Amendment 3 Round 2 Q and A -72061124R00006-ZADS.pdf

ATTACHMENT: AMENDMENT 3, QUESTION AND ANSWERS - RFP Number 72061124R00006, USAID Zambia Agriculture Diversification Support Activity (ZADS)

Answers to Round Two Questions Received from interested parties under the solicitation.

ROUND TWO QUESTIONS SUBMITTED IN RESPONSE TO THE SOLICITATION.

# QUESTION USAID RESPONSE

1 With regard to section B.4 Payment, has USAID/Zambia considered the financial risk associated with the way the payment schedule is structured, and rigor needed to take on this contract, which seems overly burdensome for a local organization?

Yes, and that is reflected in the contract type: fixed price with price redetermination. The contract will be fixed priced for the initial period of contract deliverables or performance (through September 30, 2025) and price redeterminable for subsequent periods (which will be at least 12 months apart). This entails that the contractor will have an opportunity to adjust prices, taking into consideration these risks and the prevailing circumstances.

2 The RFP references the PWS format. Does USAID expect bidders to use contractually binding language (i.e., The Contractor must...) in the proposal submission? Also, will USAID please confirm that what is written in the proposal will become part of the contract, as is typical with PWS submissions?

No. The offerors do not have to use the language of “contractor must…” The written proposal will not become part of the contract, except areas required to be completed or provided by the offeror as noted in the solicitation.

The contract will be the performance based work statement written by USAID and already included as Section C of the contract.

3 Ref p 87. Should we include the baseline survey methodology as part of the technical approach (17 pages) as well as the Baseline Survey and Activity Monitoring Evaluation and Learning Plan (6 pages), or only as part of the Baseline Survey and Activity Monitoring Evaluation and Learning Plan?

Sounds like you are asking the

Baseline survey methodology must be submitted as part of the Baseline Survey and Activity Monitoring Evaluation and Learning Plan. The solicitation is updated to remove the information from the technical approach.

U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Subdivision 694/Stand 100 Ibex Hill Road PO Box 320373 Lusaka, Zambia – 10101 infozambia@usaid.gov

USAID.gov mailto:infozambia@usaid.gov

RFP Number 72061124R00006, USAID Zambia Agriculture Diversification Support Activity (ZADS) same information in the Technical Approach and the

AMELP.

4 Can USAID explain the process by which it will review and approve deliverables? How much time can an offeror expect between submission and approval? If revisions are required, how quickly could USAID approve deliverables once revisions are made and acceptable?

USAID (contracting officer or delegated contracting officer's representative) will review and provide comments within thirty (30) days after receiving the proposed deliverable. The Contractor must submit a final deliverable for USAID approval no later than 15 days after receiving comments and USAID will provide approval within 14 calendar days. Section F.6.1 has been updated to include this information.

USAID reserves the right to have a third party monitor and verify the achievement of deliverables within the stated time frame. For achievement of the Nutritional Impact deliverable, this will require a survey by a USAID or a third-party to be completed before the deliverable can be submitted to USAID.

5 Ref attachment J.5. Budget template: the template states we could include a fixed fee if necessary ? Is this applicable to a fixed fee kind of contract? My understanding is that comes with a cost-plus fixed fee model, rather than fixed fee.

The budget template has been updated to read expected interim profit instead of fee. Please note the expected profit should consider Contractor effort, contract cost risk, capital investments, cost-control and other past accomplishments, among other areas (see FAR 15.404-4 for more information on profit).

6 Ref section H.16 (a) 50% to the prime/local entity:

i) does the ‘cost of contract performance’ constitute the $24.4m inclusive of grants, or $19.4m exclusive of grants? And

ii) Does the 50% expended for employees of the prime/local entity include other local entities subcontracted by the prime?

i) It is $24.4m inclusive of grants.

ii) No, it does not include other local entities. The intention of this clause is to ensure that 50% is expended on local employees at the prime level.

7 Given that some of the payments are linked to long term impact related results and will be delivered through third party partners, will USAID be willing to consider spreading the payments across several deliverables including annual work plan activities?

No. Payments will be based on results not completing activities.

8 The deliverables proposed for Years 2-5 are very ambitious and not fully in the control of an offeror. How will deliverables be measured? For example, what is the data source for rural poverty changes and how specific is it to the geographic area of the project? How will USAID address other exogenous factors that impact the project (drought, other climate related events, government intervention, etc.) that impact the offeror's ability to meet the target?

● Add to the above the time lag associated with measuring these indicators

USAID has updated the deliverables to simplify measurement. Deliverables will be measured based on achievement against the baseline survey.

Deliverables prescribed in this RFP are achievable.Contractors can consider the risk in achieving each deliverable when proposing the payment associated with the deliverable.

9 As a local implementer we are concerned about the financial risk we will be taking with a small number of deliverables and deliverables that may be outside of our manageable control. Would USAID consider allowing organizations to add additional deliverables to diversify our risk or change some of the Year 2-5 deliverables?

USAID has updated the deliverables to ensure that they are more within the manageable control of the Offerors. Offerors cannot add additional deliverables.

10 Can we submit some of these early deliverables before hiring Key Personnel?

Yes

11 Please confirm the mandatory amount to provide Grants under Contract (GUC) as the amended RFA on page 1 mention: “up to” while page 13 clause C.11 is mention “The contractor must set aside $5 million in grant funding”

Refer to question 6 above. Offerors must reserve $5 million for GUCs and actual GUC implementation will not exceed $5 million, and offerors must take this into consideration when planning and budgeting and developing the technical proposal.

12 Clause H15 page 39 mentions that scope of activities under GUCs “shall be confined to capacity building in areas of agriculture production, marketing and nutrition GUC does not allow construction”… further that construction is not allowed. Please confirm if it is allowed to include rehabilitation of existing structures as well as infrastructure and equipment as part of the capacity building.

No construction activities are permitted under the Grants Under Contract program. “ Construction means construction, alteration, or repair (including dredging, excavating, and painting) of buildings, structures, or other real property. For purposes of this definition, the terms "buildings, structures, or other real property" include, but are not limited to, improvements of all types, such as bridges, dams, plants, highways, parkways, streets, subways, tunnels, sewers, mains, power lines, cemeteries, pumping stations, railways, airport facilities, terminals, docks, piers, wharves, ways, lighthouses, buoys, jetties, breakwaters, levees, canals, and channels.”

13 Clause H15 mention an open and competitive process for the engagement of GUC Sub grantees. Please confirm whether it is OK to mentioned some of the expected sub-grantees by name in the application – or only the number and total budget?

This is not required. Potential subgrantees can be mentioned, though this information is illustrative and no subgrantees would be approved during the proposal/procurement process.

14 For your information the hyperlink for the Feed the Future handbook stipulated on page 61 doesn't work.

Thank you for pointing that out. We have updated the section and are providing the PDF attachment instead.

15 The indicators included in the table C7 are not fully aligned with the indicators described in the Feed the Future indicator handbook 2023. Please may you include indicator definitions for the prescribed indicators in C7.

The table in Section C7. presents key expected results for this contract and they are not indicators.

16 Clause I.4 52.216-5 Price Redetermination-Prospective (Jan 2022) – page 55: This clause mention that the contractor shall deliver “Sufficient data to support accuracy and reliability of this estimate” – please explain to which extend the budget shall be supported by quotes or other data. Further are there any rules for utilization of the budget such as allow ability of plus/ minus 10% of the cost compares with budget lines.

Since the data required at this point is informed by actual/experiences, it will be to the extent that those estimates can be supported taking into account efficiencies acquired during implementation and other supporting documentation. Estimates should be compliant with cost principles as outlined in FAR 31 and/or 2 CFR Subpart E

The data required by the clause is used to set fixed-price payments. As payment is made on achievement of results and not actual costs, no corresponding budget is incorporated into the Contract.

17 Page 34 section H9 (c1) mentions “No later than (5) business days after award……the contractor must provide the COR a complete list of individuals that require access to USAID facilities….”

Please confirm that the Contracting Offices will authorize a significant longer time in order to be able to get all staff in place.

No. It will not be applicable. The clause has been removed from the RFP.

18 Page 89 section b. mentions “The Offeror should consider costs related to ensuring liquidity and cash flow when pricing deliverables” – however all the deliverables in year one with one exception (annual progress report) are due after 3 months. Please confirm how it is expected that the local organization can start up this project and run it for 3 months prior to submitting the first milestone for payment? – Further what will be the deliverables for payment the rest of year 1?

The contractor does not need to wait for the due date to submit/deliver to USG deliverables listed.

The Contractor can quickly submit a deliverable anytime after awarding of the Contract.

https://www.acquisition.gov/far/part-31 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/part-200/subpart-E

19 Page 89 section d. related to Proof of being a local entity:

Please clarify if the constitution for the organization is considered a governance and/or corporate policy? And if not – which type of document is needed to submit?

Yes, if it outlines the structure and lines of authority under which the entity operates. The requested documentation is to enable USAID to validate the local control of an entity and if it meets the local entity definition outlined in the solicitation.

Otherwise, any official document that provides the required documentation is acceptable. USAID will request clarifications with Offerors if USAID requires additional information to determine if an organization is local.

20 Page 90 section c. related to contractor performance information: Please clarify if this clause refers to cooperative awards that can be submitted separate from the table showing former contracts? The same clause mentions that the information is not included in the page limitation – does it mean that there is a page limit for the price proposal?

Past performance information requested is for contracts only. Organizations that don’t have the stated experience will be given a neutral rating and past performance in that case would not be unfavorably evaluated. There is no page limit for the business proposal, but offerors are encouraged to be concise in the information they provide and the language has been updated accordingly to reflect the no page limit requirement.