Amendment No1 RFP 72066821R00008 RASS QnA.pdf

QUESTION/ANSWERS (Q&A)

USAID Resilience through Agriculture in South Sudan – RFP No. 72066821R00008

1. Section C.5, page 8. Says that the Contractor “is required to engage under the activity an Infrastructure Manager”. Can USAID confirm that the Infrastructure Manager’s salary is included outside of the construction plug figure.

A: See Q.2.

2. Section C.5, page 8. What is included in the construction plug figure?

A: The plug figure includes A/E and construction subcontracts, including any consultants performing A/E services. Please see the revised RFP unde L.7.

3. Section L.7, Part 5, page 81. Can USAID please advise on whether there is a maximum number of contracts/cooperative agreements that offerors can include in the past performance section?

A: No cooperative agreements are permitted. While there is not a stated limit for contracts that can be provided, note that the submission must not include past performance information for contracts in CPARS.

4. Section L.7, Part 5, page 81-82. For contracts that are in CPARs, please confirm that USAID would like a list of them.

A: No. Offerors must not submit past performance information for contracts in CPARS.

5. Section M.3, page 86. Can USAID confirm that the Technical Proposals will be evaluated according three factors (Performance Work Statement, Staffing Plan, and QASP) and not four factors.

A: Correct. We’ve corrected the typo from four to three. Apologies.

6. Could USAID please provide an updated link for the IEE?

A: The IEE is not available, thus there is no link.

7. Can USAID provide the anticipated date of the award?

A: June 30, 2021

8. Since it is critical that RASS builds on SAFER’s work, having access to reports from SAFER would help Offerors develop activities that directly build on SAFER’s accomplishments. Can USAID please provide Offerors with any relevant reports from the

SAFER project? Can USAID please make public any reports/assessments it deems critical for Offeror to have?

A: Offerors should review the DEC for applicable reports.

9. Would USAID provide the current Local Compensation Plan (LCP) for South Sudan?

A: The basic salary per the LCP salary scale ranges from $5,026 to $79,002 per annum.

10. RFP page 7, C.5 Cross-Cutting Requirements, Collaborating Learning and Adapting, states that “the contractor must collaborate and link with other USAID projects in the Partnership for Recovery and Resilience (PfRR)” and that USAID intends to “pursue intense co-location, coordination, layering, and community engagement to achieve convergence.”

a. Considering the importance of convergence with the recently awarded Food for Peace (FFP) multi-year emergency food security projects operating in some or all of the same zones of intervention as RASS, would USAID kindly consider sharing scopes of work or operational workplans for those projects with offerors, as well as the name of the implementor(s) and the counties covered? This information will help inform context-appropriate activity design, and even-out the playing field for offerors who are not currently implementing FFP programs.

A: The awardees and programs are below:

One-pagers about each program are in development and scheduled to be released by March 1 and will be posted once they are available. We have also attached the Food Assistance RFA via this amendment.

b. To further support informed convergence, could USAID share plans for PfRR in the targeted 13 counties, including minutes of previous PfRR meetings? For example, does USAID expect the contractor to facilitate PfRR’s expansion into other counties not included in the PfRR workplan, or is another implementor taking the lead on supporting PfRR?

A: USAID can confirm that the contractor is not expected to facilitate or manage PfRR activities or expansion. Please see the updated RFP under C.5, which removes “Where activities occur in PfRR areas, the activity must collaborate with PfRR bodies in those areas and in Juba to ensure coordination with other partners and communities.”

Implementing Partner Project Name

Catholic Relief Services Pathways to Resilience

Norwegian Refugee Council Complementary Action for Resilience Building in South Sudan

World Vision Accelerating Recovery and Resilience in South Sudan

c. Can USAID provide a list of USAID projects and implementers operating in the 13 target counties?

A: No.

11. Page 8, Construction, Paragraph 1, states: “Prior to any construction activity, the Contractor must receive written agreement from the relevant county or similar recognized authority that they will operate and maintain the finished work, and the Contractor must certify that the County/local authority has the current capacity to do so.”

a. Does this indicate construction projects should be owned/operated by country government entities rather than community groups or private sector partners?

A: This part of C.5 has been revised.

b. How is the requirement to obtain agreement from the relevant County authority and provide associated capacity building impacted by the restrictions described in the Strategic Framework about providing assistance that benefits the central or sub-national Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (R-TGoNU)?

A: Given that these are fact-specific situations, Offerors should consult their legal counsel.

12. Page 8, Construction, Paragraph 3, states: “The Contractor is also required to engage under the activity an Infrastructure Manager with experience in small-scale, low-cost, context-appropriate infrastructure design and management and be a US-licensed Professional Engineer with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering.” Can USAID confirm that the role of the US-licensed Infrastructure Manager may be an intermittent short-term consultant, who is supported by host-country experts, to build local capacity and ensure successful completion of construction activities?

A: Each Offeror should determine their own staffing pattern.

13. Page 13, F.3 Place of Performance, lists the 13 counties that interventions must occur in.

Can USAID please clarify its expectations for the project’s presence in those 13 counties?

A: No.

14. Page 13, F.3 Place of Performance: Given the restrictions described in USAID’s Strategic Framework about providing assistance that benefits the central or sub-national Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (R-TGoNU), could USAID clarify expectations on interactions between the contractor and representatives of government?

For example, does this restriction extend to contractor engagement and collaboration with community health workers and agriculture extension agents?

A: See Q.11b.

15. Page 14, F.5 Deliverables: Given the high-risk environment, is there flexibility on the 20% fixed fee cap on section F.5 deliverables?

A: No.

16. Page 29, H.9 Additional Requirements for Personnel Compensation: Can USAID provide an average exchange rate that applicants may use for proposal evaluation purposes?

A: No, proposals are submitted in USD.

17. Page 29-30, H.9 (d), Compensation of Cooperating Country and Third Country Nationals (CCN/TCNs), states that “their salaries must not exceed those under the USAID Local Compensation Plan (LCP) for comparable positions.” Could USAID please share the most recent Local Compensation Plan for South Sudan with offerors?

A: See Q.9.

18. Page 30, H.9 (d), ‘CCNs compensated in local currency’: Considering the South Sudanese currency’s volatility, does USAID peg CCN compensation to the USD equivalent in the Local Compensation Plan?

A: The mission currently has a waiver of the requirements of AIDAR 722.170(b) such that contractor employees may be paid in USD. As consultants are considered subcontractors, this does not extend to them.

19. Page 77, Performance Work Statement: Can USAID confirm if textboxes are allowed within the PWS to illustrate or summarize key information?

A: Yes.

20. Page 77, Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP): To help applicants align with USAID’s requirements, could USAID share a QASP template for applicants to use?

A: No. Please review FAR 46.

21. Page 79, Part 3 – Proposed Costs (iii): Could USAID please clarify what cost inputs, if any, beyond A&E services are included in the $2.05M construction plug? For example, does this include associated staffing such as the US-licensed professional engineer and monitoring costs?

A: See Q.2.

22. Page 81, Part 5 – Past Performance states: “For contracts not in the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS), offerors (including all partners of a joint venture) must use the “Past Performance Information Sheet” (included as Attachment 3) to list past performance information for itself with a cost between $20,000,000 and $40,000,000, with a period of performance falling within the last three years, and involving similar work as achieving the objectives in the SOO.”

a. Please confirm Cooperative Agreements may be included in the Past Performance Information Sheets.

A. No.

b. Please confirm subcontractor past-performance should only be included for major subcontractors (defined in Part 3—Proposed Costs, Section (2) as those reflecting 15% of the total prime budget).

A: Past performance will be evaluated for the prime offeror, not subcontractors.

23. Page 86, M.3 Technical Evaluation Criteria, states: “Technical Proposals will be evaluated according to the four factors presented below…” However, only three are presented – Performance Work Statement, Staffing Plan, and Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan. Please confirm these are the only three evaluation factors.

A: See Q.5.

24. Attachment 1, Statement of Objectives: To what extent will applicants be expected to focus on small, medium, and large livestock?

A: Offerors must develop technical approaches that achieve contract objectives.

25. Section H.5 Consent to Subcontract (page 27) states, “ ‘Consultants,’ unless they are an employee of the contractor, are considered subcontractors subject to the applicable clauses and requirements.” We respectfully ask USAID to consider the following revision: “Unless the consultant is engaged as labor and hence considered contractor personnel or an employee of the organization, they are considered a subcontractor subject to the applicable clauses and requirements.” It is our understanding that a consultant by definition cannot be an employee; FAR 31.205-33(a) defines “Professional and consultant services,” [...] as “those services rendered by persons who are members of a particular profession or possess a special skill and who are not officers or employees of the contractor.” Because consultants provide personal services, they are considered contractor personnel and their billable costs are governed by the contract clauses and regulations related to personnel.

When an individual is engaged as a legally constituted organization, including sole proprietorship, they are considered a subcontractor and subject to the appropriate contractual requirements.

A: No.

26. Consistent with the guidance in FAR 37.113-1 and the fact that the anticipated contract will be performed overseas, we respectfully request that USAID include FAR 52.237-8 and FAR 52.237-9 Waiver of Limitation on Severance Payments to Foreign National to prevent conflict with applicable local employment laws in the cooperating country.

A: FAR 52.237-8 is included already. A waiver has not been approved. Please note that the limitation is that severance costs are unallowable to foreign nationals employed under a service contract performed outside the United States to the extent that such payments exceed amounts

(not percentages) typically paid to employees providing similar services in the same industry in the United States. USAID will consider requests on a case-by-case basis but cannot provide a blanket waiver for this contract.

27. Section H.9(c) (page 29) of the RFP holds offerors to 3% annual salary increases. We respectfully request that the above-mentioned salary restriction be removed from the RFP as it appears to be inconsistent with AIDAR 752.7007 Personnel Compensation, incorporated in the contract under Section H.8, which stipulates that personnel compensation be in accordance with the contractor’s established policies, procedures, and practices, with reimbursement subject only to the USAID Contractor Salary Threshold.

The salary restriction above may preclude contractors from following their established policies, procedures, and practices, as required by AIDAR 752.7007.

A: No. It is not inconsistent with AIDAR 752.7007. Offerors should read the entirety of Section H.9.

28. Section H.9(d) (page 29) of the RFP requires that we adhere to a local compensation plan. We respectfully request that the above-mentioned salary restriction be removed from the RFP as it appears to be inconsistent with AIDAR 752.7007 Personnel Compensation, incorporated in the contract under Section H.8, which stipulates that personnel compensation be in accordance with the contractor’s established policies, procedures, and practices, with reimbursement subject only to the USAID Contractor Salary Threshold.

The salary restriction above may preclude contractors from following their established policies, procedures, and practices, as required by AIDAR 752.700.

A: No.

29. What construction services are required/anticipated under this contract?

A: These are described in C.5.

30. Is USAID confident that funding resources are commensurate with program objectives and geographic scope?

A: Yes.

31. Which objectives does USAID envision being achieved through sub-contracts?

A: There is no specific objective for subcontracts.