Somalia: Learning and Adaptive Management Consultancy for Advancing Adaptation through Resilient Mobility and Natural Capital (AARAN) Project

Aug 4, 2026 (Deadline: 2026-08-12) | Norwegian Refugee Council
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Building Resilient Communities in Somalia (BRCiS) is a Consortium of national and international organizations – Action Against Hunger (ACF), Concern Worldwide (Concern), GREDO, the International Rescue Committee (IRC), KAALO, Save the Children, and Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) as lead agency. BRCiS’ objective is to work across the humanitarian-development divide, supporting marginalized communities in disaster-prone, rural Somalia to become more resilient to shocks and stressed, including as a result of climate change. BRCiS approach is contextually adaptive, focused on the specific shocks, needs, and priorities of individual communities. BRCiS was established in 2013 and is now implementing projects funded by multiple humanitarian and development donors in more than ten regions of Somalia1.

Program Background

The Advancing Adaptation through Resilient mobility And Natural capital (AARAN) project is a three-year, FCDO-funded initiative under the Somalia Humanitarian and Resilience Building in Somalia (HARBS) Programme. Implemented by a consortium of five Members (NRC, Concern Worldwide, GREDO, KAALO, Lifeline Gedo) in partnership with IOM, AARAN targets approximately half-million Somalis across 15 districts in five federal Member States (Jubaland, Puntland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle and Southwest). The project integrates the complementary strengths of the BRCiS and Danwadaag into a single operational model centered on climate adaptation across rural-urban corridors.

AARAN’s Theory of Change (ToC) posits that supporting more climate-resilient systems will directly reduce the severity of humanitarian needs and forced displacement in Somalia. This impact is achieved when institutions and marginalised communities, including Displacement-Affected Communities (DACs), drive inclusive, locally-led, climate-adaptive solutions to climate-related shocks and stressors (Outcome). The ToC is operationalized through six interconnected Technical Workstreams (Outputs 1-6), each led by a designated Workstream Lead.

AARAN recognizes that meaningful learning and adaptive management cannot happen in isolation. The project operates with a prioritized Learning Ecosystem comprising diverse actors who should continuously coordinate closely, jointly identify learning priorities, and collectively reflect on evidence to inform adaptations. This ecosystem includes:

1. Internal Consortium Structures:
   • Technical Workstream Leads (Outputs 1-6): Responsible for generating thematic evidence and identifying operational learning needs within their technical domains while Workstream 6 is the overall responsible workstream to oversee and manage the learning agenda by working as the bridge between the learning and adaptive management structure commissioned under this ToR and other Consortium structures.
   • Programme Management Group (PMG): Comprising senior technical leads from each implementing Partners, the PMG holds strategic oversight and decision-making authority for adaptive management.
   • MEAL Working Group: Provides technical rigor on monitoring, evaluation, and learning methodologies, supporting carrying out learning exercises in the field, ensuring data credibility and harmonization across the Consortium.
   • Finance Working Group: Ensures that proposed adaptations including value for money are fiscally viable, aligned with FCDO compliance, and can be implemented within existing budget and forecasting timelines.
   • Project Steering Committee (PSC): Provides governance-level oversight, including senior representation from Member organizations, and approves major strategic adaptations.
2. Dedicated Learning & Evidence Partners:
   • AARAN Resilience & Impact Measurement Consultancy: Responsible for project resilience and impact measurement through baseline, routine community engagement and endline measurements. Their longitudinal data and routine community engagement is a critical input to the Learning Agenda.
   • FCDO Independent HARBS MEL Provider: Ensures AARAN’s adaptive management evidence, outcome harvesting, and learning products inform portfolio-wide measurement and coherence.
   • AARAN Learning and Adaptive Management Consultancy: This serves as the project's dedicated Learning Partner, tasked with operationalizing a dynamic, participatory Learning Agenda that evolves with the project's context and stakeholder priorities. In this capacity, the Learning Partner also functions as the Ecosystem Convenor, responsible for ensuring the learning ecosystem functions efficiently, facilitating coordination among all actors, and support translating evidence into actionable adaptations. Beyond curating this live framework, the partner leads targeted thematic learning exercises, synthesizes multi-source evidence into actionable insights
3. Government & National Stakeholders:
   • Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) & Federal Member States (FMS): Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) & Federal Member States (FMS): Including the National Centre for Rural Development and Durable Solutions (NCRDS), Ministries of Environment & Climate Change (MoECC), Somali Disaster Management Agency (SoDMA), National Identification & Registration Authority (NIRA), Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation (MOAI), Ministry of Livestock, Forestry and Range (MoLFR), Ministry of Planning, Investment and Economic Development (MoPIED) and Durable Solutions Technical Working Groups (DSTWGs). These actors are both partners in implementation and primary audiences for learning products aimed at influencing national policy and planning (e.g., Somalia’s National Adaptation Plan 2026-2030, the National Solutions Pathways Action Plan (NSPAC, 2024–2029), and National Transformation Plan (NTP 2025-2029) specially Pillar 4 of this framework on Environment and Climate Resilience.
4. External Resilience & Peer Actors:
   • Somalia Cash Consortium, NGO Consort research and Working Group, WFP, FAO and similar actors: As peer resilience implementers, these actors are key for sharing cross-programme learning, avoiding duplication of research, and collectively influencing the broader Somalia resilience and climate adaptation evidence base.
5. Target Communities & Local Actors:
   • Displacement-Affected Communities (DACs), Community Resilience Committees (CRCs), DAC Fora, Self-Help Groups (SHGs), Community Resilience Extension Workers (CREWs), etc: These are the key project participants and primary sources of experiential knowledge. Their feedback, lived experiences, and observed behavioural changes are essential data points for validating or challenging project assumptions.

It is important to note that BRCiS has already established a comprehensive Collaboration, Learning, and Adaptation (CLA) and Knowledge Management strategy, grounded in the USAID CLA approach. These strategies have been progressively operationalized across the Consortium, providing a solid foundation for this assignment. The AARAN Learning Agenda will build upon and refine this existing CLA framework, contextualizing it for the specific priorities of the AARAN project (rural-urban corridors, climate adaptation, and durable solutions). The Learning Partner will build upon and refine existing strategies rather than develop new frameworks from inception.

Application Procedures and Requirements

Interested consulting firms are expected to submit a single application covering both lots. The application package shall include the following components:

1. Cover Letter: Introducing the consulting firm, team composition, and roles of each team member.
2. Technical Proposal (maximum 20 pages): A comprehensive technical proposal structured to demonstrate the firm's understanding of the assignment and its capacity to deliver. The proposal must include:

• Understanding of the ToR: Interpretation of the assignment objectives, scope, and context, including the AARAN project's learning ecosystem and the dual-lot structure.
• Methodology: Detailed approach for each lot, including:
  • Lot 1: Approach to Learning Agenda stewardship, coordination of the learning ecosystem, facilitation of internal and external events, and adaptive management processes.
  • Lot 2: Approach to identifying learning gaps, pitching thematic assignments, conducting participatory learning exercises, producing targeted learning products, identifying suitable technical specialists, and supporting strategic dissemination.
• Team Composition: Organizational chart and clear delineation of roles, responsibilities, and levels of effort for each proposed team member.
• Workplan: Phased implementation schedule with key milestones, deliverables, and timelines aligned with the project duration (August 2026 – July 2029).
• Local Presence Strategy: Articulation of the firm's local presence in Somalia, including:
  • Details of the firm's Somalia office or partner organization
  • Organizational chart showing local team members or partner staff
  • Evidence of past successful field operations in Somalia or similar contexts
  • Security and risk management protocols

3. Examples of Similar Assignments: Minimum two examples of CLA or learning assignments of comparable scale and complexity. In addition, applicants must clearly cite their expertise against each of AARAN’s thematic areas and provide a minimum of three (3) samples of related thematic work.

4. CVs of Key Personnel and/or Roster Evidence: For each of AARAN’s core thematic areas — climate adaptation, natural resource management (NRM), Housing, Land and Property (HLP), market systems & livelihoods, Early Warning and Early Action (EWEA), resilience building, durable solutions, and urban-rural linkages — applicants must demonstrate available expertise by providing either (a) confirmed CVs of proposed personnel with direct experience in that thematic area, or (b) evidence of an established roster of qualified thematic experts who can be deployed as needed. Firms are not expected to hold confirmed expertise in every thematic area at the time of application; demonstrated access to a responsive roster is an acceptable alternative and supports the firm’s ability to adapt its team composition to evolving learning priorities identified through Lot 2, understanding that BRCiS will reserve the right to review and approve CVs for individual learning assignments.

5. Financial Proposal: An itemized budget covering both lots, presented in USD, including all applicable taxes. The financial proposal must include:

• Lot 1 (Service Agreement – Fixed Deliverables): A clear breakdown of costs per deliverable, including professional fees and logistics. Applicants must indicate the percentage of the total fee allocated to each deliverable (total must sum to 100%).
• Lot 2 (Master Service Agreement – Need-Based Assignments):

  • Professional Fees: Fixed daily rates for each role category (field and non-field engagements), as outlined in Table 4.

  • Estimated Total: For the purpose of proposal evaluation, applicants must provide an estimated total cost for Lot 2 using the below given scenario though actual budget for these assignments will be agreed based on specific ToRs developed for each specific activirt. This estimate should be based on the assumption of two thematic learning assignments per year over the three-year project period (i.e., six assignments total). Applicants should use their proposed daily rates (Table 5) and reasonable assumptions regarding the scope and duration of typical assignments to calculate this estimate. When preparing this estimate, applicants should note that assignments may vary significantly in terms of:

    • Number of respondents to be engaged (e.g., key informant interviews, focus group discussions, surveys)
    • Number of locations for data collection (ranging from single-site to multi-district coverage across multiple Federal Member States)
    • Logistics requirements (e.g., field transport, accommodation, per diems, translation, and community mobilization)

    Applicants are therefore encouraged to provide the estimate based on a typical assignment and clearly state the assumptions used (e.g., average number of respondents, average number of locations, average duration, and estimated logistics costs per assignment). A simple breakdown of the estimated cost per assignment would be helpful.

  • Important: This is a budget estimate only. Actual costs for each assignment will be scoped, negotiated, and confirmed upon issuance of specific ToRs by CMU. The final contract value for Lot 2 will depend on the number, scope, and complexity of assignments actually commissioned during the project period. Each specific ToR will define the precise scope—including target respondents, geographic coverage, and logistics—and the consultant will submit a detailed budget for that specific assignment at that time

Qualifications and Experience Required

• Education: Advanced university degree (Master's) in Social Sciences, Economics, Statistics, or a related field. Ph.D. is preferred.
• Experience:
  • Minimum 7 years of proven experience designing and facilitating participatory learning and adaptive management systems for large-scale, multi-partner international development consortia.
  • Track record of leading high-level learning events with diverse stakeholders (INGOs, local NGOs, donors, government officials, community representatives).
  • Demonstrated ability to work across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus, with working knowledge of all AARAN's core technical areas: climate adaptation, natural resource management, HLP, market systems, EWEA, resilience building, or durable solutions.
  • Significant experience working in Somalia or similar fragile, conflict-affected, and climate-vulnerable contexts. Understanding of Somali dynamics, displacement patterns, and rural-urban linkages is strongly preferred.
  • Experience with USAID CLA or similar learning frameworks is required.
  • Extensive experience in both qualitative and quantitative methods, demonstrated through publications, is an asset.
• Firm Requirement: This assignment is for a consulting firm, not an individual consultant. The firm must demonstrate:
  • Flexible technical expertise across multiple thematic domains relevant to AARAN, including but not limited to climate adaptation, natural resource management, ecosystem restoration, Housing, Land and Property (HLP) rights, market systems, Early Warning and Early Action (EWEA), resilience building, durable solutions, and urban-rural market linkages.
  • Access to a roster of qualified thematic technical experts who can be deployed for specific Lot 2 learning assignments as needed. These experts must possess specialized knowledge in one or more of AARAN's core thematic areas and demonstrate proven experience in designing and leading research, assessments, or learning exercises in Somalia or similar contexts.
  • Proven track record of managing complex, multi-stakeholder learning assignments in fragile, conflict-affected, and climate-vulnerable environments.
  • Capacity to rapidly deploy appropriate technical expertise upon issuance of specific Lot 2 ToRs, ensuring timely and high-quality delivery of thematic learning assignments
• Local Presence Requirement: The firm must have established operational presence in Somalia or a verifiable partnership with a local entity registered and operational in Somalia. This is essential for effective field engagement under Lot 2. The proposal must include:
  • Details of the firm's Somalia office or partner organization (name, registration status, years of operation, geographic coverage)
  • Organizational chart showing local team members or partner staff
  • Evidence of past successful field operations in Somalia or similar contexts

How to Apply

Complete tender documents may be obtained, free of charge, by downloading the documents from the Tender
Procurement System (TMS) by clicking Here between the dates: Mon, 20th July 2026 and Wed, 12th Aug 2026 23:59 PM.

https://tms.app.nrc.no/tender/details/a24dc664-334a-4680-929f-fc9259454a28