ACE D&H Consultants Ltd is leading the development of a new Global Environment Facility project for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The project, “Healthy and productive ecosystems for healthy and productive rural communities in DRC,” will be implemented in the provinces of Haut Katanga and Kwango.

Following its leadership in developing the project Concept Note, ACE D&H is now leading preparation of the full project proposal.

The proposed project will focus on the restoration and sustainable management of degraded forest and production landscapes, while strengthening the resilience of rural communities and their livelihoods. It will seek to address the interconnected pressures affecting ecosystems, agricultural production and rural livelihoods, while strengthening the institutional and community systems needed to sustain restoration over the longer term.

The assignment reflects an important area of ACE D&H’s expertise: the company works across both the design and independent evaluation of GEF and other international development projects.

This combination provides a distinctive advantage during project preparation. Through its evaluation work, ACE D&H has examined why projects achieve results, where implementation difficulties emerge, and what influences sustainability, institutional ownership, stakeholder participation and long term impact. These lessons can then be incorporated directly into the design of new interventions.

For ACE D&H, evaluation is therefore not simply about assessing past performance. It is also an important source of evidence for improving future project design.

The DRC assignment will be the third GEF project development engagement successfully undertaken by ACE D&H in support of FAO and the Government of the DRC, further strengthening the company’s experience in translating environmental and development priorities into investment ready programmes.

ACE D&H supports governments, international organisations and development partners with the preparation of concept notes, full project proposals, theories of change, results frameworks, monitoring and evaluation systems, stakeholder engagement approaches and investment programmes for the GEF and other international financing mechanisms.

Organisations seeking experienced leadership for the design of a new project, from initial concept through to full proposal development, are invited to contact ACE D&H Consultants Ltd to discuss potential collaboration.