FFP QA Week of May 14- May 20.docx

FY 2025 Food for Peace Notice of Funding Opportunity Questions and Answers May 18- May 20, 2026

1. Q: Can a U.S. agricultural exporter with GSM-102 approval apply directly under the Food for Peace Title II NOFO as a commodity supplier—or is direct application limited to implementing organizations such as NGOs and multilateral bodies?

A: Please refer the NOFO Section 2.1 Eligible Applicants and Section 2.2, Eligibility Threshold Criteria:

· “In accordance with the Food for Peace authorizing legislation, 7 U.S.C. § 1722(a), public or private organizations, including intergovernmental organizations and other multilateral organizations, are eligible Applicants...USDA will not accept applications from, or provide resources to individuals, parastatal organizations, or U.S. Government departments and agencies. Additionally, USDA will not make awards to foreign governments.”

· “Applicants must demonstrate existing capacity to distribute emergency food assistance within the beneficiary country or experience with implementing emergency food assistance programs in an international emergency context.”

Per the criteria above, eligible applicants include public or private organizations. However, Applicants also must demonstrate the capacity to distribute or experience with implementing emergency food programs, which is the goal of the program. Organizations without this experience would not be eligible Applicants.

2. Q: If direct application is unavailable to exporters, is there a recommended channel through which a GSM-102-approved U.S. exporter can connect with implementing organizations already applying for Kenya and Rwanda funding—to serve as their U.S. commodity supplier?

A: Interested commodity suppliers are not prohibited from engaging with Applicants to increase their understanding of proposed commodity baskets. However, note that the procurement of commodities and freight is done through an open competitive tendering process post-award, it is not fixed during the award-making process. Additionally, on its website, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service has publicly available resources to guide prospective commodity vendors on becoming qualified vendors.

3. Is there a process by which a company may qualify to receive compensation for facilitating the participation of one or more nations in the Food for Peace program?

A: No. Grant agreements are the only mechanism for awarding funds under this notice of funding opportunity.

4. Q: Does your notification imply that the program is exclusively limited to just these nations and no others that could use this program?

A: Correct, USDA/FAS will only accept applications for the following countries under this Notice of Funding Opportunity: Democratic Republic of the Congo, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Haiti, Kenya, and Rwanda. Please refer to Section 1.1 Executive Summary.

5. Q: How do we access the application?

A: The application is outlined in Section 4 Application Content and Format of the full Notice of Funding Opportunity which is published on grants.gov and able to be downloaded from the ‘related documents' section.

6. Q: What are the eligible products listed in FFP?

A: Please refer to Appendix C of the Notice of Funding Opportunity entitled ‘Eligible Commodities’ for a list of approved items. Applicants may propose appropriate specialized nutritious products, including, but not limited to ready-to-use supplementary foods, fortified blended flours, and micronutrient powders, to respond to nutrition crises and support nutrition during food security crises. Applicants should explain the rationale for their selections.

7. Q: Is this a new process or opportunity that is different from the solicitations that vendors participate in under Title II?

A: Yes, this is different from solicitations that approved vendors participate under USDA/AMS international bulk or packaged procurements.

8. Q: Is there any plan for the Eligible Commodities list (Appendix C) for this NOFO to be amended further, specifically for adding Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation (MMS) as an eligible commodity? Alternatively, is there any plan for MMS to be added as an eligible commodity to the separate recently-released FY26 McGovern-Dole NOFO (Appendix H)?

A: There is not a plan for the eligible commodities list to be amended for the Food for Peace NOFO or for the McGovern-Dole NOFO. USDA accepts new product proposals on a rolling basis. Requesting entities must submit a proposal to add new commodities to the eligible commodity list. Inquiries and proposals are to be submitted to USDA/Foreign Agricultural Service/Global Programs at PPDED@fas.usda.gov

9. Q: What is the application process?

A: Please refer to Sections 4-7 of the notice of funding opportunity which outlines the process, timeline, and required documents.

10. Q: What are partnership opportunities available for local agricultural cooperatives and community- based implementation organizations in Kenya?

A. There may be several ways to engage local organizations through this NOFO:

Please see NOFO section 4.1.2. Technical Approach, Activities, and Oversight. On page 10, the NOFO discusses Application requirements related to coordination: “Applicants should describe the start-up, roll-out, and scaling of project activities, including information on how the activities will interact with the host government and community members, and any other donors and implementing organizations in the proposed area of operation....To maximize the effectiveness of USDA/FAS’s food assistance efforts, Applicants must demonstrate proactive coordination with established in-country service providers— particularly, local and faith-based organizations—and engage private sector stakeholders to leverage existing networks, resources, and expertise. This collaboration is essential to ensure a unified, impactful approach that addresses immediate needs and strengthens community resilience; and to maximize resources to achieve maximum results.”

Additionally, at the Full Application stage, Applicants may identify eligible subrecipients or contractors (refer to 2 CFR 200.331 Subrecipient and contractor determinations). See the NOFO under Section 4.2.1.2 Organizational Capacity and Staffing (NOFO pages 13-14) for information required on Subrecipients.

In terms of partnerships with agricultural cooperatives, please note, per Section 3. Program Description of the NOFO on page 7, “This funding opportunity is to provide immediate emergency food assistance using U.S. agricultural commodities, for which...commodities procured must be 100% U.S. origin.”

11. Q: Is there a specific document that provides detailed information about funding for each country?

A: Please refer to Section 1.7 Funding Details. USDA expects to issue individual awards in amounts ranging from of $20 million to $200 million.

12. Q: Could USDA please clarify whether “Applicant” in Section 2.6 Multiple Applications refers to the applicant organization (e.g., the academic institution) or to an individual principal investigator/project director?

A: Please refer to NOFO Section 2.1 Eligible Applicants: “In accordance with the Food for Peace authorizing legislation, 7 U.S.C. § 1722(a), public or private organizations, including intergovernmental organizations and other multilateral organizations, are eligible Applicants. USDA will not accept applications from, or provide resources to individuals, parastatal organizations, or U.S. Government departments and agencies. Additionally, USDA will not make awards to foreign governments.”

The NOFO is referring to the applying public or private organization when referring to “Applicant.” Individuals are not eligible applicants.

13. Q: On page 10 of the FY25 Food for peace NOFO, USDA/FAS says” the budget overview should also provide a short summary as to how the funds will be spent. Can USDA/FAS please clarify what type of information they are seeking with this request?

A: The short summary should narratively describe how the applicant intends to spend the funds described in each line of the budget table (i.e. administration, activities, ITSH, indirect costs, any cost sharing/matching funds, U.S. commodity cost, and freight cost).

14. Q: Can USDA please confirm whether references to “freight” are inclusive of both Ocean Freight and Inland Freight? If inland freight is not included within the freight cost calculation for this [50% of budget] requirement, could USDA/FAS please clarify in which budget category applicants should capture these costs in the concept paper (e.g., ITSH or another category) A: When alternative delivery arrangement to a through bill of lading is requested, freight costs required to move U.S.‑donated commodities from the designated discharge port to final delivery points within a landlocked recipient country should be budgeted and reported as freight costs. In these circumstances, inland freight from the discharge port to the mutually agreed inland destination is considered part of the overall freight cost structure for purposes of meeting the minimum requirement that at least 50 percent of total program resources be allocated to U.S. commodity and freight expenses.

15. Q: Which applicants are expected to rely solely on their own market-based estimates for commodity and freight costs, or whether there are recommended reference sources or methodologies (e.g., AMS data or recent procurement benchmarks) that USDA encourages applicants to use?

A: Applicants are not required to rely solely on their own market‑based estimates for commodity or freight costs. USDA encourages applicants to make use of available reference sources to strengthen the accuracy and reliability of their proposed budgets. For commodity cost estimates, applicants are encouraged to utilize AMS procurement data, which provides recent pricing benchmarks that can serve as a valuable reference point when developing cost projections. For freight estimates, applicants may benefit from working with a freight forwarder who can develop pricing estimates tailored to the applicant’s proposed tonnages, routing, and destination points. Leveraging freight forwarder expertise helps ensure that transportation costs reflect current market conditions and expected logistics requirements.

16. The past performance review template of Appendix D is missing parts II and III. Could you please provide the template?

A: Yes, the full past performance review template is now uploaded in the ‘related documents’ section of this funding opportunity. This replaces the Appendix D Past Performance Review Template found in the NOFO.

17. Q: Is the concept paper due June 12, 2026, and after that date the notification will be made for full application?

A: See the NOFO Section 4: Application Contents and Format on page 8: “The first phase of the application process is the submission of a Concept Paper to USDA/FAS. Following the concept paper review, USDA/FAS will notify Applicants whether they are selected for the second round to submit a full application. USDA/FAS will clearly communicate the timeline of these application components and award phases to the Applicants. Neither submission of a concept paper nor receiving an invitation to write a full application will guarantee funding from USDA.”

If selected to move onto the full application stage, USDA/FAS anticipates a swift turn-around for full application submission - likely two weeks, from the date of notification for Applicants to submit the full application package. However, this timeline is subject to change.

18. Q: Could you define or provide an example of the different ready-to-use supplementary foods? Ready to use supplementary food (RUSF) (SF- lipid based nutrients supplement {LNS-LQ) A: Ready-to-use foods do not need to be prepared in any way to consume. This category includes LNS. LNS are RUSFs that contain a high fat (oil) content. Examples are:

· RUSF (SF LNS-LQ) -Plumpy’Sup, Plumpy’Mum

· RUSF (SF LNS-MQ) -Plumpy’Doz

· RUSF (SF-LNS-SQ)- Nutributter

19. Q: Do the fortified rice meals with textured protein and dried chicken broth count as ready to use supplementary foods (RUSF)?

A: No.

20. Q: Can USDA provide an example of Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF)?

A: Plumpy’Nut is an example of an RUTF.

21. Q: Is $20 million the lowest amount you will accept?

A: USDA/FAS encourages applications between $20 million and $200 million for concept papers under this notice of funding opportunity.

22. Q: Can USDA help support our existing program in the Democratic Republic of the Congo?

A: Any eligible entity is welcome to submit a concept paper following the guidance in Section 4 Application Contents and Format of the notice of funding opportunity. Please refer to Section 2.1 of the NOFO for information on eligible applicants.