The objective of this assignment
is to identify the existing transport, digital, and energy infrastructure and the
key infrastructure bottlenecks to productivity growth of the Amazon Region,
focusing on selected bioeconomy products. Additionally, the objective is to
identify key infrastructure bottlenecks for communities’ improved access to
basic services and improved welfare. The assignment considers infrastructure to
encompass transport, energy and digital and aim to identify an Infrastructure Roadmap.
The work entails analyses of selected
bioeconomy product value chains aiming to identify the infrastructure gaps, and
barriers in connectivity and logistics, related to transportation
infrastructure, digital connectivity, and access to electricity. Aiming to
understand the factors that limit access to services for communities, this
assignment will include the identification of connectivity and access gaps
guided by the needs of local communities to access educational, health services
and small business opportunities, as well as Identifying infrastructure gaps that
that hinder bioeconomy growth.
The
following outputs are expected:
(i)
mapping
of production and processing centers for selected bioeconomy product value
chains which span across the Amazon Region, and their markets (including within
the Amazon region and outside);
(ii)
estimation
of the projected traffic for different scenarios specific to the growth of the
selected bioeconomy chains and project horizons, for both passenger and
freight, across all modes of transport; estimation of electricity demand from a
growing bioeconomies production and estimation of digital access needs;
(iii)
a spatial analysis of transport, energy and
digital infrastructure which is available to communities. In the case of
transport connectivity, this analysis will focus on connectivity to health and
educational centers. For digital and energy, the analysis will aim to identify,
beyond the access, the quality of service, aiming to understand how those
compare to the demand needs. It is also expected that the energy sources used
in the off-grid systems will be identified;
(iv)
an
analysis of the infrastructure gaps that hinder bioeconomy growth and limit
communities in their access to education and health centers.
(v)
Infrastructure
Roadmap development - include solutions that enhance transport connectivity
(local and to external markets), energy access, and digital connectivity
promoting the bioeconomy, sustainable development, and inclusion both at
national and regional scales.
The
consultant is expected to conduct qualitative interviews with bioeconomy
stakeholders to identify specific gaps and complement the geospatial analysis.
This is particularly needed to understand the shortcomings in the digital and
energy sector, especially on the aspect of service provision quality. This
could be organized through focus group discussions, could involve producer
organizations operating in the region, freight forwards, transport service
providers, digital service providers, etc.