Final FY 2017 Grad Pilot RFA.pdf

Issuance Date: March 3, 2017

Closing Date: May 17, 2017

Closing Time: 11:59 a.m. (Eastern Daylight Time)

CFDA Number: 98.007

Subject: Request for Applications for Development Food Security Activities in Uganda –

Graduation Pilot

Title: Fiscal Year 2017 Development Food Security Activities in Uganda – Graduation Pilot

The U. S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Office of Food for Peace (FFP) is seeking applications for funding for development food security activities.

Private voluntary organizations or cooperatives that are, to the extent practicable, registered with the USAID Administrator may apply. This includes U.S. and non-U.S. nongovernmental organizations. Intergovernmental organizations are also eligible to apply.

Subject to the availability of funds, under this Request for Applications (RFA), FFP plans to enter into up to the number of awards as described in detail in the Country Specific

Information (CSI). Please refer to the CSI for a complete description of possible locations and activities.

USAID reserves the right to use any assistance mechanism available to this agency (e.g., grant, cooperative agreement, leader with associates), and to adjust the number of awards, funding levels, sources of funding, and/or procedures. If Community Development Funds are not stipulated in the CSI, applicants may consider requesting Title II Section 202(e) funds. Funding levels are driven by the applicant's activity designs, but set by FFP for successful applicants.

Successful applicants will be notified of any changes or updates, accordingly.

Applications are submitted at the risk of the applicant, and all preparation and submission costs are at the applicant's expense. This includes the completion of all required documents for USAID awards.

Issuance of this RFA does not constitute an award commitment on the part of USAID. Final awards cannot be made until funds have been fully appropriated, apportioned, allocated, and committed. While it is anticipated that these procedures will be successfully completed, potential applicants are hereby notified of these requirements and conditions for award.

For the purposes of this activity, this RFA being issued consists of this cover letter and the following:

FY 2017 Development Food Security Activities for Uganda Grad Pilot RFA

SECTION I – PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

SECTION II – FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION

SECTION III – ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

SECTION IV – APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

SECTION V – APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION

SECTION VI – FEDERAL AWARD AND ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

SECTION VII – FEDERAL AWARDING AGENCY CONTACTS

SECTION VIII – OTHER INFORMATION

APPENDIX I: Definitions and Program Areas and Elements

APPENDIX II: Past Performance Reference Questionnaire

To be eligible for the award, the applicant must provide all required information in the application, including the requirements found in any attachments to this opportunity on www.grants.gov. Any future amendments to this RFA can be downloaded from www.grants.gov. This information may also be posted on the FFP website. It is the responsibility of the applicant to use the most up-to-date versions of all of the documents related to this RFA.

The RFA does not contain significant technical information because FFP developed Technical

References and the Monitoring and Evaluation Policy and Guidance for potential applicants’ review and reference; these can be found on the FFP website.

USAID policy is not to award profit under assistance instruments. However, all reasonable, allocable, and allowable expenses, both direct and indirect, which are related to the agreement activity and which are in accordance with applicable cost standards, may be paid under the agreement.

USAID may (a) reject any or all applications, (b) accept applications for reasons other than cost, or (c) accept more than one application (see Section V - Application Review

Information). USAID intends to award predominantly cooperative agreements, but reserves the right to award any other form of assistance agreement. USAID may waive informalities and minor irregularities in applications received.

In the event of any inconsistency between this RFA and the referenced documents in the RFA, the RFA shall take precedence over any referenced documents (including the Technical

References), except statute, regulations and the CSI. In the event of an inconsistency in the

RFA documents or in the text of the RFA, it will be resolved at the discretion of the

Agreement Officer.

Thank you for your interest in USAID programs.

Sincerely, /S/

Matt Nims

Acting Director, Office of Food for Peace http://www.grants.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/ https://www.usaid.gov/what-we-do/agriculture-and-food-security/food-assistance/programs/development-programs https://www.usaid.gov/what-we-do/agriculture-and-food-security/food-assistance/programs/development-programs

Section I – Program Description

1. General Description

The Office of Food for Peace (FFP), in the U.S. Agency for International Development’s

(USAID’s) Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance (DCHA), is the U.S.

Government (USG) leader in international food assistance. Through FFP, USAID supports multi-year development (i.e., non-emergency) food security activities to improve and sustain the food and nutrition security of vulnerable populations through work at the individual, household and systems level to address the underlying causes of chronic food insecurity and strengthen transformative opportunities. USAID also provides emergency food assistance to address needs arising from natural disasters and complex emergencies often characterized by insecurity and population displacement. More information on USAID food security activities can be found on the USAID website.

This Request for Applications (RFA) provides information on funding opportunities for multi-year development food security activities. Development activities are mandated in the Food for

Peace Act and are aligned with the FFP 2016-2025 Food Assistance and Food Security Strategy.

Together, the FFP Strategic Results Framework’s Strategic Objectives and accompanying

Intermediate Results address key drivers of food insecurity, creating a map of the broad platform of capabilities that FFP and its partners bring to bear in supporting improved food security for vulnerable populations. The framework includes three crosscutting IRs which integrate the themes of gender equality and youth empowerment, social cohesion and social accountability across both SOs. The entire framework is informed by, and supports, efforts to build resilience at the individual, household, community and systems levels — not as an objective in and of itself — but as a cross-cutting set of capacities that contribute to the goal of improved food and nutrition security. The Results Framework is not intended to imply that every activity needs to address the same key drivers of food and nutrition insecurity. Context varies dramatically between and within countries, and between acute hunger crises and chronic vulnerability. Each activity should be framed in relation to these specific country and/or regional contexts, with FFP development activities maintaining their use of context-specific theories of change.

http://www.usaid.gov/what-we-do/agriculture-and-food-security/food-assistance https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1867/FFP-Strategy-FINAL%2010.5.16.pdf

FFP development activities are also aligned with and increasingly integrated with other USAID efforts to promote resilience and reduce extreme poverty; FFP coordinates with the Mission on the Country Specific Information (CSI) that accompanies the RFA before an activity can take place in country. Multi-year development food security activities support Feed the Future and the US Global Food Security Strategy, and in FTF focused and aligned countries, whenever possible, every effort is made to jointly fund these activities with community development funds (CDF) from USAID’s Bureau for Food Security — increasing intra agency collaboration and flexibility and reducing the need to monetize Title II commodities. Note that Title II assistance made available pursuant to this RFA may be used to meet emergency/exceptional circumstances as provided in accordance with the terms of those awards and 22 CFR 211.5(o).

More specific information on the objectives, interventions, geographic locations targeted within the countries, and/or funding levels and types covered by this RFA may be found in the CSI posted on the Country Fact Sheets page of the FFP website. In addition, Bellmon analyses1 and other related resources are also posted to the Country Fact Sheets page, as applicable. It is essential that applicants review the CSI carefully because details contained in the CSI take

1 For food security activities, applicants must demonstrate that (a) the distribution of commodities in the recipient country will not result in a substantial disincentive or interference with domestic production or marketing in that country; and (b) adequate storage facilities are available in the recipient country at the time of exportation of the commodity to prevent the spoilage or waste of the commodity.

http://www.usaid.gov/what-we-do/agriculture-and-food-security/food-assistance/quick-facts/country-fact-sheets precedence over the generalities contained in this RFA. Please refer to the Agreement

Officer’s (AO) introductory letter for order of precedence.

If conditions permit, as determined by FFP, the application process will include two phases. The first phase is the submission and review of an initial application (technical application and cost application). Successful first-phase applicants may also receive letters of invitation to present their applications orally, and to address “topline” issues identified during the initial review of their applications. If they occur, oral presentations will constitute the second phase of the technical review process and will be a condition of the award. After discussions have concluded, the successful applicant(s) will receive a final issues letter, if necessary, and will be required to submit final technical and cost applications.

2. Authorizing Legislation

The FFP Act, Section 201 (7 U.S.C. 1721) General Authority, authorizes the USAID

Administrator to establish programs to provide agricultural commodities to foreign countries on behalf of the people of the United States to address famine and food crises; combat malnutrition, especially in children and mothers; carry out actions that attempt to alleviate the causes of hunger, mortality and morbidity; promote economic and community development;

promote food security and support sound environmental practices; carry out feeding interventions; and build resilience to mitigate and prevent food crises and reduce the future need for emergency aid.

The Foreign Assistance Act (FAA) authorizes USAID to provide development assistance.

Certain funds appropriated for this purpose have been made available to FFP. These funds are referred to as CDF and may be used to support FFP development activities, when signaled in the CSI.

For more information, particularly concerning eligible uses of Section 202(e) and

CDF funding, please refer to Food for Peace Information Bulletin (FFPIB) 14-01.

3. Activity Eligibility Requirements

Applications which do not include the direct distribution of food commodities will be considered provided that applicants otherwise propose a sound approach to addressing high rates of wasting, stunting, and food insecurity. Any proposed direct distribution of Title II and/or locally and/or regionally procured (LRP) commodities and/or cash transfer/food voucher must clearly support interventions that sustainably reduce vulnerability to food insecurity, including increasing the availability of nutritious food, building incomes/assets to increase year-long access to a diverse and adequate diet, and/or improving knowledge and behaviors to ensure that food consumption supports health and healthy growth.

4. Award Administration

Awards will be made and administered in accordance with the FFP Act, FAA, as applicable, and

USG regulations. As applicable, the award will be administered under 22 CFR 211, 22 CFR 216, https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1866/FFPIB%2014-01%20final.pdf

2 CFR 200, 2 CFR 700, USAID Standard Provisions, and FFP Information Bulletins which are available on the USAID website. Notwithstanding the foregoing, because intergovernmental organizations are subject to different requirements, USAID reserves the right to make awards to such organizations on different terms and conditions than those made to private voluntary organizations and cooperatives.

Section II – Federal Award Information

1. Estimate of Funds Available

Subject to the availability of funds under this RFA, FFP plans to enter into a number of awards as specified in the CSI that has been posted on the FFP website. A separate or amended RFA will be issued for any additional countries.

USAID reserves the right to adjust the number of awards, funding levels, and/or sources of funding. Note that not all funding is interchangeable and some budget adjustments may need to take place. Successful applicants will be notified of any changes or updates accordingly.

2. Anticipated Start Date and Performance Period

The anticipated start date of the new award(s) will be October 1, 2017. Typically, the award(s) will be issued for a performance period of five years, unless otherwise noted in the CSI.

3. Assistance Awards cost, or (c) accept more than one application. USAID intends to award predominantly cooperative agreements but reserves the right to award any other form of assistance agreement. USAID may waive informalities and minor irregularities in applications received.

USAID may award the resulting assistance award(s) on the basis of initial applications received, without discussions, negotiations and/or oral presentations. Therefore, each initial application must contain the applicant's best terms from a technical and cost standpoint. As part of its evaluation process, however, USAID may elect to discuss technical, cost, or other pre-award issues with one or more applicants. Alternatively, USAID may proceed with award selection based on its evaluation of initial applications received, use an alternative process (e.g., keep or drop oral presentations), and/or commence negotiations solely with one applicant.

4. Authorized Geographic Code

The anticipated authorized geographic code for procurement of goods and services under the prospective award(s) is 935; USAID reserves the right to modify this.

5. Substantial Involvement https://www.usaid.gov/what-we-do/agriculture-and-food-security/food-assistance/guidance/food-peace-information-bulletins https://www.usaid.gov/what-we-do/agriculture-and-food-security/food-assistance/guidance

In accordance with Automated Directives System (ADS) 303.3.11, the cooperative agreement will require the following elements of substantial involvement by USAID/FFP, if applicable to the program description:

● Approval of the Awardee's Implementation Plans

● Approval of Specified Key Personnel

● Agency and Awardee Collaboration or Joint Participation covering:

o selection of advisory committee members o assessments, analyses, and reviews of the theory of change (ToC), activity design, and implementation o concurrence on the substantive provisions of sub-awards o approval of the awardee's performance management and/or monitoring and evaluation plans and evaluation team members o monitoring to authorize specified kinds of direction or redirection because of interrelationships with other activities

● Agency Authority to Immediately Halt a Construction Activity

For specifics and additional detail, please refer to ADS 303.3.11 - Substantial Involvement and

Cooperative Agreements.

Section III – Eligibility Information

1. Eligibility Requirements

To be considered for a Title II funded award, the applicant must be a private voluntary organization (PVO) or cooperative that is, to the extent practicable, registered with the USAID

Administrator, or an organization designated by USAID as a Public International Organization

(PIO) such as the UN World Food Program. This includes U.S. and non-U.S. nongovernmental organizations (NGO) as defined in the Food for Peace Act and as described on the USAID website under PVO Registration.

To be considered for a CDF funded award, the applicant must be a U.S. or non-U.S. NGO, including PVOs, or an organization designated by USAID as a PIO such as the UN World Food

Program.

In the case of a consortium, the applicant must be the consortium lead and must identify any other members of the consortium or individuals tied to the implementation of the activity as described in the application, along with all sub-awardees. The respective roles of any other members of the consortium or individuals, including all sub-awardees, must be described and separate detailed budgets must be attached for each.

2. New Partners and Local Organizations

USAID encourages applications from potential new partners (i.e., those who have not received any USAID funding previously) and local organizations.

USAID supports applicants signing non-exclusive letters of commitment with local partners, if applicable.

3. Cost Share

Cost share is not required.

4. Minimal Qualification Requirements

USAID has no additional minimal qualification requirements.

5. Limit on Number of Applications

An applicant, defined as a submitting organization, may only submit one application per individual CSI under this RFA. However, an applicant may be a sub-awardee on applications submitted by other organizations.

Section IV – Application and Submission Information

1. Point of Contact

Any questions concerning this RFA, its appendices, any CSI(s), and Technical References must be submitted in writing within 30 days of its posting to Mr. Michael Keegan, FFP, acting grants and contracts services team leader, at mkeegan@usaid.gov with a copy to

FACG@usaid.gov and “FY 2017 RFA” in the subject line.

2. Application Format

The application must be specific, complete, and concise. Applications that do not meet the requirements of this RFA will not be considered. The application shall be divided into the following sections, with the maximum number of pages given per section, excluding the table of contents, but including any endnotes and/or footnotes, as follows:

● Cover Page (1 page)

● Executive Summary (2 pages maximum)

● Program Description (45 pages maximum)

● Management and Logistics (8 pages maximum)

● Budget (no page limit, see requirements in paragraph e)

● Annexes (see paragraph f)

The above bullets correspond to the sections of the RFA described below and constitute the general application format. If submissions exceed the page number maximum, only the pages up to the limit will be reviewed, and pages exceeding the maximum will not be considered.

a) Cover Page (1 page)

The cover page must have the following:

● Name of the applicant’s organization and applicable CSI;

● Name and title of the organization’s representative who has signatory authority and authority to submit the application;

● Name, title, and contact information of the organization’s point of contact with whom USAID will coordinate on matters related to the application (if different from the organization’s representative with signatory authority and authority to submit the application). Contact information should include mailing address, e-mail, and telephone number;

● Title II food commodity(ies) request, if any, in metric tons (MT) (rounded to the nearest

10 MT), if applicable;

● Total funds requested (in U.S. dollars), including CDF, Section 202(e), and, if relevant, ITSH and cost share;

● Valid Dun and Bradstreet Universal Numbering System (DUNS) Number;

● Registration date in System for Award Management (SAM) – note that successful applicants must maintain SAM registration; and

● Participant information as requested in the table below:

Number of Activity Participants

Total Direct Activity Participants2

Direct Activity Participants by Program Element

Program Area or Element3 (These are examples; a full list of program areas and elements is in Appendix I.)

Participant Numbers4

Cost per Direct Participant5

Maternal and Child Health

Nutrition

Agriculture

Disaster Readiness

b) Executive Summary (2 pages maximum)

The executive summary must have the following:

● Problem Statement, including the underlying causes and major determinants of food insecurity and malnutrition to be addressed;

● Overarching ToC that describes the hypothesized series of changes to address the underlying causes of food insecurity;

● The proposed set of interventions to achieve the activity’s food security objectives; and

● Separate from the executive summary, a life of award Executive Summary Table (EST) is required with five fiscal years of data on budget and commodities.

c) Program Description (45 pages maximum)

The program description must include:

2 The applicant must present the total number of individuals who will directly participate and benefit from the activity over the life of the award. FFP would like to know how many unique people will participate in activity interventions over the life of award. One participant may benefit from activities in more than one program area or element. However, when reporting on the total number of direct participants, this individual should only be counted once.

3 The definitions of program areas and elements come from the U.S. Foreign Assistance Standardized Program

Structure (SPS), which was jointly developed by the U.S. Department of State and USAID. The SPS and definitions establish a consistent way to categorize and account for State- and USAID-managed assistance, including a set of commonly agreed definitions. This table contains only four examples. The full, updated list of program areas and elements can be found in Appendix I.

4 The participant number presented in this table does not have to be unique individual participants. Rather the applicant should present the number of activity participants by program area or element in this table. An individual who participates in activities in more than one program area or element should be counted once under each program area or element from which s/he receive benefits. Therefore, an individual can be counted twice or more depending on the number of program areas and elements s/he participates in. However, an individual who participates and benefits directly from multiple activities within one program area or element should only be counted once.

5 Cost per direct participant equals the total budget for the program area or element divided by the number of individuals directly participating in that program area or element over the life of the award.

1. Analysis of the underlying causes of food insecurity

● A thorough and clear analysis of the underlying causes of food insecurity and malnutrition, highlighting trends in shocks and stressors and the capacity to respond in the target area. This should identify the major determinants of food insecurity and malnutrition including causes related to: poor governance and institutional barriers, sources of vulnerability and shocks such as climate risk, poor environmental governance, socio-economic considerations and social cohesion, as well as behavioral determinants including the interplay of gender and age dynamics.

At a minimum, this analysis should expand on and identify context-specific implications of the food security analysis provided in the Food Security Desk Review and/or reference appropriate and current data.

● A specific description of the geographic area of intervention and detail regarding how these root causes impact the vulnerable population in the proposed target area.

FFP strongly encourages considering at least all communities within a third level administrative division instead of selecting a subset of communities in each administrative division. A map with specific geographic locations should be included.

2. Conceptual Design.

● A sound conceptual design demonstrates the linkages between the underlying causes and influencing factors of food insecurity and malnutrition specific to the target area, and includes a ToC that provides a clear road map showing how the proposed set of interventions in interaction with interventions and/or outcomes produced by other actors will produce all the necessary and sufficient outcomes/conditions to achieve the goal based on evidence and plausible logical reasoning.

● Theory of Change: A ToC is the foundation of an activity design. Before designing interventions, the applicant should develop a ToC based on evidence. A ToC describes the hypothesized series of changes that are expected to occur in a given context as the result of specific activities. In the context of FFP programming, the

ToC makes explicit how an applicant thinks outputs from the proposed interventions will interact with other concurrent interventions and contextual conditions to stimulate or enable a series of outcomes that will ultimately lead to the achievement of desired objective(s). A complete ToC would define all of the necessary and sufficient conditions to effect change at each level, including, for example, policy and institutional requirements, systemic conditions, and complementary activities. It is likely that FFP will not support all of the interventions required to assure outcomes in the ToC, but the ToC must identify where external action is necessary and explain how the activity will monitor that other actors undertake these actions in the required timeframe. A description of required elements for a ToC and brief guidance can be found in the Technical References on

ToC.

○ The applicant should base its hypothesis on published research, or evaluation of projects conducted by independent external sources. A few common research repositories include 3ie Impact Evaluation Repository and J-PAL’s library of randomized evaluations. Papers published in peer reviewed journals could also be used as sources. The technical interventions proposed should be linked to the ToC.

http://www.3ieimpact.org/en/evidence/impact-evaluations/impact-evaluation-repository/ http://www.3ieimpact.org/en/evidence/impact-evaluations/impact-evaluation-repository/ https://www.povertyactionlab.org/evaluations https://www.povertyactionlab.org/evaluations https://www.povertyactionlab.org/evaluations

● Logical Framework (LogFrame): All applicants must submit a brief LogFrame narrative in their application and a detailed LogFrame matrix as an annex. A

LogFrame is a tool that summarizes the ToC and presents the program description in a standard format. It shows the causal linkages between outputs, outcomes, and the goal. It identifies the conditions that are external to the activity but necessary to achieve the objectives; potential risks and contextual factors critical to the success of an activity; along with the indicators that would help to measure and track performance. Applicants are strongly encouraged to familiarize themselves with

FFP’s M&E and Reporting Policy and Guidance. It includes a description of required elements for an applicant’s LogFrame.

As mentioned above, an applicant’s LogFrame will include indicators to monitor and evaluate the performance of the activity. Applicants should keep in mind that Food for Peace has a list of required and/or required if applicable performance indicators.

These should be reviewed carefully during the development of an applicant’s

LogFrame. In general, only outcome indicators are required for the LogFrame;

however, if a partner chooses to include output indicators, the use of FFP output indicators is preferred.

For target-setting, applicants are only required to establish targets for higher level impacts - usually key baseline indicators. These targets must be linked to the context, food security, nutritional analyses, and the applicant’s ToC. All targets should be ambitious yet achievable. Nutrition and poverty reduction targets should be linked to FFP’s targets: a minimum of 2 to 2.5 percentage point annual reduction of prevalence of stunting6, a minimum of 3 to 4 percentage point annual reduction of prevalence of underweight, and a minimum of 4 percentage annual reduction of depth-of-poverty. These conservative targets reflect the challenging environment in which FFP programs are implemented, but should be possible to achieve, and possibly exceed, with sustainability. Note: FFP does not require applicants to submit an Indicator Performance Tracking Table (IPTT), This tool will be developed with successful applicants during and after the M&E workshop. The M&E workshop will typically take place within three months of the start date of an award.

● Technical Interventions: The technical interventions should flow directly out of the conceptual design. This section is the “what” and “how” of the application. It builds on the “who” and “why” explained in the first two sections. Applicants should explain how the proposed technical interventions contribute directly to the ToC and address country-specific causes of food insecurity through efforts to 1) enhance lives and livelihoods of individuals and households through resource transfers, capacity strengthening, and behavior change, and 2) transform communities and institutions through systems approaches that strengthen capacities for resilience, institutional capacity, infrastructure, access, and linkages. Proposed interventions should be in alignment with FFP’s strategic results framework and should be described in sufficient detail to assess their operational and technical

6 Based on an average of cumulative impact over the five years of the activity.

http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PBAAF103.pdf https://www.usaid.gov/what-we-do/agriculture-and-food-security/food-assistance/guidance/implementation-and-reporting appropriateness and feasibility. Technical approaches proposed should be evidence-based and adhere to the CSI. This must include, at a minimum, the following:

o Details of how each intervention will be implemented and by whom;

o Description of the target population for each intervention, direct participants within the target population, including selection criteria, and strategy to promote secondary adoption. The extent of integration of multi-sectoral interventions at the household level. Please present a table showing number of participants targeted for multisectoral interventions7 vis-a-vis participants targeted for interventions from one sector or two sectors;

o Description of approach and proposed interventions for the promotion of appropriate behaviors and practices; and for strengthening of local systems.

Interventions should however also be sensitive to nested dependencies between households, communities, and broader systems and should seek to strengthen resilience capacities;

o Details of and justification for addressing both immediate and chronic nutrition gaps for the most vulnerable, particularly children 6-23 months and pregnant and lactating women, which characterize chronically food insecure households. Details of how to address consumption gaps and/or asset depletion; specifically details on and justification for the proposed food modality that may include in-kind and/or LRP food, and/or cash transfers/food vouchers with explicit nutrition objectives. When either conditional or unconditional cash transfers are proposed to address asset depletions, applicants should provide details on how nutritional gaps of vulnerable groups will be addressed;

o In compliance with USAID environmental regulations and guidance, environmental safeguards and climate risk management (CRM) strategies must be logically integrated throughout the body of the application; and o Clear inclusion of feedback loops to allow for regular monitoring of the local context, including conflict dynamics, to inform ongoing learning and adaption.

● Coordination and Linkages: Describe how the proposed activity will (1) leverage existing public, private, and donor investments to achieve the goal; (2) complement the activities of the local government, and donor-facilitated health, nutrition, agriculture, natural resources management, and CRM interventions; and

(3) support proposed strategies to leverage FtF or other USAID investments in the region to reduce hunger and extreme poverty in vulnerable populations.

● Addressing Resilience Challenges: FFP is committed to strengthening the resilience of households and communities, improving disaster risk management capacities in a climate sensitive manner. Technical interventions should strengthen resilience capacities. When identifying underlying causes of food insecurity in the

ToC, applicants should identify trends in shocks and stresses experienced by communities, current response capacities, and impact of shocks on livelihood outcomes. Applicants should articulate how activities will contribute to resilience and disaster risk reduction, including risks from climate-related shocks and

7 Households will be targeted for interventions to sustainably increase access to and utilization of food and nutrition interventions.

stressors8. This articulation should also include a discussion of how activities will strengthen absorptive capacity, adaptive capacity and transformative capacity9, and identify risks of maladaptation.

● Cross-Cutting Themes: As articulated in FFP’s new strategy 2016-2025, FFP is committed to supporting good governance by highlighting opportunities to promote social equity and strengthen social accountability. FFP embraces a commitment to social cohesion and conflict-sensitive programming, acknowledging the potential of food assistance, like other resource flows, to aggravate social grievances or contribute to other unintended impacts on social cohesion. The applicant must demonstrate how each of these cross-cutting themes are integrated into the proposed interventions.

○ Social accountability: Applicants should describe how interventions will influence systemic changes that promote equitable access to affordable high quality services, increase accountability and responsiveness of service providers, and foster meaningful community participation that creates demand for and influences good governance at the local level.

○ Social cohesion and conflict-sensitivity: Applicants should consider and articulate how the activity may positively or negatively impact social cohesion, conflict over resources, and/or other social, economic, and political tensions which could contribute to conflict. A conflict-sensitive approach requires an implementer to (1) understand the conflict context in which it operates; (2) understand the interaction between its operations and the conflict context;

and (3) act upon these understandings in order to minimize unintended negative impacts and maximize positive impacts of their interventions.

Applicants should describe how conflict dynamics were taken into account, including any identified risks that FFP resources will exacerbate conflict, how these risks will be mitigated in implementation, and how resource transfers can be applied in a manner that strengthens social cohesion.

● Environmental Compliance: USAID describes the current, global environmental compliance procedures for development food assistance in the FY17 FFP RFA-level

Initial Environmental Examination (RFA-IEE). This RFA IEE includes both the application development and the life of the activity (including the Activity IEE). This

RFA-IEE is a mandatory reference for environmental compliance of FFP development activities.

Activity IEE Deadline: Only successful applicants will be requested to submit an

Activity IEE for USAID review. This Activity IEE must be drafted by the awardee

8 When describing how activities will address relevant climate risks, applicants should also include a completed version of the Climate Risk Management Table in the program description. Climate risk management is further described in the Environmental Compliance section below.

9 Absorptive capacity is the ability to minimize exposure to shocks and stresses through preventative measures and coping strategies to avoid permanent negative impacts. Adaptive capacity is the ability to make proactive and informed choices about alternative livelihood strategies based on an understanding of changing conditions.

Transformative capacity includes governance mechanisms, policies, regulations, infrastructure, community networks, and formal and informal social protection mechanisms that create the enabling environment for systemic change. For more information please refer to the Feed the Future Learning Agenda.

http://gemini.info.usaid.gov/egat/envcomp/document.php?doc_id=49561 http://gemini.info.usaid.gov/egat/envcomp/document.php?doc_id=49561 https://agrilinks.org/sites/default/files/resource/files/FTF%20Learning_Agenda_Community_Resilience_Oct%202013.pdf prior to the M&E workshop, and will be an analytic tool that is used during this workshop. The IEE must be updated with any relevant post-workshop changes to the ToC, IPTT, etc., prior to submission for review and comment by USAID. This submission must occur 60 days after the M&E workshop. This IEE must be cleared by the USAID DCHA Bureau Environmental Officer prior to the implementation of medium-risk field interventions (i.e., classified as a Negative Determination per 22

CFR 216).

CRM is now required for all USAID development projects and activities under this

RFA. The Activity IEE must include a summary of the applicant’s approach to CRM along with a completed version of the Climate Risk Summary Table below. A description of essential environmental considerations can be found in the Technical

Reference on Environmental Safeguards and Compliance.

CRM is the process of assessing, addressing and adaptively managing climate risks.

For USAID’s purposes, climate risks are potential negative consequences on projects or activities due to changing climatic conditions. The goal of CRM is to both render USAID’s work more climate resilient (i.e., better able to anticipate, prepare for and adapt to changing climate conditions and withstand, respond to and recover rapidly from disruptions) and to avoid maladaptation (i.e., development efforts that inadvertently increase climate risks). Applicants are expected to describe how relevant climate risks will be addressed and adaptively managed in all areas of the proposed activity. Integration of a climate sensitive approach must be context-appropriate and reflected at every phase of the activity.

https://www.usaid.gov/ads/policy/200/201mal

Climate Risk Management Table10

Defined or

Anticipated

Project

Elements

(Purpose/Sub-purpose, Areas of

Focus, or

Activities/

Mechanisms, etc.)

Climate

Risks

List key risks related to the project elements identified through either the strategy-or project-level climate risk assessment.

Risk Rating

Low/

Moderate

/High

How Risks are

Addresse d at

Project

Level

Describe how risks have been addressed at the project level. If a decision has been made to accept the risk, briefly explain why.

Further

Analysis and

Actions for

Activity

Design/

Implementati on

Describe CRM measures to be integrated into activity design or implementation, including additional analysis, if applicable.

Opportuniti es to

Strengthen

Climate

Resilience

Describe opportunities to achieve development objectives by integrating climate resilience or mitigation measures.

Sustainability and Exit Strategies: Applicants must present thorough and realistic sustainability and exit strategies that will result in lasting change. The sustainability strategy should identify all of the necessary and sufficient critical capacities, practices, behaviors, systems, and linkages needed to sustain outcomes. These strategies should build capacity of host country entities, whether private or public, as well as leverage incentives and investments of key stakeholders to ensure demand and/or supply of goods and basic services are sustained or enhanced once the activity withdraws support. Efforts to achieve these ends must be incorporated into the activity design at every level, and for any specific tangible resource transfer the activity plans to provide to participants. The sustainability plan should also reflect the proposed activity’s ToC and should address all issues pertaining to phase down, handover, or termination of FFP-resourced activities. Considering that not all strategies, activities, and partnerships will be identified until after implementation is under way, any feedback loops that will inform refinements in post-award design should be presented. FFP looks favorably upon efforts to create, wherever possible, self-financing and self-transferring models that will continue to spread under their own momentum both during and after the activity. FFP expects that these models will be adopted and adapted by a significant proportion of the population, helping to improve both sustainability and impact of the interventions. A description of required

10 A completed version of this table should be included in the program description.

elements related to sustainability and exit strategies, along with a link to supporting references, can be found in the Technical References on Sustainability.

Gender Equity and Youth: FFP is committed to gender equity and its growing understanding of the gender dimensions of food insecurity and the importance of engaging men, women, boys, and girls equitably in the process of advancing female empowerment and their access to economic opportunities. Applicants must describe how gender will be addressed in all areas of the activity description and should seek to transform gender dynamics for the better.

Integration of a gender sensitive approach must be context-appropriate and reflected throughout the activity. Factors demonstrating gender integration include, but are not necessarily limited to:

1. Examples of the ways in which gender and age dynamics and roles could affect interventions and outcomes at key steps in the proposed ToC;

2. Recognition of the potential impact - either positive or negative - of interventions on access to and control over resources and benefits for girls, boys, women or men, and how any negative consequences will be avoided or mitigated;

3. Consideration of how proposed interventions could affect women’s time use and how this will be taken into account in planning activity interventions (e.g. mothers’ participation in interventions resulting in less time for child care);

4. Plans for how the activity will ensure equitable participation and input from women and men from different age and socio-economic groups, with examples for different technical interventions;

5. Extent to which the applicant has anticipated ways in which interventions could lead to, exacerbate, or effect GBV at the household and community level and has considered ways to prevent or mitigate its occurrence, should it occur; and

6. How interventions will be tracked over time to ascertain any unintended consequences related to gender and GBV.

The applicant must describe how gender analysis results will be integrated into interventions and how gender changes, including unanticipated outcomes, will be tracked over time; and, identify at least one gender indicator for each purpose at either the sub-purpose or immediate outcome level.

d) Management and Logistics (8 pages maximum)

The management and logistics section of applications must include the following:

1. Management Structure. The management structure should ensure the efficient use of resources and strong, effective, and adaptive management, technical implementation, and administrative support. Include any details of consortium arrangements, including anticipated sub-awardees or sub-contractors. The management structure should demonstrate the necessary technical competencies to implement the technical interventions proposed. If a consortium is proposed, letters of commitment from consortium members must be included. Note that USAID supports applicants signing non-exclusive letters of commitment with local partners, if applicable. The applicant should explain the management structure presented in the organizational chart (see

Staffing below); personnel management of expatriate and local staff; procurement arrangements for goods and services; and lines of authority and communications between organizations and staff. Also, include a brief description of each key management staff member's role, technical expertise, and estimated level of effort each will devote to the activity. USAID requires the key personnel function at 100 percent level of effort (defined as 40 hours/week).

2. Staffing. This section describes the applicant’s staffing plans for all interventions with descriptions of the number and type of each activity staff (e.g., program officer, technical officer, field monitors) and support staff (e.g., financial manager, administrative officer, data entry clerks) members’ roles and responsibilities. The staffing plan should specify the composition and organizational structure of the entire implementation team

(including home office support). It should also include an organizational chart and the curricula vitae (CV) for key personnel including the proposed Chief of Party (COP), Gender Advisor, and Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor/Specialist, and any other positions as identified in the CSI. These must be submitted as annexes. FFP’s minimum requirements for a COP include:

● Master’s degree in development studies, international relations, agriculture, nutrition, public health, business administration, or related field;

● Minimum of ten years of progressively increasing management responsibility in international development projects;

● Prior experience managing development assistance projects of a similar size and scope in developing countries; experience managing multi-sectoral projects including agricultural development and maternal child health and nutrition;

● Proven leadership skills. Demonstrated experience recruiting, developing, and managing staff;

● Demonstrated ability to build and maintain relationships with host governments, donors, other donor-funded projects and stakeholders, local organizations, and partners;

● Understanding and demonstrated commitment to the importance of gender and youth issues in food security programming;

● Experience managing programmatic and financial reporting requirements;

● Excellent oral and written communication skills in English and other language(s), as required;

● Ability to travel within the country and internationally, as required; and

● Appropriate references.

FFP considers attention to gender integration key to realizing intended outcomes, and expects that the Gender Advisor will lead gender integration throughout the entire award period. The Gender Advisor should have:

● In-depth understanding of gender, age, and other socio-cultural factors in the context of food security programming;

● Demonstrated capacity to lead the collection, analysis, and utilization of information from a broad range of sources in order to ensure effective integration of gender and youth concerns throughout the project’s duration; and

● Ability to foster commitment and build capacity among activity staff and in-country actors to gender integration and empowerment.

FFP recommends the following core competencies for the Monitoring and Evaluation

Advisor/Specialist:

● Master’s degree in economics, agricultural economics, statistics, bio-statistics, nutrition or other relevant subject with strong quantitative background, and at least six years of experience in progressively increasing M&E responsibility in international development projects. The candidate must have experience in leading the M&E of a large project.

● Strong conceptual knowledge about theories of change, logic model, food and nutrition security indicators, M&E plan, data quality assurance, data utilization, and gender integration into M&E.

● Demonstrated experience and expertise in developing and operationalizing a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation plan (please see the FFP M&E and

Reporting Policy and Guidance for the components of an M&E plan).

● Demonstrated expertise and experience in developing and operationalizing routine monitoring system designed to track both output and outcome indicators.

● Strong quantitative background and demonstrated expertise in designing annual monitoring surveys including probabilistic sampling strategy and estimating sample size, developing appropriate weights, and analyze quantitative data.

● Demonstrated expertise in designing qualitative studies, in-depth knowledge about qualitative sampling, and experienced in using interview and interactive tools to generate qualitative information and analysis.

● Experienced in developing data quality assurance strategies, data management, and data visualization.

● Demonstrated expertise and experience in data utilization strategies and can creatively think about active data sharing techniques.

● Excellent oral and written communication skills in English and other language(s), as required.

During the issues letter phase, successful applicants may be requested to identify and provide CVs for other key personnel.

If sub-awardees or a consortium management model are proposed, applicants should describe how the partnerships will be organized and managed to use complementary capabilities most effectively. Specify the responsibilities of all principal organizations and the rationale for their selection; proposed staff and reporting relationships within and between each of these organizations; and how cross-organizational collaboration, knowledge sharing and learning will be facilitated. Indicate the timing of engagement of personnel based on anticipation of needs across the life of award.