following documents:

1. Cover Letter (maximum 3 pages)

• Explain the applicant’s interest in the assignment and suitability for the consultancy.
• Outline the consultant’s or firm’s experience in renewable energy policy development, energy-agriculture integration, or climate resilience planning in fragile or low-capacity contexts.
• Demonstrate familiarity with Somalia’s policy environment and coordination with government, donors, and other stakeholders.
• Reference relevant work with institutions such as the EU, World Bank, AfDB, IFC, or other major development partners.

2. Curriculum Vitae (CV) (maximum 4 pages per team member)

A current CV for the lead consultant and any team members, highlighting:

• Relevant academic qualifications
• Professional experience in energy policy, climate resilience, or agri-food systems
• Previous consultancy work related to national strategy development or institutional reforms
• Experience in participatory policy design and stakeholder engagement in fragile contexts
• Institutional applicants should also provide a brief organisational profile and CVs of the proposed team.

3. Technical Proposal (maximum 7 pages)

The Technical Proposal must include:

• Interpretation of the Terms of Reference and a clear understanding of the consultancy objectives
• A detailed methodology describing the policy drafting process, stakeholder engagement approach, and any analytical tools to be applied
• Description of how gender, social inclusion, and climate resilience will be mainstreamed in the policy design
• A draft outline of proposed deliverables (policy frameworks, reports, consultation plans)
• A work plan with indicative timelines, milestones, and responsible parties
• Risk mitigation strategies, particularly in relation to political sensitivity, coordination with other donor actions, and capacity constraints.

4. Financial Proposal

• A detailed cost breakdown covering:
• Daily consultancy rates
• Travel and in-country engagement costs
• Costs related to workshops, validation forums, and stakeholder meetings
• Administrative and logistical support costs
• Report production and submission

The financial proposal should be in USD and inclusive of applicable taxes and fees

Skills Required

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