INVITATION TO BID – SY-24361-PC-23-117- Mapping Wheat Production Areas in NES
Dear Prospective Bidders:
There is a widely held perception that the Syrian conflict and current severe drought conditions havesubstantially impacted wheat production in the area. However, despite support from local and centralagricultural authorities in Self Administration Northeast Syria (SANES) and subdistrict and village level
councils in the SLS zone of influence (ZOI), reliable information on wheat production and irrigationinfrastructure across NES is often not available, and in some cases is conflicting. For example,representatives from SANES and departments within the Agriculture Irrigation Authority (AIA) inHassakeh reported that 280,000 to 300,000 hectares of wheat were planted on irrigated land inJanuary 2022. In 2021, it was reported that SANES needed wheat seed to support their mills, bakeries,and wheat production program. SANES’ USAID coordinator said the administration required 750k MTat harvest time to meet food security requirements. Others in the wheat sector in NES have disputedthese numbers.
Therefore, SLS is seeking an independent assessment of wheat production in NES and, if possible andpractical, obtaining an evaluation of the impact of recent climate variability on wheat yields.
Remote sensing technology – specifically high-resolution satellite-based earth observation imagery –provides an effective mechanism for obtaining a detailed, rapid, and accurate assessment of currentground conditions. Furthermore, access to archive imagery can provide an equally practical approach toassessing change over time.
While remote sensing image analysis can provide valuable insights, ground validation data is requiredto make such insights actionable; hence, ground-truthing information and data shared by partners,including Local Non-Governmental Organisations (LNGOs), International NGOs (INGO), SANES, the Foodand Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), needs to be gathered to ensure that resultsare calibrated and credible and can be deployed as valuable tools for crop assessment and resourceplanning purposes.
As irrigation plays a pivotal role in the success of wheat production in NES, mapping, and groundtruthing data collection activities will also focus on quantifying significant catchment-level land usechanges and water storage areas over the past five years.
This activity aims to map existing wheat production and compare it to production areas in previous years. The activity is expected to compare data from 2017 to the current plantation of wheat acrossNES. Using a combination of satellite imagery and data collected on the ground, it is expected that itwill be possible to estimate pre-harvest wheat yields.
For more details, please contact CHF international and request the solicitation documentations fromthe following email address:
[email protected]
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The deadline for offers submission is Wednesday 05 April 2023 by 11:00 PM (Syrian time)
Looking forward to hearing from your soon.