MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY (MAF)

SMALLHOLDER COMMERCIALIZATION AND AGRIBUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR THE REVIEW OF THE NATIONAL RURAL FEEDER ROADS POLICY IN SIERRA LEONE: SL-MAFS-236679-CS-CQS

 

1.         BACKGROUND

The Government of Sierra Leone has received financing from the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank Group towards the cost the Smallholder Commercialization and    Agribusiness Development Project (SCADeP) and intends to apply part of it for the consultancy services for the Review and update of the National Rural Feeder Roads Policy (May 2011).

The Feeder Roads Prioritization Framework, a report compiled on behalf of the SLRA gives the following information: Sierra Leone is among the poorest countries in the world. GDP per capita is about US$500.  The poverty headcount declined from 66.4 percent in 2003 to 52.9 percent in 2011.  Still, about half of the total population lives under the national poverty line. Especially in rural areas where the clear majority of people engage in subsistence farming, poverty remained persistently high at 66.1 percent in 2011, though declined from 78.7 percent in 2003. Inequality seems to have been widened between urban and rural areas: The urban poverty declined from 46.9 percent in 2003 to 31.2 percent in 2011.

 Agricultural productivity is among the most important keys to address poverty particularly in rural Sierra Leone. The country produces about US$4 billion of crops, mainly cassava and rice. Poverty incidence is correlated with agricultural productivity though it does not necessarily show direct causality between them. Many farmers are isolated and do not have good access to input and output markets. The poor quality of feeder roads is considered as one of the crucial constraints to farmers and local businesses.

In the developing world, and especially in Africa, lack of road access isolates farmers from markets, thus keeping the vast majority of agricultural production at the subsistence level. For the same reason, the strength of manufacturing and other local businesses in remote and isolated areas often lags that of well-connected counterparts. In the short term, enhancing rural road connectivity reduces transport costs and improves access to markets and social facilities such as schools and hospitals. In the longer term, it raises agricultural productivity, business profitability, and employment.

According to the official road statistics, Sierra Leone possesses a classified road network of 11,258 km, of which approximately 90 percent are unpaved. The primary and secondary roads amount to about 4,000 km, while the feeder road network comprises 4,152km, of which more than half were estimated to be in poor condition. Recent studies put the feeder road network length at about 7,500 km but has not yet been documented (SLRA).   

In 2010 The EU assisted GOSL to prepare the National Rural/Feeder Roads Policy (NFRP) whose vision is to ensure proper coordination and monitoring in the development and maintenance of rural feeder roads such that Sierra Leoneans living in the rural areas have a year-round all-weather access to basic needs, economic and social facilities, services and opportunities. This Policy was adopted, in principle, in May 2011. However, achievement and implementation towards this vision has to a large extent not been encouraging due to constraints in the sector and limitations within the Policy to address certain issues in greater detail. These challenges have warranted an update on the existing Policy, which is the purpose of this ToR. These challenges to be addressed include but are not limited to the following:

• The current Policies that govern provision of road infrastructure particularly feeder roads are not conducive to the development of a robust rural road infrastructure. Generally, there is insufficient political commitment to funding rural feeder road improvement and maintenance. Where donor support has been received, the roads have been left to deteriorate without provision of regular and adequate sustained maintenance.
• There is no proper framework for effective institutional arrangement, prioritization of investment and maintenance. The responsibility for rural feeder roads rehabilitation remains with SLRA but has delegated the responsibility of maintenance to the District Councils without making adequate arrangements for the financing of the works, both routine and periodic.
• There has been inadequate planning, coordination and cooperation among stakeholders. The fragmentation of the road network maintenance and improvement works among different Ministries and departments (whose core business does not include roads) makes it difficult to coordinate development, funding and overall planning of the network.
• The road network remains largely undefined due to lack of credible data on the size and extent of condition in order to accurately estimate the resource requirements to bring the road network to an acceptable condition. There is also a need to establish procedures for the regular update of relevant data on these roads and this task must also be decentralized so that District Engineers and Councils could jointly collect these data and forward to the SLRA. Set criteria for the planning and identification of core feeder road network should form part of the policy guideline in the provision of feeder road infrastructure.
• The institutions charged with the responsibility for maintenance of feeder roads (District councils) require capacity building and training for them to be able to take up the responsibility.

The Stakeholders involved in the sub-sector include government bodies: Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Ministry of Works and Public Assets, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Sierra Leone Roads Authority, Ministry of Local Government including the Local Councils. Development Partners including: World Bank, AfDB, EU, IDB, IFAD, DFID, GIZ, BADEA, USAID, MCC and JICA.

It is vital that the National Rural/Feeder Roads Policy (NFRP) is fully owned by the Government of Sierra Leone and all its agencies working in the Rural and Transport Sectors. Consequently, a Working Group will be set up to lead the study, comprised of some of the representatives of the above listed stakeholders. The consultant(s) will act as a Secretariat to that Working Group.

2.         OBJECTIVE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The consultant shall undertake a gap analysis of the current National Rural Feeder Roads Policy and identify gaps that relate to:

1. Political environment and road sector policies currently in place
2. Current institutional arrangements in place and improvements required (including capacity building) to transform them especially with regards to the decentralization of responsibilities
3. Funding arrangements for all the tiers/classes of roads and how a balance in funding can be reached which would optimize within budget and capacity constraints, to improve access to rural communities and farmlands through cost-effective infrastructure
4. Procedures in Prioritizing, designing, implementing and quality assurance to ensure durability, cost effectiveness and value for money in rural road programmes
5. Current source of funding, the funding gap and develop strategic framework to improve long-term sustainable financing for feeder road maintenance
6. Technical capacity within the roads sector both public and private sector
7. Current operational arrangements that are in use in SL and how they can be improved
8. Local capacity building to rehabilitate and maintain feeder roads using available community-based labor, materials and tools.
9. To explore an introduction to performance-based contracts for rehabilitation and maintenance in relation to current and proposed funding arrangements
10. Ensuring transport fleet using feeder roads are efficient, safe and loaded within their design capacity.
11. How are the roads managed and the various responsibilities as stated in the enabling legislations

1. EXPECTED OUTCOME OF POLICY REVIEW

The purpose of the rural roads Policy review is to set out an effective long-term direction and framework for rural road development and management in Sierra Leone, so that there is a consistent and unified approach to the planning, improvement and maintenance of rural roads. The updated policy should provide systematic and coordinated methods and procedures that will result in optimal use of limited resources and taking into account performance of the associated organizations. (SLRA)/Feeder Road, in close partnership with Road Maintenance Fund Administration (RMFA) and the Local Councils, through development of clear policy directives can strengthen its capability to plan, design and manage rural roads in a sustainable way with clear division of responsibilities.

1.      SCOPE OF SERVICES

The consultant shall collaborate with the feeder road stakeholders in critically appraising and reviewing the current policy; after which a revised Policy shall be developed primarily by the Consultant that takes into account not only the objectives outlined above but also any other which may arise during the policy review process.

         The Tasks to be carried out are as follows:

Task 1: Confirm thorough understanding of the Study Objectives and Desk Study Review by providing Organization and Methodology to be used during this review.

1. This task should be completed and included as part of the Inception Report and set the reference framework for the study. In addition to presenting the Desk Study report mentioned below, this task will:

• Provide a clear definition of the conduct of the project and work plan
• Identify with the Working Group and ensure that their communication linkages, institutions and departments are regularly engaged through the process.

Desk Study: This will be a comprehensive review of the current National Rural Feeder Roads Policy and collect available reports, studies, manuals and legislations of various Ministries and MDA’s pertaining to rural feeder roads administration, planning, procurement, design, implementation, quality assurance and maintenance. The study should highlight the achievements made in the last five years and the challenges that have inhibited progress. The review will include all, local and rural roads, classified and unclassified and also provide recommendations on a viable and sustainable road network based on the socio- economic needs of the rural population. A balance between socially acceptable provision and economic viable size of road network. The review will also provide for understanding of rural transport operational environment.

The said understanding is required in order to be able to suggest the scope and volume of the necessary updating of the already available Policy.

Result 1: Inception report covering the above.

Task 2. STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES, ISSUES AND DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

This task is to elaborate the strategic objective, the issues that are linked to the achievement of the strategic objective, and the approach to take in selecting the strategic options.

The process of developing the policy and strategies, should start with a review on the existing policy’s vision of what GOSL /SLRA/stakeholders want rural road programmes to achieve. Following on the vision, the policy should set out the revised goals and objectives that will give direction for its development. Performance indicators that are sensitive to the road users should form part of the policy bias. The corresponding legislative instruments must be analyed and referenced in the policy statement. This will lead to development of the strategic plans that will ensure that the policy direction is achieved. This would be distilled to become the development objective. The Working Group (WG) would identify the key issues that the policy and strategy need to address to achieve the objectives. A number of brainstorming and discussion sessions would be held with the WG to identify these issues. The issues would then be organized into four broad categories (programming and planning, financing, sustainability and institutional).

Four categories of issues identified as critical in achieving the objective set out above are inter-related:

1. Programming and planning, sets the framework for achieving the objective;
2. Financing, provides the major determinant for establishing realistic targets;
3. Sustainability, addresses the technical and practical issues in the development and maintenance of rural roads;
4. Institutions, addresses the institutional arrangements and capacity for effective delivery.
5. The progress will be monitored through a structured M & E set up that will provide feedback to future policy amendments or refinements.

The specific issues identified under each of these four categories should be elaborated and the problems related to these issues treated as the root problems in the sustainable development and maintenance of rural roads.

 Mutually exclusive strategic options for addressing the various issues listed above are to be identified, as this will assist in the development of future plans.

The best options are then to be selected after careful consideration of the advantages and disadvantages linked to each of the options, drawing on the the Guiding Principles which the consultant will identify.

Result 2: Development of vision and goal statements and identification of key issues. The specific issues identified under each of the four categories are to be presented for detailed analysis in the following Task.

It must be emphasized that upon completion of the detailed analyses under subsequent tasks, the vision statement, goals and objectives set upon completion of task 2 could be modified if needed to better capture the results of the study.

Task 3: Collect, Assess, and Analyze Data relevant to the key issues

The study will identify and assess factors that affect the four categories of issues that have been identified as critical to the achievement of the objectives: (Other categories could be included if necessary)

1. PROGRAMMING AND PLANNING

Consultant is to examine the issues related to the programming and planning of rural roads that set the framework for the achievement of the strategic objective. Some of the issues are:

• The legislative and policy framework, or more specifically the Road Laws, and transport and road policies;

• Road inventory and condition survey, that is a basic requirement for any meaningful planning;

• including geographical targeting, and the choice of prioritization tools;  

• Policies on technical issues that include: how the Road Access Index (RAI ) could be improved, and progress towards universal access (that is, RAI = 1), complementarity with rural water transport, rural road standards, and provision of transport services;  

• Policies on social and environmental issues that include employment opportunities for women and persons with disability in roadworks, environmentally sustainable road intervention, road safety, HIV/AIDS, and stakeholder participation.   

Data relevant to the issues that are to be analyzed would include the following:

1. Road/Transport Laws

Harmonization of the law to provide a legal framework to plan, maintain, improve and extend the road networks, classifying public roads, and facilitating the management of such networks at different levels of government. It should define the responsibilities, obligations, rights and interests of the State, the communities, individuals and users of public roads

• Road Inventory and Condition Survey

To review current status and develop new strategies in the light of recent digital technological developments. There is no formalized system in place for road asset condition survey other than those carried out on a project-by-project basis with donor funding. The method to be used for this exercise should be simple, appropriate and fit for purpose with room for improvement from an elementary basic system at the initial stage to a more comprehensive and detailed system that will be developed as the agency matures.

• Investment prioritization

Growth with equity for road investments is one of the instruments to maximize the investment impacts on the poor. Data on road condition and inventory should be collected from within the sector as part of the capacity building and training, and it can be used to devise strategies for targeting potential rural road investments.

Four criteria can be used to assess possible bases for geographical targeting at the provincial/district level: i) RAI (ii) poverty levels, (iii) values of agriculture production per unit area (as a measure of agricultural potential as it relates to the total cost of provision of road infrastructure ie. construction, routine and periodic maintenance and using the cost benefit to prioritize the intervention), (iv) accessibility to health, education and other social facilities and (v) the number of current projects.  (as a measure of investment already made in the province/district).

• Policies on technical issues

1. Roads and Rural Water Transport Complementarity

Rural water transport (RWT) plays an important role in rural people’s lives in some parts of Sierra Leone. Some studies have been undertaken which show that many rural residents’ livelihoods are linked to rural water transport through the operation of goods and passenger riverine transport services, trading activities, and construction and repair of boats, and maintenance and repair of engines.

1. Rural Road Standards

Standards for rural roads in Sierra Leone were given in the current National Rural Feeder Roads policy. These are to be reviewed in the light of current practice and the recently approved Low Volume Roads Manual for Sierra Leone which include work specification and technical standards of rural roads and bridges including geometric standard.

It is increasingly becoming important to install and maintain appropriate regulatory signs (for example, bridge restrictions), axle load control signs, and also install and maintain signs at all access points from other public roads, as guides for road users, in rural roads. Signage on rural roads will enhance traffic safety

• Policies on Social and Environmental Issues

1. Participation of Women in Roadworks

The 2015 census reveal that women constitute slightly more than half of Sierra Leones’s population (51%) but whilst 49,929 men are involved in construction nationwide, only 4,128 women are engaged in construction.

Addressing such issues will not only address women’s equity issues, but will also strengthen the efforts for development and poverty reduction.

Therefore, there is a need to take actions so that a fair share of women’s participation in road works is ensured Participation of women has the potential to: (1) increase women’s off-farm incomes, (2) strengthen technical and leadership skills, and (3) support women enterprise development (e.g., contractor training). Rural road programs should consider measures to facilitate the participation of women at all levels including supervisors and contractors. These measures may include provision of childcare services, and flexible hours

1. Roadworks and Environmental Sustainability    

The environmental consequences of rural road development are not thought to be significant. An overwhelming majority of them are constructed on existing alignments and therefore there is no significant probability of using agricultural or forest land. On the other hand, rural roads provide access to remote areas and there may be environmental consequences due to deforestation arising from logging activities, and consequences due to construction of relatively long embankments on swamp and marshy lands. Also, roads built without proper drainage considerations may be responsible for waterlogging on adjacent communities and farm lands and consequently, environmental degradation. Apart from the above there are considerable negative impacts directly associated with rural road development arising out of dust pollution for unsealed roads and quarrying operations to extract surfacing gravel, etc.

1. Road Safety

Traffic safety is the dual responsibility of the MoTA and the Sierra Leone Road Safety Authority (SLRSA). The MoTA attaches great importance to traffic safety which they regard as one of the requirements for the operation of an efficient and effective road transport system. A National Road Safety Commission has been established with the mandate to develop initiatives for improving road and traffic safety.

Although disaggregated accident data on primary, secondary and rural road networks are not available, it is believed that the number of vehicle accidents on rural roads is not substantial given the low traffic volume. However, motorcycles comprise a large proportion of traffic on rural roads which are responsible for an overwhelming majority of road accidents.

1. Rural roads and risks of spreading STDs including HIV/AIDS

Although improved rural transport brings many economic and social benefits, it can also be responsible for the spread of STDs including HIV/AIDS into rural areas. There are several specific links including: (i) short term risk during the construction period, as migrant workers are often employed on rural roads infrastructure construction. Migrants are both vulnerable to contracting the infection and responsible for spreading it; (ii) long term risks from the operators of freight and passenger transport services (drivers and conductors) who are known to be a high-risk group. In addition, the mobility of the rural population increases with improved rural transport, and increased mobility for trading and leisure places such people at a greater risk of contracting the infection.

• Stakeholder participation

Amongst other benefits, rural road improvement and maintenance enhances social and economic development in rural areas, thereby improving rural residents’ welfare. The participation of stakeholders in rural road programmes can improve the chances that road interventions will be more effective and sustainable for two reasons: (i) it increases the likelihood that the project design is appropriate to the needs of the area; and (ii) it can contribute to the sustainability of the road through greater local ownership.

One of the main challenges in stakeholder participation in a project is ensuring the participation of the poor and disadvantaged groups in the participatory activities.

1. SUSTAINABILITY

Issues related to sustainability will include:

• covering the development of a sustainable maintenance management system, and overloading control; 

•  Cost-effective delivery of the outputs covering the involvement of the private sector, and use of labour-based appropriate technology (LBAT) in road works (which also has a social perspective);

• Rural road surfacing / alternative surfacing options, which encompasses both intervention sustainability and cost-effectiveness; and 

• Monitoring and evaluation of rural road projects which provide lessons from precious projects that could be used for future sustainability.  

1. Intervention sustainability

Development of a Sustainable Maintenance Management System:

Carrying out timely and adequate maintenance is one of the most important tasks in road management. Non-maintenance of roads causes a rapid decline in asset value, and it costs more to rehabilitate the road following non-maintenance than to maintain the road on a regular basis.

The AfCAP-funded study entitled ‘Economic Growth through Effective Asset Management’ (GEM, GEN2018A) set up pilot implementation in the establishment of a system of asset management and condition survey in Zambia, Uganda and Sierra Leone, supported by the provincial government of the Western Cape in South Africa as an example of a functional system for asset management. In Sierra Leone the pilot study area was located in Tonkolili District.

SLRA through the Road Asset Management Department will rollout the GEM system to all Districts in Sierra Leone, while the World Bank through SCADeP is supporting network inventory update and roughness survey in 2020/21.

The studies should suggest ways to sustain these simple but valuable tools and information.

Overloading Control

Overloading is a problem for all types of roads in SL. There should be an Interface with ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) road standards & axle load regulations. Because of the exponential relationship between axle load and road damage, overloading can have a significant impact on reducing the life of a road pavement, which is exacerbated on rural unsealed roads. This reduction in pavement life emphasizes the importance of the road agency pursuing an overload control strategy

1. Cost-effective Delivery of the Outputs

Involvement of Private Sector in Development and Maintenance

The private sector is responsible for the provision of all road works in Sierra Leone. The private sector in the construction industry consists of individual entrepreneurs, SMEs, and international companies that are active in Sierra Leone. Despite having limited capacity, the private sector can be leveraged to contribute to rural infrastructure development. However, the lack of proper policy frameworks which has hampered the sector’s involvement thus far would need to be addressed. 

1. Application of Labour-based Technology in Roadworks

There is overwhelming evidence of the advantages of the use of labour-based methods over equipment-based methods in rural roadworks in developing countries

The advantages are not only limited at the project (micro) level (e.g. the financial cost advantage of labour-based methods), but also relevant at the macro-economic level (e.g. the higher multiplier effects of labour based methods over equipment-based methods). The main advantage is the level of employment generation by using labour-based techniques in road rehabilitation and maintenance works:

The positive factors on the side of LBAT are that SL already has remnant experience in the use of LBAT from previous capacity-building support on LBAT .

1. Rural Road Surfacing

The common belief that gravel could be suitable for roads with traffic flows between 50 and 200 vehicles per day appears to be inappropriate for some areas in Asia as was found by recent gravel surfacing research in Vietnam where rainfall in these areas is beyond 4metres per year and the soils are fragile and not comparable to Sierra Leone.

Gravel is a low capital but high maintenance cost option. It is widely believed that when whole life costs of different surfacing options are evaluated, gravel will not be the most cost-effective surfacing option in most situations. However, due to the high costs of surfacing, gravel roads will remain the most viable option for the foreseeable future.

Guidelines for alternative surfacing options have been developed at SLRA with support from DFID through ReCAP studies. Such guidelines will help in making informed decisions on low-cost surfacing options.

• Monitoring and Evaluation

A well-designed Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) system provides information about the performance of the policies, programmes and projects, which can identify what works, what does not work, and also the reasons why. It therefore helps in identifying and undertaking remedial measures that are required to ongoing projects; and in designing future projects that take into consideration the lessons learnt. M&E is a vital component in the project cycle. SLRA now has an M&E unit that needs strengthening.  

1. FINANCING

The Consultant shall work with the Road Management Fund Administration (RMFA) and other stakeholders to identify new areas for funding for rural roads; these may include the following, which may not only be restricted to funding rural infrastructure. The apportionment of funds from the Road Fund has to be enshrined in the Policy framework and maintenance given preference over feeder road construction or improvements.

Domestic investments

Local currency bonds have emerged in Kenya and South Africa as an option to leverage domestic resources for infrastructure development. The Kenyan government has issued infrastructure bonds (long term) to finance infrastructure   projects. The bonds can be used as collateral for bank loans and corporate bond tax incentives. Between 2009 and 2011, the country raised US$ 1 billion in this manner.  In South Africa, the Standard Bank Group has issued commodity-linked bonds which are denominated in the local currency. These initiatives can be used as options for other African countries to explore

Pension funds

Pension funds are potential sources of finance for infrastructure investment. They can provide sizable domestic long-term finance and can be used to acquire funds either directly, by means of investments in specific projects, or indirectly, via investment in special infrastructure funds to finance infrastructure projects. There is a need to design infrastructure financial instruments that are attractive to pension funds (i.e. which are more liquid, less risky and volatile).

The potential of the pension fund industry is extensive. Loxton and Bonorchis (2005) have quoted past SA President Mbeki as saying that nine civil service pension funds on the continent collectively held more than US$ 120 billion.  It is thus clear that the potential of pension funds to provide long-term capital for infrastructure investments is immense

Leveraging Public Revenues

Whilst private financing is emerging as an important source of infrastructure finance, especially in the ICT and transport sectors, public revenue has traditionally been the main source of finance for infrastructure projects with high social but low financial returns (Brixiov, 2011). It is thus less likely for the private sector to invest in rural infrastructure. Therefore, the onus falls largely on the public sector to prioritize this largely public need. It must be both a direct financer and a catalyst for private finance. 

Leveraging the Diaspora remittances

There has been an increased recognition of the value of remittances as a source of development finance in Africa. The Diaspora savings for SSA are estimated by Ratha and Mohapatra (2011) to be US$30.4 billion, and nearly US$ 53 billion for the entire African continent including North Africa. This is a sizable amount which can be leveraged by adopting foreign current accounts at African banks, and issuing Diaspora bonds.  Ethiopia has issued Millennium Corporate Bonds, targeted at Ethiopians residing at home and abroad, to finance infrastructure projects.  This Diaspora bond is expected to raise finance capital for the state owned Ethiopian Elective Power Corporation. 

Innovative Financing for Development (IFD)

Policy makers must explore the possibility of leveraging innovative sources of finance for rural infrastructure development. This is already occurring to counter the limitations of existing forms of public finance in addressing financing gaps, climate change and other natural disasters. The interest in innovative finance for development can be traced to the Monterrey consensus for development finance.  Recently, the G8 summit stressed “the need to go beyond aid and mobilize other resources as stated in the Monterrey consensus, including domestic resources, innovative financing, migrant remittances, market instruments used by development banks and private sector flows.”   The leading group on innovative financing for development has attempted to identify alternative sources of finance to supplement official development assistance, which is unpredictable and volatile. The most popular innovative financing position thus far has been the Financial Transactions Tax (FTT) and Currency Transactions Tax (CTL).

Road Charges

Financial resources and a stable source of funds for the roads sector are generally generated – in order of importance – by

•       The fuel (gasoline and diesel) tax,

•       The annual vehicle tax and

•       The special heavy vehicle tax.

The basic revenue data reveal that in an average African country 10 US cents per litre fuel tax are sufficient to finance the maintenance of the entire road network (out of which 1/3 is needed for the current maintenance and 2/3 for the periodic maintenance)

An earmarked tax of approx. 2 US cents per litre gasoline and diesel may “do the trick” to secure at least the maintenance of a country’s entire rural roads network.

The redistribution of the revenues among the districts is often a special problem.

It may be done according to the

•       length of km of the respective local network (as mostly for maintenance);

•       to a set of different influence factors (as formerly in Argentina: 30% at equal parts to each province, 20% acc. to the population, 30% according to the fuel consumption and 20% acc. to the own funds of  respective. districts. Also for farmers a contribution of 20% for farm-to-market roads was required);

•       to the actual network length in km combined with a social factor, as introduced in Costa Rica: 60 % acc. to km and 40% acc. to a social development indicator, so that the most needy districts may get a more than proportional share.

IV           INSTITUTIONAL

Here, the institutional arrangements and capacity for effective delivery are to be addressed.

In many countries, the development of rural roads has been hampered by the lack of proper institutional arrangements. The current National Rural Feeder Roads Policy (NRFRP) clearly identifies the Institutional Responsibilities of all involved in feeder roads administration as provided for in the specific legislations. However, the NRFRP recognizes that these responsibilities will continue to be kept under review over time, and brought in line with arrangements best suited for promoting the objectives of feeder roads in the country. The institution involved in these aspects are:

1. Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRA)
2. Road Maintenance Fund Administration (RMFA)
3. Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Food Security (MAFFS)
4. Ministry of Works Housing and Infrastructure (MOWHI)
5. Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MOFED)
6. Environmental and Protection Agency, Sierra Leone (EPA-SL)
7. National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA)
8. Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD)
9. Local Councils Association

Consultant is to review Institutional performance in the light of the current policy and make recommendations on any changes in that direction. The Local Authorities by their nature are the custodians of local governance and are the planning authorities for the districts, the need to strengthen their capacity and improve resource allocation for them will be pivotal to the success of provision of feeder road management.

Consideration should be given to various institutional arrangements, including but not limited to the following:

•  Units within central Authorities:

i) Special rural road units or departments: where these have been set up, although they may have experienced the same institutional problems as their parent Ministry/Agency, they have nevertheless been able to serve as a central focal point for policy and planning for rural roads, and as a channel for earmarked funds. E.g Ghana Department of Feeder Roads (DFR). ii) Units that are self-sufficient and able to operate with reasonable autonomy: E.g DFR in Ghana, and Senegal during the First Feeder Road Project.

• Special Project Units and Parastatals:

Project units set up in Ministries of Agriculture, or within parastatals (development companies), have generally lead to high construction costs driven by fixed equipment expenditures and high overheads (World Bank Studies). Another problem that might arise upon completion is that when project units may be disbanded or have gone to other work there will be no institutional arrangements for maintenance.

• Local Institutions and Communities

A successful trend is for a single focal point with primary responsibility for rural roads policy and funding. Separate organizations with specific responsibilities for rural roads, with a sufficient degree of autonomy to conduct planning in cooperation with local communities have proven successful in many instances. E.g Colombia, Thailand, Ghana

Results 4: Identification and assessment of options to address the key        issues outlined above. This would involve the generation of multiple options,    some of them discussed above, that could be used to address these key issues.

Task 5. Assess the risk and rank the options

            At this point the options including the advantages and risks of each option             should be examined, and ranked accordingly. Also the potential constraints         and obstacles linked to four areas (financial, institutional, legal and            technological) should be assessed.

            Stakeholder consultation – Stakeholder consultations is an integral part of the       process. Stakeholders include both internal (e.g. officials of provincial and district offices) and external (e.g. other ministries, development partners,     academia, civil society representatives etc.) people. These Stakeholders should be consulted, both formally and informally, throughout the process

Result 5: Identification of the legal, financial, technological and institutional gaps and constraints with recommendations on how to mitigate them for inclusion in the Policy.

            An Interim Report will outline progress made on the identification and any           issues that need to be addressed by stakeholders to allow completion of the     Policy

Task 6.   Draft the documents

On the basis of the results above, the consultant will outline a strategy for the development of the revised National Feeder Roads Policy and actions proposed for its implementation / operationalization. The strategy should contain an action plan, listing priorities, and a realistic time frame for the actions.

Result 6:

• Propose a strategy for feeder roads
• Preparation of an action plan for strategy implementation, including prioritization.
• Elaborating responsibilities of various institutions involved for taking identified specific actions.

Task 7:  Stakeholder consultation

The draft document would be the basis for a final round of stakeholder consultations.

Result 7: Consensus of stakeholders reached and document to be finalized

Task 8. Finalize the documents.

The stakeholder comments on the draft documents would be incorporated into the final documents

Result 8: Revised National Rural Feeder Roads Policy

• REQUIREMENTS FOR ELIGIBLE POTENTIAL CONSULTING FIRM: 

Legal status & Experience

• the existence of the firm as legal entity (i.e legal incorporation )
• operational history of the firm for at least 10yrs with existence in implementing project activities;
• experience of the firm in managing  at least 2  similar assignments completed within the last 10 years ;including work volume in monetary terms ; and must at least completed one of the three(3) similar assignments in sub-Sahara Africa
• Demonstration of organizational capacity to undertake the assignment ( i.e illustrated by Organizational chart detailing the  management structure and reporting lines to deliver the assignment )

Team Composition and Qualification Requirements

Key Experts

1. Rural Road Specialist
2. Civil Engineer

Only the Key Experts will be evaluated

Non-Key Senior Experts

1. Environmental specialist
2. Legal Expert
3. Transport/Traffic Engineer
4. Financial Expert

The Consultant must provide in the proposal CVs and copies of academic and training certificates for all professionals and technical staff.  The requirements of the proposed staff for executing the assignments are as follows

Profile of staff required

Team Member	Minimum Requirements	Input (Man-Mth)
Rural Road Expert (Team Leader)	Team leader should must have a  MSc in transport engineering/planning/economics/road engineering or related degree. At least 15 years’ experience in management or consultancy related to rural roads and/or transport operations and/or Directorate level experience as a practitioner in areas related to rural roads and/or rural transport operations. Shouldhave good knowledge of general engineering management skills, roads policy formation experience in with respect to rural roads and transport with in-depth knowledge of planning and management. Additional experience in rural roads policy formulation in sub-Saharan Africa will be an advantage. He/she must have authored/coauthored and published at least three (3) policy or technical guidance on feeder/low volume roads in Africa. The member of staff shall also be computer literate and fluent in the written, spoken and reading use of the English language.	5.0
Civil Engineer	Bachelor of Science degree (BSc) in Civil Engineering with professional registration. Post Graduate qualification in Highway Engineering will be an advantage. Minimum experience should be ten (10) years in rural and Highway/Road Infrastructure construction and maintenance. He shall also be fully experienced in working with Local governments structures in road construction and maintenance of laterite rural roads. The staff member shall also be capable of working with database software. Must be fluent in the written, spoken and reading use of the English language.	2.0
Environmental Specialist	Bachelor of Science degree (BSc) or equivalent in the social and environmental field.  Minimum experience should be twelve (12) 8 years required for the design phase years with a minimum specific experience of five (5) years as Environmental Specialist for infrastructure studies. He/She shall have direct experience in the preparation, implementation and supervision of Environmental Management Plans, on at least 3 projects. The Specialist shall also be computer literate and fluent in the written, spoken and reading use of the English language.	0.5
Transport/Traffic Engineer	Bachelor of Science degree (BSc) in Civil Engineering or relevant discipline. Minimum 10 years experience in traffic control, traffic counts and analysis and planning. Experience in Sub Saharan Africa would be an advantage; The member of staff shall also be computer literate and fluent in the written, spoken and reading use of the English language.	0.5
Financial Expert	A minimum of 10 years experience of financial management applied in infrastructure project. Proven experience in preparation of cost recovery options for major infrastructure investments or road user charges. A minimum equivalent education comparable to Bsc in Business management and 8 years post registration experience in preparation of Financial and Economic investment studies for civil works projects.	1.0
Legal Expert	A minimum of 10 years experience of on legal drafting of legislations/regulations/contracts in relation to transport sector development.  A registered attorney, with a minimum of a LLB academic degree or equivalent, and a minimum of 10 years post registration experience in carrying out cases related to contract law for civil engineering works. Knowledge of appropriate Sierra Leonean laws is a must.	0.5
	TOTAL	9.5

• PLANNING AND DURATION

The assignment will be carried out within 5 months of the commencement date. This period shall cover examination of relevant documentation and interviews with relevant officers, preparation of reports detailed in section 8 and facilitation of stakeholders’ workshops.

A kick-off meeting will be organized by the Project Coordination Unit (PCU). During this meeting, the final scope of the assignment, and practical arrangements will be decided (eg. time schedule for visits). Minutes of the kick-off meeting, to be prepared by the Team, together with these Terms of Reference will then provide guidelines for conducting project work to be presented in the Inception Report.

The consultant will organize a final workshop to gain acceptance and commitment from all key stakeholders for the Revised National Rural Feeder Roads Policy using the draft final report as workshop document.

7.0 LOCATION(S) OF ASSIGNMENT

The main base for the project work will be in Freetown.  The Services will be managed from the firm’s Freetown Office , but Project work, including inspections of a representative sample of rural roads and visits to the districts which are anticipated, will entail travelling long distances.

8.0 REPORTING

8.1 1    Content

The following reports should be provided: Inception Report, Interim Report, Draft Policy and Action Plan and Final Document.

• The Inception Report will outline the detailed working schedule for the project.
• The Draft National Feeder Roads Policy and Action Plan will have two components, as indicated under Task 6.
•  The Final National Feeder Roads Policy and Action Plan  which will take into consideration  comments from PCU/SLRA, stakeholders and those resulting from the stakeholders’ workshop.

8.2       Language

            All reports will be in English.

8.3       Deliverables

The following reports will be submitted according to the timetable below having commencement date “N” (kick-off meeting) as a reference:

Milestone	Time
Inception Report	N+1 month
Interim Report	N+2 months
Draft Policy Document Stakeholder workshop to present draft Policy document	N+4 months
Final Workshop incorporating comments from stakeholders.	N+4.5 months
Final Document	N+5 months

8..4      Number of report(s) copies

All reports will be provided in 15 hard copies and in an electronic form. An additional 30 hard copies of the Revised National Rural Feeder Roads Policy to be printed professionally.

9.0       CLIENT’S INPUT

The Client will make available all relevant information and data for the assignment.  The Client will also facilitate access to key stakeholders for the purposes of obtaining any information that is considered relevant to the proper execution of the assignment. The Client’s focal person for the study will be the Professional Head, Ministry of Works Housing and Infrastructure (MOWHI), who is also Chairman of the Feeder Roads Committee

10.0     CONSULTANT’S OBLIGATIONS

The Consultant will be required to make his/her own arrangements for all supplies and services required for the conduct and completion of the assignment and facilitate the organization of stakeholder workshops the cost of which will be borne by the Client.