ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT CONSULTANT

1. Background

Habitat for Humanity Kenya (HFHK) is among the 70 country affiliates of HFH International. In Kenya, we were registered in 1982 as Non-Governmental Organization, with the goal of enabling low income families access decent and affordable shelter. In the last 40 years, HFHK has supported more than 56,000 families across 9 counties in Kenya through housing micro-finance and direct construction. Our current Business Plan (2020-2025) has outlined four Programmatic Areas namely: Financing for Owner-led Construction (FOC); Settlement-Based Practice (SBP); Secure Land Tenure (SLT); Disaster Risk Reduction & Response (DR3). We are currently operating in Laikipia, Homabay, Kisumu, Tana River and Machakos.

In Kisumu County, HFHK is initiating a 3-year project (Dec 2021-Dec 2024) along the flood plains of River Nyando, specifically in Kochogo South sub-location, stretching across 6 km from the border with Ahero Town in the East towards the Nyando Delta formed around the mouth of Lake Victoria in the West. The project area borders directly on the river bank in the south (protected by a dyke) and Ahero Rice Irrigation Field in the North. Flooding is majorly caused by 3 drainage canals that convey water from the rice irrigation schemes in the northern border, towards the lake. The canals are struggling to drain water from settlements due to overgrown vegetation and mudslides on the entire 4km stretch. Having been left unattended for the last 5 years, water overflows in certain sections of the drainage canals, causing floods in the settlements. This is also happening because the banks have been eroded in many sections of the canals. The project will be focusing on 6 villages within the sublocation of Kochogo South, aiming support for 881 households (4,000 villagers) to cope with the frequent cycles of drought and floods through social structures and physical infrastructures that will be established for management of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH). Villages affected by perennial floods will be enabled to set up and maintain sustainable community structures such as the management committees. Flood control will be achieved through desilting and embankment of drainage water canals to enhance their drainage capacity. This will ensure free flow of water along the irrigation canals hence prevent water stagnation in low-lying settlements. The initial phase will be done by the project using machinery (excavators) while sub-sequence maintenance will be done manually by the community through the leadership of the canal management committees. All vulnerable sections of the canals that often clogged during the rainy season have been prioritized. The project aims to address some 12 km stretch of the flood prone sections of the drainage canals as follows:

• Removal of water weeds from the basin of the canal and turfing the banks to prevent erosion
• De-silting the basin of the drainage canals by excavating the accumulated silt sediments and mudslides
• Demarcating the buffer zones of the canal and planting fruit trees in the reserved sections to prevent encroachment.
• Lining the drainage canals at selected locations
• Removal from the basin, any roots of trees or structure (collapsed and unused) that are obstructions the flow of water.
• Improving the approach to deep sections for better maintenance including excavating berms and approaches in to the canal at appropriate locations where the bank height is greater than 3 metres.
• Introduce clay cut-off walls at locations identified as having excessive seepage from the canal banks
• Repairs to damaged sections and raising this to the original design level

Kochogo Location is not the only area vulnerable to flooding in Nyando Sub county. Combined with two other Locations (Kakola/Ombaka and Onjiko), the total area vulnerable to flooding in Ahero Ward is estimated at between 15,000 and 20,000 hectares. The worst affected in these floods are always the poor who inhabit the flood plains and riverine lands for a livelihood system that depends on agriculture, livestock farming, and fisheries. Nyando Sub-county, which covers the larger part of the greater lower Nyando, is one of the Kisumu County’s seven sub counties. For a long time now, an estimated 400 sq. km of the Kano Plains in this sub-county has been prone to frequent flooding from the River Nyando, which affects crop fields, housing, and infrastructure and human life. In 2020, an estimated 8,775 families were directly affected when River Nyando broke its banks. In the latest episode of recurrent flooding, a preliminary assessment of the economic loss to the areas agriculture sector was estimated at KES 3.5 billion by the County Government of Kisumu. But the actual loss was much higher: this includes the destruction to the local infrastructure, which was huge. Hundreds of families lost their shelter and sanitation facilities, and nearly 400 km of roads were completely destroyed, thereby rendering most places in the affected area cut off and inaccessible to the outside world. Unfortunately, it is no longer just the floods: the Lake Victoria is also overflowing its banks with several villages, facilities, and infrastructure already submerged for months since April 2020. The backflows of the lake waters and flooding of the River Nyando has destroyed settlements and livelihoods of hundreds of families. As if this is not enough, families are being torn apart by the flooding, while the environment is changing: trees in the submerged areas of the basin are drying up, new pests and mosquitoes are invading homes, while wild animals are moving out from the lake and occupying farm fields.

1. Purpose and Rationale

The main purpose of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is to determine the potential environmental, social, and health effects of desilting and embanking a 12km section of the water canals within Kochogo sublocation. Ordinarily, the process of rehabilitation loosens the soil in the basin of the canals, causing the deposit of sediments downstream. This intervention therefore calls for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to guide on mitigation measures that should be considered during the process of desilting and embanking of the drainage canals. The EIA report will be prepared for submission to the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) in accordance with the Environmental Management and Coordination Act (1999) and the Environmental Impact Assessment and Audit Regulations (2003).

1. Objective

The specific objectives are as follows:

1) Describe the baseline conditions of the project site, areas affected by floods base on observations and desk review of the previous Needs Assessment Report as well as through studying other available materials and literature

2) Significant environmental issues of concern through the presentation of baseline data, which should include social, cultural and heritage considerations. Assess public perception of the proposed development

3) Highlight the Policies, Legislation and Regulations relevant to the project

4) Describe the likely impacts of the proposed action on the environment, including direct, indirect and cumulative impacts, and their relative importance to the design of the proposed action. Describe the anticipated environmental impacts of the following:

a) Constructional Impacts (Soil erosion and sedimentation; Dust, noise emissions; Transport and disposal of dredged material; Impacts on burrow areas)

b) Impacts on hydrology (Drainage problems; Inundation of reservoir area; Ground water recharge)

c) Impacts on land stability and land use (additional inundation area etc.,) due to reservoir

d) Impacts on biological environment (Impacts on fishery; Effects on flood plain ecology; Loss of flora and fauna; Effects on protected areas)

e) Sociological Impacts (Relocation of people; Impacts on economic activities: Impacts on land use pattern; Impact on altering water supply on users; Number of families to be affected and to be replaced by the development; Impacts on occupational health and safety and community health and Safety; Increased threats from wildlife and potential for human elephants conflicts in the project area; Socio-cultural impacts due to migratory works (if any); Socio economic benefits to be provided to the local people; Impacts on exiting infrastructure and service facilities available for people of the area; Impact on water users during the construction & operation

f) Climate change Impacts (Impacts at borrow sites, quarry pits, Impact on disposal sites)

5) Describe the positive impacts of desilting and embanking the irrigation canals

6) Mitigation action to be taken to minimize predicted adverse impacts to acceptable levels and quantify associated costs in conformity with the standards of Kenya’s Environmental Management and Coordination Act (1999) and the Environmental Impact Assessment and Audit Regulations (2003).

7) Outline the monitoring Plan that should ensure that the mitigation plan is adhered to

8) Provide alternatives to the project that could be considered at that site or at any other location including the no action alternative

1. Methodology

The Environmental Impact assessment will be conducted are follows

• Data Review – desk review of the existing available materials (design documents and available literature to collect the environmental baseline data) as well as field works conducted on proposed site (site-specific surveys conducted during design development)
• Screening – determine the need and scope of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
• Scoping – identify significant issues, determine the subject matter of the assessment and the methodologies for undertaking the assessment
• Surveys – undertake surveys and monitoring to identify existing environmental conditions;
• Consultation – conduct public hearings to provide an opportunity for the public to make informed contributions on the proposed action.
• Assessment and alterations – assess the likely effects of the proposed action (including alternatives) on people, communities and the environment; identify the need for mitigation through improved design and environmental management during construction and operation; and re-assess the residual effects of the mitigated development.
• Summarize comments and concerns received and describe how these comments have been addressed in project design and mitigation measures, with special attention paid to the needs and concerns of vulnerable groups, including women, the poor, and indigenous peoples.
• Preparation of an Environmental Impact Assessment Report**Scope of work (tasks, outputs and suggested timeframe)**
• **

Task/Output & Suggested Timeframe

Inception meeting with Senor Program Manager to review key project documents – 0.5 days

Detailed inception report including detailed work plan, detailed draft methodology and sampling approach for quantitative data collection, quantitative and qualitative tools finalized in agreement with the Senior Programs Manager – 1 day

Recruitment and training of additional data collectors/enumerators – 0.5 days

Public Hearings in 6 villages (Borda, Kagola, Kokech, Kabonyo, Upper Kaswa, Lower Kaswa). Where necessary, conducting Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) and Household Surveys (administering Questionnaires through Enumerators) – 5 days

Data analysis and draft EIA report submitted for comments – 5 days

Oral presentation to project staff and receiving comments on the first draft – 1 day

Final EIA document incorporating an Environmental Management Plan (EMP)showing how the adverse impacts can be prevented, minimized and additional loads by timely and due implementation of mitigation measures – 1 day

Application of a license from the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) in accordance with the Environmental Management and Coordination Act (1999) and the Environmental Impact Assessment and Audit Regulations (2003)

Suggested total – 14 days

HFHK field staff will prepare the field visits for the consultant ahead of time. We will ensure respondents are prepared and ready to participate in the public hearings, KIIs, FGDs and data collection. If required by the consultant, we will accompany the consultant and enumerators on data collection.

Deliverables

1. Detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) document providing the following: **
2. Description of existing environmental situation in the project areas,**
3. Identification of the relevant legal and administrative framework**
4. Revealing the potential beneficial and adverse impacts associated with project implementation and defining the measures that are appropriate to enhance the potential beneficial impacts and to prevent mitigate or minimize potential adverse impacts. **
5. The report must be in English, clearly and concisely addressing the information outlined above.
6. The reporting will be organised as follows:
7. The main report will be a comprehensive and well organized document complete with standard reporting formats recommended by the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA). The main body of the report should be a minimum 50 pages in length, excluding tables and annexes)**
8. The summary report will be an abridged Report synthesizing the main findings and indicators of the survey (not to exceed 7‐ 10 pages in length).**
9. There last document will be an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) showing how the adverse impacts can be prevented, minimized**
   1. Evidence of application made to the National Environmental Management Authority

Qualification and Experience

HFHK is seeking is looking for a consultant/team with the following skills and qualifications:

· A Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent in any field plus training in environmental impact assessment from recognized institution, with 8 years’ experience in environmental impact assessment

· Demonstrable expertise on designing and executing Environmental Impact Assessment, especially in Kenya

· Experience in conducting Environmental Impact Assessment for irrigation water canals

· Previous experience in designing and executing an EIA that covers the legal, technical, and social aspects of project design and impacts

· Licenced by the National Environmental Management Authority

· Familiarity with the flooding issues in the lower plains of River Nyando

· Strong communication and participatory skills

· Ability to work independently and under a tight deadline

· Ability to work with communities in relevant local languages would be an advantage

· Ability to respond to comments and questions in a timely, appropriate manner

· Ability to write high quality, clear, concise reports in English