Mobilizing_Financing_for_Agriculture_Broad_Agency_Announcement.pdf

The United States Agency for International Development Broad Agency Announcement

For Mobilizing Financing for Agriculture

Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) Issuance Date: October 30, 2018

BAA Questions Due: November 8, 2018 at 10:00 AM Eastern Time

Current Call for Expressions of Interest Due: November 29, 2018 at 10:00 AM Eastern

Time

Content:

I. Overview

II. Problem and Challenge Statements

III. The BAA Process:

• STAGE 1 - SUBMISSION OF EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST (EOIs)

• STAGE 2 - CO-CREATION AND CO-DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONCEPT PAPER

• STAGE 3 – TECHNICAL REVIEW

• STAGE 4 - AWARD DETERMINATION

IV. Additional Considerations

V. Specific Rights Reserved for the Government under this BAA

VI. Information Protection

VII. Obtaining the BAA and Addenda

VIII. Submission Requirements

BAA No. 72064119R00001 - Mobilizing Financing for Agriculture

I. OVERVIEW

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is issuing this Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) to seek participants to co-create, co-design, co-invest, and collaborate to identify new and innovative solutions to address the challenge of how to most effectively expand access to financing on terms and conditions (lower interest rates and longer tenors) that will allow for capital investment and facilitate trade. USAID invites organizations and companies to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI).

This BAA and any subsequent Addenda will allow co-creation and co-design to the maximum extent to create high-quality, effective partnerships with great efficiency in time and resources. USAID will invite selected organizations, as detailed below, to co-create Research and Development (R&D) solutions to the Problem and Challenge Statement, including those organizations that have ideas, expertise, resources, and/or funding to add to potential solutions.

Co-Investing - USAID seeks to align goals with partners under this BAA to facilitate shared responsibility, shared risk, and shared resourcing. Shared resourcing requires that cash and other resources, both tangible and intangible, such as in-kind contributions, expertise, intellectual property, brand value, high-value coordination, and access to key people, places, and information, are directed towards reaching the solution to the Problem/Challenge. Co-investing does not require equal shared resources (such as 1:1 leverage), but rather resource contributions that are appropriate to the specific project’s objectives, considering the comparative advantages brought by the participation of each party.

A. Federal Agency Name: The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

B. Opportunity Title: Mobilizing Financing for Agriculture

C. Announcement Type: Broad Agency Announcement

The current call for EOI’s under this BAA must address the Problem and Challenge Statement cited in the

BAA.

USAID may issue addenda to this BAA that focus on specific problems, solutions, scalability opportunities, feasibility studies and other research and development initiatives addressing the problem and challenge statements described. Future addenda may be issued separately with additional requirements for evaluation and administrative information, such as requirements for expressions of interest, concept papers, and response deadlines. The terms of the BAA will apply to each Addendum.

D. Opportunity Number: 72064119R00001

E. Authority: Authority: This BAA is issued under Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Part 35.016 (c).

This is not a FAR Part 15 Procurement.

F. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 98.001 USAID Foreign Assistance Programs for Overseas.

II. COLLABORATION

The intent of the BAA is to allow co-creation and co-design to the maximum extent to create high quality, effective partnerships with great efficiency in time and resources. The types of collaboration include:

1. Co-creation. Co-creation occurs after an EOI is selected for further discussion, but before the concept is developed. The potential partner, the Government, represented by the Activity Manager, and potentially others work together to determine the best course forward. This may also include one or multiple potential partners and/or industry experts. Together, USAID and potential partners will write and/or revise the Concept Paper, and jointly present the Concept Paper to USAID’s Review Board.

2. Co-design/development. Co-design/development occurs after the Peer and Scientific Review Board recommends the project for further development, and the Contracting Officer/Agreement Officer has determined the proposer to be an Apparently Successful Partner. At this point, the Contracting Officer/Agreement Officer may determine the general nature of the award type or the specific award type, depending on the nature of the project, to facilitate project design. During co-design, the Apparently Successful Partner and the Activity Manager will design the technical approach, general resource requirements, and management control of the project under the guidance of the Contracting Officer/Agreement Officer.

3. Co-invest. Co-invest refers to the Government’s strategic aim that the partnerships resulting from the individual BAA awards represent opportunities to achieve mutual or complementary development goals of the Partner, USAID, and potentially other resource partners, and therefore embrace shared responsibility, shared risk, and shared resourcing. Shared resourcing may be accomplished through funding by both parties, either through cash resources or the exchange of other resources, both tangible and intangible, such as in-kind contributions, expertise, intellectual property, brand value, high-value coordination, and access to key people, places, and information. Co-investing does not require equally shared resourcing (such as 1:1 leverage), but rather resource contributions that are appropriate to the specific project’s objectives, considering the comparative advantages brought by the participation of each party and the award type.

III. PROBLEM and CHALLENGE STATEMENT

PROBLEM: Agriculture plays a key role in Ghana’s economy, but the sector’s advancement is hampered by limited access to finance. The sector accounts for 21.2 percent of GDP and employs nearly 60 percent of the labor force. Despite its size and importance, access to agricultural finance in Ghana is challenging to obtain, however, and where it is available, is often prohibitively expensive. Agriculture receives substantially less commercial bank lending than other sectors -- barely 5 percent of total credit to the private sector. Interest rates for commercial bank loans are quite high, averaging 30 percent per annum. Financing tenors tend to be shorter-term, prohibiting longer-term investments. As a result, firms and smallholders alike have limited ability to modernize and upgrade agricultural value chains and expand agricultural trade.

It is clear there are a number of constraints to agriculture-related financing and a number of possible solutions to address this challenge. What is unclear is which solutions will be the most effective and efficient in stimulating financing to the missing middle for investment in agriculture, without crowding out local finance providers and distorting the finance markets.

CHALLENGE: The purpose of this Broad Agency Agreement (BAA) is to identify and test innovative, scalable, and sustainable approaches to rapidly increase the level of commercial (non-subsidized) financing for agriculture on terms and conditions that enable capital investment and support trade. The BAA will investigate the challenge of how to most effectively expand access to financing (in the form of lower interest rates and longer tenors) for the following agricultural sector entities:

• The “missing middle” of small and medium enterprises with financing requirements in the range of

$10,000 to $500,000, and

• Smallholder farmers and microenterprises seeking financing (particularly financing on terms and conditions which can enable longer-term capital investment) in amounts under $10,000.

Solutions may include but are not limited to innovative financing structures, support in addressing systemic challenges, technology-based solutions and other agribusiness-related possibilities. These solutions must: i) work in harmony and not undercut local Ghanaian finance providers; ii) be sustainable (i.e. generate revenues sufficient to cover costs); iii) ensure additionality (financing which otherwise would not occur);

iv) target financing that supports the Mission’s Global Food Security Strategy and the Government of Ghana’s Strategy for the agriculture sector; and v) maximize leverage of USAID and other possible contributor funds.

IV. GENERAL CRITERIA FOR CONSIDERATION

A. Submissions are not evaluated against other submissions, but solely against the evaluation criteria from the

BAA.

B. Decisions regarding USAID’s pursuit of a particular project, technology, or relationship are based on the available evidence, data, and resulting analysis. USAID seeks solutions that have a significant impact (i.e.

breakthroughs, not incremental improvements), and can achieve that impact at scale.

C. The past performance of an organization, the ability to measure outcomes to impact and broader development impact level results, and the managerial and technical ability of the person or team of people engaged in the endeavor are considerations in assessing potential and risks associated with each award.

V. THE AWARD STAGES

The resources made available under this BAA will depend on the concepts received and the availability of funds from USAID and other resource partners.

STAGE 1 - Submission of EOI

Organizations must submit an EOI addressing the criteria below, in the format required in Section X. More than one EOI may be submitted by an organization. USAID will review EOIs to determine the extent to which each EOI addresses the criteria/eligibility requirements stated below. Not all organizations that submit an EOI will necessarily be invited to proceed to Stage 2. Due to the number of EOIs expected to be received, USAID may be unable to provide details on why an EOI is not selected for further consideration.

Required Content for EOIs:

1. EOIs must indicate the research or development idea that will work towards a solution to the Problem and Challenge Statement, by increasing knowledge and understanding of potential solutions, exploiting scientific discoveries or improvements in technology, materials, processes, methods, devices, or techniques, advancing the state of the art, or using scientific and technical knowledge in the design, development, testing, or evaluation of a potential new product or service (or of an improvement in an existing product or service).

Any awards issued under this solicitation will be for Applied Research or Development, as those terms are defined in FAR 35.001, as follows:

“Applied research” means the effort that:

(a) normally follows basic research, but may not be severable from the related basic research;

(b) attempts to determine and exploit the potential of scientific discoveries or improvements in technology, materials, processes, methods, devices, or techniques; and (c) attempts to advance the state of the art. When being used by contractors in cost principle applications, this term does not include efforts whose principal aim is the design, development, or testing of specific items or services to be considered for sale; these efforts are within the definition of “development,” given below.

“Development” in the applied research context means the systematic use of scientific and technical knowledge in the design, development, testing, or evaluation of a potential new product or service (or of an improvement in an existing product or service) to meet specific performance requirements or objectives. It includes the functions of design engineering, prototyping, and engineering testing; it excludes subcontracted technical effort that is for the sole purpose of developing an additional source for an existing product.

1. EOIs must demonstrate the potential to have a significant impact (e.g. breakthroughs, not incremental improvements), that ultimately could achieve that even greater impact at scale.

2. EOIs must indicate the background and expertise of the organization, and the managerial and technical staff or team engaged in the endeavor.

3. EOI must indicate what co-investment resources are available to bear on the solution, including those from the submitting organization and those from other third party businesses, donors, foundations, or other organizations. Such resources include cash and other resources, both tangible and intangible, such as in-kind contributions, expertise, intellectual property, brand value, high-value coordination, and access to key people, places, and information.

For those EOI that are not selected to move forward, USAID will send a notification indicating such. Due to the large number of EOI generally received, USAID is unable to provide details on why expressions of interest are not selected.

STAGE 2: Co-Creation Workshop and Co-Development of the Concept Paper

For EOI that are deemed to have merit by USAID and pass criteria/eligibility stated within the BAA, USAID will issue an invitation to collaborate via a co-creation workshop. Working together, USAID and the potential partner will collaborate on a Concept Paper. It is during this phase of co-creation and co-design that the parties will begin determine additional partners and resources to complement the project. The Concept Paper, generally 3-5 pages, will further detail and explain the project as initially provided in the Expression of Interest.

USAID will identify additional partners and resources and whether additional mechanisms are necessary to implement the project. For those Stage 2 partners that are not selected to move forward to Stage 3, USAID will send a notification with a brief explanation on why the partner was not selected.

STAGE 3: Technical Review

Concept Papers developed during Stage 2 will be reviewed by the technical review committee, known as the Peer and Scientific Review Board, which will be comprised of experts from USAID, partners, and/or outside parties. The review committee will review Concept Papers and recommend which applicants should be considered Apparently Successful Partners. Using its technical expertise, the review committee will recommend whether to move forward with the proposed Concept Paper including revisions/additions, potential partners, and resources. All potential partners may not necessarily move forward to Stage 4.

STAGE 4: Award Determination

The Contracting/Agreement Officer will review the Peer and Scientific Review Board’s recommendations and consider other information, such as resource availability, preliminary partner responsibility assessment, and Agency priorities, and will make a determination whether the respondent is an Apparently Successful Partner or not. The USAID Contracting/Agreement Officer may also make or narrow down the anticipated instrument type to facilitate project design.

Request for Additional Information - USAID will work with partners identified by the Peer and Scientific Review Board, and co-design the project and assist the partner to provide additional information with respect to the proposer’s technical approach, capacity, management and organization, past performance, and budget, as well as representations and certifications, as needed.

Final Review and Negotiation - The USAID Contracting/Agreement Officer will engage in final review, negotiation, and determination of instrument type, responsibility, cost reasonableness, etc., and will craft an award instrument with the Apparently Successful Partner. If the Apparently Successful Partner and USAID cannot arrive at a mutually agreeable arrangement, the Contracting/Agreement Officer will cancel the project at no cost to the Government.

Award – Awards under this BAA will be made to the Apparently Successful Partners on the basis of their ability to achieve solutions to the Problems/Challenges, as provided herein. The standard clauses or provisions for USAID-funded awards are generally prescribed by law and regulation and may vary considerably by award type. Information regarding clauses and provisions will be offered to the Apparently Successful Applicant when the award type is identified.

Where USAID determines that the award of an instrument is appropriate, the USAID Contracting/Agreement Officer will award the instrument.

Evaluation Criteria for EOI and Concept Papers:

EOIs and Concept Papers will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

1. Idea/Approach: Novelty, creativity and soundness of the R&D idea/approach and its relevance to the Problem and Challenge Statements. The idea/approach should be realistic, scalable, and reflect sound knowledge of the technical and country landscape.

2. Partnership Expectations and Value: Strengths of the organization or consortium as a partner, including ability to make a valuable contribution to the challenge issued.

3. Impact: The likelihood of generating substantial, scalable and sustainable impact on the issues discussed in the Problem and Challenge Statements.

4. Past Experience: USAID also will consider the organization’s past experience in assessing the ability of the organization to contribute to the co-creation.

VI. ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS

A. EOIs will not be evaluated against other EOIs, but solely on whether USAID determines that the submitter will be a valuable contributor to the co-creation process. USAID may limit the number of initial submissions selected to move forward based on efficiencies.

B. Concept Papers will not be evaluated against other Concept Papers, but solely based on USAID’s determination that the Concept Paper will successfully address the Problem and Challenges, using the criteria set forth herein. USAID may limit the number of Concept Papers selected to move forward based on efficiencies.

C. Decisions regarding USAID’s pursuit of a particular project, technology, or relationship will be based on all available information, evidence, data, and resulting analysis.

D. Eligibility Information. Public, private, for-profit, and nonprofit organizations, as well as institutions of higher education, public international organizations, non-governmental organizations, U.S. and non-U.S.

governmental organizations, multilateral and international donor organizations are eligible to receive awards under this BAA. All organizations must be determined to be responsive to the BAA and responsible to perform or participate in the final award.

E. Funding availability and amounts will depend on the ideas generated during the collaboration process as well as the funding capacity of participating organizations, which are not necessarily limited to USAID.

VII. SPECIFIC RIGHTS RESERVED FOR THE GOVERNMENT UNDER THIS BAA

The Government reserves specific rights, in addition to rights described elsewhere in this document or by law or regulation, including:

1. The right to award multiple awards, a single award, or no awards.

2. The right to make award without discussions, or to conduct discussions and/or negotiations, whichever is determined to be in the Government’s interest.

3. The right to accept EOIs/Concepts in their entirety or to select only portions of EOIs/Concepts for award or co-investment.

4. The right to select for award an instrument type that is appropriate to the specific development context, partner relationship, and Concept Paper selected for award. Instruments types include, but are not limited to, contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, public-private partnerships, Inter-Agency Agreements, Government to Government Agreements, Donor to Donor Agreements, and Memorandums of Understanding. In addition, the Government may craft a new instrument type to meet the needs of a specific relationship.

5. The right to co-create projects with one or more organizations under the BAA, when it is in the best interest of the Government.

6. The right to request any additional, necessary documentation upon initial review. Such additional information may include, but is not limited to, a further detailed Concept Paper, budget, and representations and certifications.

7. The right to fund or co-invest in Concept Papers in phases, with options for continued work at the end of one or more of the phases.

9. The right to award instruments under this BAA that do not commit or exchange monetary resources.

10. The right to remove organizations from the BAA process if USAID determines that it is no longer in the best interests of the Government to proceed with the organization.

VIII. INFORMATION PROTECTION

USAID’s goal is to facilitate research and development that will lead to innovative, and potentially commercially-viable, solutions. Understanding the sensitive nature of submitters’ information, USAID will work with organizations to protect intellectual property.

EOIs should be free of any intellectual property that the organization wishes to protect, as the EOIs will be shared with USAID partners as part of the selection process. However, once organizations have been invited to advance beyond co-creation, organizations can work with USAID to identify proprietary information that requires protection. Therefore, organizations making submissions under this BAA grant to USAID a royalty-free, nonexclusive, and irrevocable right to use, disclose, reproduce, and prepare derivative works, and to have or permit others to do so to any information contained in an EOI submitted under the BAA. If USAID further engages with the organization regarding its submission, the parties can negotiate further protection of the organization’s intellectual property.

Therefore, organizations making submissions under this BAA grant to USAID a royalty-free, nonexclusive, and irrevocable right to use, disclose, reproduce, and prepare derivative works, and to have or permit others to do so to any information contained in the expressions of interest submitted under the BAA. If USAID engages with the organization regarding its submission, the parties can negotiate further intellectual property protection for the organization’s intellectual property.

Organizations must ensure that any submissions under this BAA are free of any third party proprietary data rights that would impact the license granted to USAID herein.

IX. OBTAINING THE BAA AND ANY ADDENDA

This BAA and any Addenda, if applicable, can be downloaded from http://www.grants.gov and http://www.fbo.gov. Issuance of this BAA does not constitute an award commitment on the part of USAID, nor does it commit USAID or any of its funding partners to pay for costs incurred in the preparation and submission of EOIs/Concepts. Further, USAID reserves the right to reject any or all EOIs/Concepts received.

X. SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS FOR EOIs:

A. Questions Any questions regarding this BAA should be submitted via email to this email address:

vassimengkwakye@usaid.gov and rbertholon@usaid.gov with “Questions” in the subject line along with the BAA/Addendum Reference Number. Questions are due on the date and time indicated on Page 1.

Responses to questions received prior to the deadline along with any applicable amendments to this BAA will be posted on fbo.gov and grants.gov. No questions will be accepted after the deadline.

B. EOIs submitted in response to this BAA must:

A. Be in English, no more than 2 pages in length total, and no smaller than 11 point font B. Be submitted electronically to vassimengkwakye@usaid.gov and rbertholon@usaid.gov C. Contain a header with the following information (included in the page count):

a. Respondent Name/Group and Contact Information

b. Response Title

c. BAA Addendum Name/Number

d. Optional graphic that fits on an 8.5”x11” or A4 piece of paper (included in the page limit)

D. Be in .pdf, .docx, or .odf format

If a respondent does not follow the instructions set forth herein, the respondent’s EOI may be eliminated from further consideration.

USAID will not pay for any EOI preparation costs.

EOIs submitted in response will be received by electronic submission only. Facsimile or hardcopy submissions will not be accepted.

All EOIs submitted in response to this BAA are due by the date and time indicated on page 1 of this document. Late EOIs will not be considered.

Robyn Bertholon Agreement Officer rbertholon@usaid.gov mailto:vassimengkwakye@usaid.gov mailto:rbertholon@usaid.gov mailto:vassimengkwakye@usaid.gov