Questions and Answers Week of 6.29.20.pdf

FAS FY 20 McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program NOFO

Questions & Answers Week of 6/29/20

1. May applicants include a cover page, table of contents and/or list of acronyms with their proposal, or with any section such as the Evaluation Plan? If so, does it count towards the overall page limit?

A cover page, table of contents, acronym list, etc. is not required as part of a proposal. Any information included with any content area, including the Evaluation Plan within Monitoring & Evaluation will count towards the stated page limits.

2. Will USDA allow for applicants to submit a table describing positions, roles, responsibilities, and level of experience describing for all program staff positions as a supplemental attachment to compliment the organizational chart that will be submitted for the full team as the Organizational Chart Attachment?

Information on staffing may be presented as a table and is to be included in the six-page organizational capacity and staffing narrative. Please see Part D. 3. c. iv Organizational Capacity and Staffing: “the narrative should also include a staffing plan that demonstrates the technical and regional or national expertise required for efficient and effective project implementation, administration, and management.”

3. Can USDA clarify that PPRs need to be sent to references separately and individual references submit completed PPRs back to ppded@usda.gov? In our experience, some references may take longer to respond and may not submit completed references in time for the July 14th submission. Can applicants simultaneously send PPRs to references requesting them to respond by the 14th, and also submit PPRs to FAIS and ppded@usda.gov to ensure PPRs are part of the submitted package?

Yes, past performance references must be sent separately by an Applicant to references and then submitted by the reference to PPDED@usda.gov. All completed past performance references must be submitted to PPDED@usda.gov by the application deadline: 5:00:00 PM EDT July 14, 2020. An Applicant should communicate deadline information to references.

To communicate fulfillment of this proposal requirement, receipt of reviews is confirmed by FAS to the reference.

4. Is an organization allowed to submit letters of commitment or support from host-country governments or resource partners that are not sub-recipients?

(Previously answered as question 8 for the Week of 5.25.20) mailto:ppded@usda.gov mailto:ppded@usda.gov mailto:PPDED@usda.gov mailto:PPDED@usda.gov

Please refer to Part D. 3. b. where the NOFO states: “FAS strongly discourages, and will not consider, any materials submitted by or on behalf of the Applicant other than those materials specifically requested in this NOFO.”

5. The FY20 McGovern-Dole NOFO references the requirement for a CV for the Project Lead, as an attachment without page limits. May the applicant also attach CVs for other personnel?

Please refer to Part D. 3. b. where the NOFO states: “FAS strongly discourages, and will not consider, any materials submitted by or on behalf of the Applicant other than those materials specifically requested in this NOFO.”

6. Is there is a template for concepts/ proposals?

Some content areas and required forms have standard templates and some do not. Please refer to Part D. 3. b. Required Content and Forms for a full list of requirements.

7. Page 26 states that “if a proposal addresses a result that has a corresponding standard indicator, the Applicant must include the standard indicator in its table.” If an activity or result has multiple standard indicators through which it could plausibly be measured or assessed, can the project choose the most applicable, relevant, and useful standard indicator or must the project select all relevant standard indicators for that result or activity?

USDA recommends applicants select all relevant standard indicators for their proposed activities and desired results. If an award is made, an awardee may discuss proposed reductions to indicators with USDA during the award negotiation period.

8. In cases in which the Applicant is not directly contributing to an outcome in the Results Framework but instead leveraging a partner’s relevant activities in the proposed project area, can USDA please confirm whether indicators are still required to track progress for this result or if reporting indicators for this result are unnecessary?

If any USDA resources contribute to an outcome, even if a partner’s activities also will contribute, the Applicant must propose to measure that outcome. If any USDA resources will be used to leverage a partner’s activities, then USDA should also track any outcomes of those activities. If no USDA resources are contributing to the activities of a partner nor to an outcome jointly achieved by USDA and the partner, then there is no need for the Applicant to track that result.

9. Similar to the question above, in cases in which a program activity contributes to multiple results, does the Applicant need to ensure there is at least one indicator for each relevant result in addition to an indicator for the activity?

Yes, each result the Applicant plans to achieve should be measured using at least one indicator, even in a case where one activity contributes to multiple results.

10. Are applicants required to include a midterm evaluation as a part of the Evaluation Plan?

Please see p. 12 of the Monitoring and Evaluation Policy, linked here and in the NOFO. Per the policy, all projects of 4 years in duration or longer are required to carry out a midterm evaluation. FAS will negotiate with organizations whether and to what extent a shorter project will carry out a midterm evaluation. The Evaluation Plan should address the Applicant’s plans for a midterm evaluation.

11. Can USDA please provide guidance on font requirements for tables? Are we able to use any font for the tables in our proposal or do we need to use Times New Roman? The NOFO states that “tables and graphs may have a smaller font as appropriate” (page 14) but does not specify font type.

Please refer to Part D. 3. a. Application Format: an application must be written using Times New Roman, 12-point font; tables and graphs may have a smaller font as appropriate. FAS is primarily concerned with legible content.

12. Although a market analysis, as a basis for an LRP program, is not required by the application deadline, if an organization has completed the market analysis, may it be included as an attachment to the proposal?

Please refer to Part D. 3. b. where the NOFO states: “FAS strongly discourages, and will not consider, any materials submitted by or on behalf of the Applicant other than those materials specifically requested in this NOFO.” FAS will not review a market analysis if it is included as an attachment to the proposal.

However, under Part D. c. 3. vi. Economic and Market Impact, Applicants should provide a plan for conducting an annual market study of the impacts of procurement of commodities, such as unusual changes in commodity prices. Under this section, Applicants must also provide a preliminary analysis of the potential impact of proposed procurement(s) on markets in the location of the commodity origin and distributions in the project implementation area.

13. For each of the two bullet points below (found as a requirement of the Introduction and Strategic Analysis on page 19 of the NOFO Modification II), could USDA confirm if the guidance applies to McGovern-Dole commodities, locally or regionally procured commodities, or both?

• Explain how the commodity selection was determined in the context of other nutrition programs in the country or project area and how the commodity selection https://www.fas.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2019-06/fad_mande_policy_feb_2019.pdf would be appropriate for the local diet, as well as how it may fill identified nutrition gaps in the local diet.

• Provide a clear explanation of how the requested commodity and ration size addresses identified nutritional deficiencies of the beneficiaries. To meet the full nutritional requirements in this section, Applicants must offer at least three food components, and are encouraged to add seasonal vegetables, fruits, and/or animal-sourced proteins, when feasible. This will encourage dietary diversity and teach children about nutrition and healthy eating. Applicants who do not offer at least three food components will need to justify the reason for the omission.

If an Applicant chooses to propose local and or regional commodity procurement, Applicants should describe how local and regional procurement will contribute to the implementation strategy. Therefore, Applicants should address both bullets identified in this question for all USDA-funded commodities.