Consultancy for the Development of Integrated Earth Observation and Data Interoperability Systems to Strengthen Regional Food Security Monitoring and Decision-Making

Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)-Djibouti

Request for Expression of Interest

(Consulting Services – Individual Consultant Selection)

Name of project: FOOD SYSTEMS RESILIENCE PROGRAM FOR EASTERN AND SOUTHERN AFRICA-Additional Financing (FSRP-AF)

Project No.: (P178566)

Grant No: TF-D0339

Assignment Title: Development of Integrated Earth Observation and Data Interoperability Systems to Strengthen Regional Food Security Monitoring and Decision-Making

Reference No.DJ-IGAD-536747-CS-INDV

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has received additional financing from International Development Agency (IDA) the Food systems resilience program for Eastern and Southern Africa Phase 1 to scale-up Digital Agro-Climate Advisory Services and intends to apply part of the proceeds of this Grant to payments under this contract: Consultancy services on Development of Integrated Earth Observation and Data Interoperability Systems to Strengthen Regional Food Security Monitoring and Decision-Making.

• The objective of the assignment:

The overall objective of this consultancy is to develop an integrated, standardized, and interoperable data system that collates and harmonizes Earth Observation datasets, pest surveillance information, and socio-economic indicators to support regional food security monitoring, early warning, and decision-making across the IGAD region.

• The specific objectives of the assignment are:

• Systematically collate EO, pest, agricultural, and socio-economic datasets relevant to food security;

• Harmonize multi-source datasets to enable spatial, temporal, and thematic interoperability;

• Establish a standardized regional data repository integrating EO, national surveillance, and socio-economic data;

• Develop and adopt open data and metadata standards aligned with GEOSS, OGC, and WMO frameworks;

• Implement robust data quality control, metadata standards, and documentation;

• Enable seamless integration of datasets into ICPAC’s early warning systems, dashboards, and analytical workflows;

• Strengthen regional and national capacity in data management, interoperability, and evidence-based food security analysis.

• Establish and operationalize interoperable data-sharing standards, protocols, and systems that enable seamless integration of multi-source datasets across institutions and countries.

3.Scope of Services and Specific Tasks

Under the overall supervision of ICPAC, the consultant will undertake the following tasks:

3.1 Data Inventory and Requirements Assessment

• Conduct a comprehensive inventory of existing datasets relevant to food security monitoring, including:

o Earth Observation data (e.g. MODIS, Sentinel, SMAP, CHIRPS, Landsat);

o Pest incidence and surveillance records;

o Agricultural production and crop condition datasets;

o Climate and environmental datasets;

o Socio-economic and vulnerability indicators.

• Assess data gaps, overlaps, update frequencies, formats, and accessibility.

• Ensure data completeness, accuracy and accessibility.

• Define functional and technical requirements for an integrated data interoperability system.

3.2 Earth Observation Data Integration

• Design processing chains for systematic acquisition and preprocessing of EO datasets, including vegetation indices, land surface indicators, and environmental proxies relevant to food security.

• Harmonize spatial resolution, temporal frequency, projections, and formats across EO datasets.

3.3 Pest, Agricultural, and Socio-Economic Data Harmonization

• Integrate pest incidence and surveillance records from national and regional systems.

• Harmonize agricultural and food security indicators across countries and institutions.

• Integrate socio-economic datasets (e.g. livelihoods, markets, vulnerability, demographics) from national, regional and international sources.

3.4 Development of the Regional Interoperable Data Repository

• Design and implement a standardized, interoperable regional data repository hosted within ICPAC infrastructure.

• Apply internationally recognized data and metadata standards (e.g. spatial, temporal, thematic metadata).

• Ensure interoperability with ICPAC dashboards, early warning systems, and analytical platforms.

3.5 Decision-Support Integration

• Enable seamless integration of harmonized datasets into food security monitoring workflows and early warning analytics.

• Support the development of composite indicators and multi-hazard food security analytics.

• Provide technical inputs to ICPAC regional dashboards and decision-support tools.

• Develop user manuals, technical guidelines, and standard operating procedures.

4.Minimum Consultant’s qualifications and experience requirements

• An advanced degree (at least Master’s) in Geospatial Sciences, Remote Sensing, Data Science, Information Systems, Climate Science, or a related field;

• At least 5 years of professional experience in EO data systems, geospatial data integration, or environmental information systems;

4.1 Skills and Competencies

• Proven experience in Earth Observation data handling, spatial databases, and large-scale data harmonization.

• Familiarity with regional early warning systems, pest surveillance, or agricultural data platforms is an advantage.

• Strong experience in data interoperability, metadata standards, and database or repository design;

• Experience integrating socio-economic and sectoral datasets into decision-support systems;

• Proven experience working in the IGAD region is an advantage.

• The Consulting Services Contract is expected to be for a period of Nine (9) calendar months from the date of commencement, subject to renewal on annual basis throughout the project lifetime upon satisfactory performance.

• The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) now invites individuals to express their interest in providing the services. Interested individuals must provide information indicating that they are qualified to perform the services (attach curriculum vitae (CV), copies of documentary evidence of Academic qualifications, and Professional Qualifications.

• An Individual Consultant will be selected in accordance with the Selection of Individual Consultants method set out in the World Bank’s Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers dated November 2020 (Regulations).

• Interested individuals may obtain further information at the address below from 0900 to 1700 hours East African Time (EAT) from Monday to Friday EAT).

Expression of interest shall be sent by e-mail by March/25/2026 at 1700hours EAT to:[email protected] copy: [email protected] , with subject line ‘‘FSRP-AF: CONSULTANCY SERVICES ON DEVELOPMENT OF INTEGRATED EARTH OBSERVATION AND DATA INTEROPERABILITY SYSTEMS TO STRENGTHEN REGIONAL FOOD SECURITY MONITORING AND DECISION-MAKINGCONTRACT NO.: DJ-IGAD-536747-CS-INDV’’.