Consultancy to conduct a study on the Impact of Climate Change on agri-food sector workers

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1. PURPOSE OF THIS CONTRACT

The main purpose of this consultancy services is to conduct a practical study on the impacts of climate change on agri-food sector workers and the role of adaptive social protection and related policies such as on occupational safety and health (OSH) in supporting workers to cope, adapt and recover from the climate change risks and disasters. The study will focus on five key provinces: Louangnamtha, Xiengkhouang, Vientiane province, Khammouane, and Sekong, all of which are significant agricultural production zones but increasingly vulnerable to climate-related risks.

This study will document the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events on workers, assess the current gaps in the national social protection system, OSH policies, and propose adaptive measures that can help reduce vulnerability and enhance resilience for agri-food sector workers. It will explore policy, legislative and institutional frameworks needed to extend social protection to informal workers, as well as recommend strategies for integrating adaptive climate risk design measures into social protection programs, OSH policies and measures and occupational health services. The goal is to inform policy solutions that can strengthen social protection system to be more adaptive and shock-responsive which automatically provides immediate relief during crises, support recovery, offer long-term security for workers facing the ongoing impacts of climate change and promote access to preventive community-oriented health services that strengthen farmers’ resilience to the impact of climate change on their health.

2. BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT

The Agri-food sector is a large sector, which employs over 70% of the Lao population. However, the majority are informally employed, face challenges because of lack of social protection, dealing with hazardous working conditions, insufficient awareness of occupational health and safety and lack of access to occupational health services. The climate induced changes and COVID-19 pandemic and its economic fallouts together with the recent inflationary crisis have led to an increase of more than 23,4% unemployment rate post-pandemic[1] while also leading to reduced nutrition and school dropouts especially in rural areas.

The recent YAGI typhoon caused widespread flooding in northern provinces of Lao PDR, severely impacting agricultural production areas, damaging infrastructure, and triggering economic instability. The livelihoods of local communities have been gravely affected, with women bearing the brunt of these challenges due to pre-existing vulnerabilities. The crisis has exposed significant gaps in the country’s social protection system, including the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), social welfare programmes, and the National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme, which have not adequately responded to the needs of the affected populations. Many people have not received timely compensation or support for recovery, underscoring the urgent need to strengthen the social protection system to be more adaptive and shock responsive.

3. OBJECTIVES

The objective of this assignment is to produce an evidence-based study that will inform Oxfam, ILO and key Government, trade union and other national stakeholders on promoting adaptive social protection measures in response to climate change within the agri-food sector. The study aims to provide critical insights into the vulnerabilities faced by workers, particularly informal workers and women, and develop recommendations for a more adaptive and shock responsive social protection system.

4. SCOPE OF WORK AND METHODOLOGY

The study will be conducted across five provinces: Louangnamtha, Xiengkhouang, Vientiane province, Khammouane, and Sekong. A sample between 300-500 respondents should be aimed for: including small holder farmers, employed farmers, sessional workers, members of community-based organizations (CBO), women, local authorities, and civil society organizations (CSO). Participatory Action Research (PAR) and/or other participatory evaluation methods should be used for data collection.

The specific scope of work related to the study is as follows:

1. Document the effects and impacts of climate change: collect and analyse data on the challenges and impacts faced by workers in the agri-food sector as a result of climate change and natural disasters. This should include how events such as droughts, floods, heatwaves/heat stress, pests and plant diseases affect livelihoods, food security and nutrition, workers’ health and safety, income, employment security, loss of assets, etc. Also, when analysing the impact of climate change on workers’ health, any impact on their productivity should be taken into account as well. The information generated by this study has the potential to serve as a reference for climate change related statistical data in Lao PDR as well as to provide useful inputs to design of policy measures and project interventions in future (notably practical measures that help farmers adapt to the impact of climate change on their livelihoods and health).
2. Analyse the gender dimension of the climate impacts: Assess the general different impacts of climate-related events on men and women. Specific attention should be paid to how these events impact women’s assets, labour allocation, unpaid care and domestic work, employment security, their health and their position in the household and communities.
3. Review existing policies and support services: Review current social protection policies and practices including NSSF benefits, NHI benefits, and social welfare cash benefits and livelihood support for disaster victims under the NSPS and those funded by donors, climate change and mitigation policies, and OSH policies and measures and occupational health services which are pertinent to the agri-food sector and identify gaps in the current system, particularly in relation to informal workers and gender-specific vulnerabilities.
4. Provide policy recommendations: Develop broad evidence-based recommendations to enhance support for informal workers within the agri-food sector workers by focusing on how the social protection system and OSH policies and OSH risk control measures could become more responsive to climate shocks.
5. Conduct a validation meeting: present the findings and recommendations to the relevant stakeholders at the central, provincial and community level involving Lao Federation of Trade Union; Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare; Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry; National Social Security Organisation; National Health Insurance Bureau; National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI); LNCCI and select private sector representatives; CSOs; FAO; WHO, ILO and other target groups and beneficiaries.

5. DELIVERABLES AND EXPECTED OUTPUT

It is anticipated that the survey will take approximately 45 working days starting from March 2025 to May 2025 on an intermittent basis. A tentative plan of action is as follows:

6. PROFILE REQUIREMENTS

The company/ individual(s) should have the following competencies:

Essential criteria

• Relevant experience in the field of social protection, labour and OSH policy, economic policies, climate change, experience in conducting similar studies will be an advantage
• Proven track record in carrying out and publishing research in the areas of social protection, labour, and/or gender, or similar topics.
• Demonstrating a high level of awareness regarding gender lens for equal participation
• A robust methodological background in a range of research tools and analytical skills to interpret data and ability to facilitate the interview and focus group discussion beyond the guiding questions to gain insights
• Demonstrating the awareness to work with multi-religious backgrounds and ethnic minorities
• Ability to deliver the study in English
• Based in Laos and able to travel to provinces

7.APPLICATION PROCESS

Submission deadline: Quotations and applications must reach Oxfam no later than 14 /2/2025 at 17:00 PM (GMT +7).

Submission instructions

Responses must be submitted electronically to: https://jobs.oxfamnovib.nl/job-invite/13864/  

The subject of the mail should be: Consultancy to conduct the study on the Impact of Climate Change on agri-food sector workers and the role of social protection in Lao PDR

Clarifications

Any questions, remarks or requests for clarification can be sent to Soudany Phommavilay via Email: soudany.phommavilay@oxfam.org. The questions will be answered to all applicants.

Administrative compliance (list of documents to be submitted)

Responses must be submitted and prepared in English and received by the deadline.

To be shortlisted for evaluation against award criteria, the following documents must be included in the application: