NbS and Adaptation Consultant (For Surkhet or Kailali District Based)

NbS and Adaptation Consultant for PunarUtthan Project (For Surkhet or Kailali District Based)

Job Description/ Scope of Work

Job Title: NbS and Adaptation Consultant (For Surkhet or Kailali District Based)

Job Type: Consultant for PunarUtthan Project

Reporting: Senior Program Manager

Office: Nepal

Date: July 2026

Position Type: This is field based position, only applicants from Surkhet or Kailali districts are eligible to apply

About Corus:

Corus International leads an ensemble of social impact organizations working together in the world’s most fragile settings to deliver the holistic, lasting solutions needed to overcome the interconnected challenges of poverty, health care access and climate change. Corus is a new model in the international space, creating a consortium of specialized non-profit and for-profit entities for greater impact. Additional growth is expected. Corus combines over 150 years of experience of our non-profit and for-profit subsidiary organizations – LWR, IMA World Health, CGA Technologies, Ground Up Investing, and LWR Farmers Market. Together, the organizations take a systematic approach to grow rural economies, eliminate extreme poverty, ensure access to quality healthcare, and respond to urgent humanitarian needs in fragile settings. In Nepal CORUS works through one of the subsidiary organizations Lutheran World Relief (LWR). Further details about the organization can be found at https://corusinternational.org

About Project:

LWR is implementing ‘Promoting Nature-based Solutions for Mitigating Wildfire Risks to Restore Farm-Forest-Water Nexus Through Locally Led Approaches in Nepal (“PunarUtthan”)’ project in Kailali, Surkhet, Arghakhanchi and Kapilvastu through its consortium partners namely- Rupantaran, The Global Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies (GIIS), Nature Media Networks (NMN), Kathmandu University- KUSOM. The goal of the project is to enhance wildfire and climate resilience, human well-being, and ecosystem health through locally-led action research on nature-based solutions (NbS) and focuses on- i) assessing wildfire-related risks and vulnerabilities in farms, forests, and water resources using science-based, participatory approaches; ii) identifying poor- and women-friendly NbS as candidates for piloting involving local institutions, private sector, and communities; iii) conducting multi-location action research to pilot and evaluate 5-10 NbS for farms, forests, and water resources for mitigating wildfire using participatory and statistical methods; iv) identifying customized NbS, developing their business plans, and strengthening market networks involving universities, media, and private sector; and, v) creating an enabling environment to scale up NbS by co-developing strategies, building stakeholders’ capacity, integrating NbS into policies and plans, and co-creating and disseminating knowledge.

The PunarUtthan project will support the scaling of tested Nature-based Solutions by identifying and piloting context specific NbS to enhance resilience, well-being, and sustainability within the farm-forest-water nexus. It will strengthen local capacities and integrate action research findings into policies using gender equality and social inclusion and community-led approaches. Nature will benefit from restoring degraded forests, enhancing biodiversity, and increasing water availability. People, particularly smallholder farmers, Indigenous groups, and marginalized populations will benefit from diversified livelihoods, increased income, and greater food and water security. Climate mitigation will be improved through carbon sequestration and reduced air pollution and carbon emissions following reduced wildfire risks.

Job Description/ Scope of Work:

The NbS and Adaptation Consultant will serve as technical focal person for assessment of the NbS interventions, conduct feasibility studies, and tools and guidelines development; documentation of best practices, policy brief, and guiding action research- climate, NbS selection, piloting and evaluation. Likewise, the consultant will support survey team in NbS adaptation, enlist feasible NbS interventions, prioritize and recommend for selection, develop policy brief on NbS, provide guidance to local government on prioritizing NbS interventions, support on piloting, demonstration and evaluation of NbS based intervention and adaptation related activities with community-based organizations (CBOs), Community Forest User Groups (CFUGs), farmer groups, and community members under the PunarUtthan Project. The consultant will be based in either Surkhet (Chinchhu) or Kailali (Chure) and will be responsible for Kailali and Surkhet districts.

Since, projects have envisioned to support small grants (on-granting schemes) to local institutions including farmer cooperatives, youth clubs, water user groups, SMEs, CFUGs etc to promote locally-led restoration and adaptation etc for farm, forest, and water resources to mitigate the impact of wildfire risks. Broadly have identified following sectors, but not limited to:

• Farm (agriculture systems, livelihood, entrepreneurship development, strengthening cooperatives, conservation of endangered crop species, etc)
• Forest (forest management, biodiversity conservation, forest-based enterprises etc) 
• Water (water resource management, conservation and renovation of spring water sources, water efficient irrigation technologies, water harvesting, ground water recharging, wetland management)

The consultant will provide strategic guidance in identifying appropriate, context-specific Nature-based Solutions (NbS) adaptation from a climate change adaptation and livelihoods perspective. The consultant will take a lead in- selection, promotion, and validation of on-granting and NbS and adaptation interventions focused on livelihoods, enterprise development and promotion, climate change adaptation, and forestry within the farm-forest-water nexus of the PunarUtthan Project. Likewise, the consultant will conduct policy reviews related to NbS, adaptation and livelihoods; deliver technical training and support in enterprise development, market promotion, cooperative strengthening, and access to finance, as well as contribute to the development of knowledge products and research components and provide technical inputs and orientations on livelihood interventions. 

The consultant will report to the Senior Program Manager and work in close coordination with the Senior Program Director as well as other consortium team members. This is a consultancy service position (25 days per month, maximum 150 days within 6 months), initially contracted for six months, with the possibility of renewal based on performance and project needs.

Key Result Areas/Deliverables:

The success of this assignment will be measured against the following Key Result Areas/Deliverables:

1. Technical Backstopping and Capacity Building

Provide technical training, mentoring, and hands-on support to community-based organizations (CBOs), Community Forest User Groups (CFUGs), farmer groups, cooperatives, and other stakeholders to effectively design, implement, and manage Nature-based solutions (NbS), adaptation and livelihood interventions, supported through consortium projects as well as on-granting schemes.

2. Design, Implementation, and Validation of NbS, adaptation and livelihood Interventions

Support the planning, rollout, field-level validation, and adaptive improvement of nature based solutions, livelihood, enterprise development, climate change adaptation, and forestry-related interventions within the farm-forest-water nexus, ensuring technical soundness, inclusivity, climate resilience, and economic viability.

3. Enterprise Development, Market Linkages, and Access to Finance from NbS and Adaptation perspective

Provide technical guidance on enterprise identification, business development, value chain strengthening, market promotion, cooperative strengthening, and access to finance to enhance income generation and sustainability of community led livelihood initiatives from NbS and adaptation perspective.

4. Policy Review, Action Research, and Knowledge Product

Conduct policy reviews and applied research related to NbS, adaptation and livelihoods; document best practices and lessons learned; and contribute to the development of tools, guidelines, knowledge products, and policy briefs to support learning, scaling, and evidence-based decision-making.

5. Coordination, Reporting, and Adaptive Learning

Work closely with the Project Team Leader, M&E and Communications Lead, and consortium partners to support monitoring, documentation, and reporting of NbS and adaptation interventions, livelihood interventions, and provide actionable recommendations for adaptive management and scaling-up.

Roles and Responsibilities: 

1. Serve as the technical focal person for NbS, Adaptation, livelihood and climate change related interventions under the PunarUtthan Project, provide hands-on technical and guidance to community-based organizations (CBOs), Community Forest User Groups (CFUGs), farmer groups, cooperatives, and partners from designing to final execution of the activities.
2. Lead the identification, design, implementation, and field-level validation of context-specific Nature-based Solutions (NbS), adaptation and livelihood interventions within the farm-forest-water nexus, including support to on-granting initiatives.
3. Provide continuous technical backstopping to field teams and consortium partners through regular field visits, mentoring, and problem solving support to ensure quality and timely implementation.
4. Support in enlisting NbS and adaptation interventions, enterprise development, value chain development, market linkages, cooperative strengthening, composting and access to finance to enhance the sustainability and income potential of livelihood interventions.
5. Conduct short assessments, and research related to NbS and adaptation, livelihoods, climate change and use findings to inform adaptive management and scaling up of the interventions.
6. Review relevant policies and regulatory frameworks of the local governments related to NbS, adaptation, livelihoods, climate change, forestry, and NbS, and develop policy briefs and practical recommendations after conducting research trials/ on-granting.
7. Develop and deliver technical trainings, tools, guidelines, and knowledge products, and document best practices and lessons learned from field implementation from NbS and adaptation perspective.
8. Collaborate closely with the M&E and Communications teams to support monitoring, learning, documentation, and reporting, including contributing to indicators, data collection, and analysis.
9. Coordinate with consortium partners, local governments, and relevant stakeholders, and perform other related duties as assigned by the Senior Program Manager and Project Team Leader/ Senior Program Director.

Education & Experience:

1. Education: Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture, Forestry, Environmental Science, Natural Resource Management, Nature Based Solution, Adaption, Social Science or a related field.
2. Having technical knowledge and field experience, strong understanding of Nature Based Solution, Adaptation, Agriculture, livelihoods, enterprise development, forestry with proven experience providing technical support, training, coaching and mentoring to CBOs, CFUGs, farmer groups, and cooperatives.
3. Having experience in enterprise development, value chain analysis, market linkages, cooperative strengthening, and facilitating access to finance for community-based livelihood initiatives will add value.
4. Experience conducting assessments, feasibility studies, applied and action research, published research articles or policy reviews related to NbS, Adaptation, livelihoods, climate change, forestry, and translating findings into practical recommendations will add value.
5. Excellent interpersonal, coordination, and reporting skills, with experience working effectively with project teams, consortium partners, government and community stakeholders.
6. Fluency in English and Nepali both, and report writing skills.
7. Strong commitment to LWR’s core values and professional conduct in relationships with colleagues, partners, and communities.

Other Duties:

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive list of activities, duties or responsibilities for the position. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice. This position required to perform any additional tasks assigned by the Senior Program Manager and Project team. The position that is bound by contracts will not be changed without notice and approval.

Working Conditions, Travel and Environment

• The duties of the job require 25 days/month. The consultant must be available to work outside normal office hours or on the weekends as required, the attendance should be maintained on the dates the task is performed.
• This position must be able to travel as required for business/project support purposes. While performing the duties of this job in different project locations, the consultant may be exposed to precarious settings under security risks and/or very basic living conditions, outside weather conditions.

Budget

With the given assignment, project has allocated NPR 450,000 (maximum 150 days within 6 months), including tax. The project will cover the cost of travel and accommodation on actual basis, if have to travel outside of the duty station. The consultant should obtain approval in advance from the Senior Program Manager or Program Director to travel to the field.

Confidentiality

The project documents shared with the consultant need to be kept as confidential and not allowed to share LWR's documents to any other agencies or people.

Onboarding process

Interested consultant is kindly requested to submit an Expression of Interest (EoI) along with CV to lwrnepalcontact@lwr.org no later than CoB 27th July, 2026.