Kenya_DFSA_RFA_FINAL.pdf

Issuance Date: April 19, 2019

Deadline for Questions: April 30, 2019

Closing Date and Time: May 20, 2019; 11:59 a.m. (EDT)

CFDA Number: 98.007

Subject: Request for Applications for Fiscal Year 19 Development Food Security Activities in

Kenya

Funding Opportunity Number: 72DFFP19RFA00001

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

Private voluntary organizations or cooperatives, including U.S. and non-U.S. nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), may apply. Public international 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 two awards.

USAID reserves the right to use any assistance mechanism available to this agency (e.g., grant, cooperative agreement, leader with associates award) and to adjust the number of awards, funding levels, sources of funding, and/or procedures. The applicant’s activity designs inform funding levels, but they are set by FFP for successful applicants. Successful applicants will be notified of any changes or updates, accordingly.

Issuance of this RFA does not constitute an award commitment on the part of USAID, nor does it commit the U.S. Government (USG) to pay for any costs incurred in the preparation or submission of the comments/suggestions or an application. Applications are submitted at the risk of the applicant. All preparation and submission costs are at the applicant’s expense. This includes the completion of all required documents for USAID awards.

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 award, the RFA consists of this cover letter and the following:

SECTION I – PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

SECTION II – FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION

FY 2019 Development Food Security Activities for Kenya RFA

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

APPENDIX III: FY 19 Phased Approach

APPENDIX IV: FFP 2016-2025 Food Assistance and Food Security Strategy

APPENDIX V: Key sectoral and county-level background sources of relevance

APPENDIX VI: Relevant Maps

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 applicant's responsibility to use the most up-to-date versions of all of the documents related to this RFA.

USAID may not award to an applicant unless the applicant has complied with all applicable unique entity identifier and System for Award Management (SAM) requirements detailed in Section IV.2 The registration process may take many weeks to complete; therefore, applicants are encouraged to begin registration early in the process.

Please send any questions to the email address identified in Section IV. The deadline for questions is April 30, 2019.

The RFA does not contain significant technical information. Applicants should refer to the Development Activity Application Guidance on the FFP website, including Technical References and the Monitoring and Evaluation Policy.

Per 2 CFR 200 and 2 CFR 700, USAID regulations do not 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.

http://www.grants.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/ https://www.usaid.gov/food-assistance/what-we-do/development-activities

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

References), except statute and regulations. 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 (AO).

Thank you for your interest in USAID programs.

Sincerely, /S/

Clyde Hicks Director, Office of Food for Peace

Section I – Program Description

A. Purpose

This RFA provides information on a funding opportunity for multi-year development food security activities (DFSAs) in Kenya. Development activities are mandated in the Food for

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

This funding opportunity is authorized under the Food for Peace Act, as amended. The resulting award will be subject to 2 CFR 200 – Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost

Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards, and USAID’s supplement, 2 CFR 700, as well as the additional requirements found in Section F.

FFP intends to award up to two cooperative agreements to sustainably reduce acute malnutrition rates in four target counties in Kenya: Isiolo, Marsabit, Samburu, and Turkana, with the potential to expand to other counties over the life of the award.1 Subject to availability, the anticipated funding for the Kenya multi-year DFSA(s) is approximately $186 million ($100 million Title II/$86 million Community Development Funds) over a five-year period. Applicants may request variable annual funding levels over the life of the activity. Any extension beyond the initial five-year award is subject to the Justification of Restricted Eligibility (JRE) approval process in USAID Automated Directives System (ADS) 303.

If conditions permit (determined by FFP), the application process will include two stages. The first stage is the submission and review of an initial application (technical application and cost application). Successful first-stage 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 stage of the technical review process and will be a condition of the award. After discussions have concluded, the apparently successful applicant(s) will receive a final issues letter, if necessary, and will be required to submit final technical and cost applications.

Given the complexity of persistent acute malnutrition and the need for local, context-specific, and sustainable solutions, FFP will use a phased approach for the Kenya DFSA(s). The first 18 to 24 months will constitute a research and collaborative design phase (Phase 1), with a subsequent transition to a systems-driven implementation and institutional strengthening phase

(Phase 2). The start of Phase 2 will be contingent upon successful completion of Phase 1 objectives and approval of the Phase 2 transition plan. Please refer to Section 1.D and Appendix

III for additional information on the Phased Approach.

FFP plans to invest in multi-sectoral activities in Kenya that aim to sustainably reduce acute malnutrition levels, with all proposed interventions, objectives, and indicators centered on this overarching goal. Lasting and durable reductions in acute malnutrition will require systems-level

1 FFP selected these counties based on an analysis of key criteria, including vulnerability, level of need, and the opportunity for impact. Once an approach is successfully piloted and implemented in these counties, partners may have the opportunity to expand to other geographic areas in Kenya, contingent on the availability of funding. Applicants may propose to work in any number for the four named counties. Note that given the different challenges of working within a refugee camp setting and that refugees’ needs are currently addressed through other FFP-funded activities, FFP does not intend to include refugees as participants in this activity.

https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1867/FFP-Strategy-FINAL%2010.5.16.pdf approaches that coordinate with and extend beyond individual, household, and community scales.

The proposed development activities are not intended to be “stand alone” activities. FFP investments will contribute to the achievement of the USAID/Kenya and East Africa Mission

Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS), the Government of Kenya’s Ending

Drought Emergencies Strategy, USAID’s FFP Strategy, USAID’s Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Strategy 2014-2025, the USG Global Food Security Strategy (GFSS), and the Kenya Feed the

Future Country Plan. These DFSAs will also be part of the Partnership for Resilience and

Economic Growth (PREG), a platform that coordinates USAID-supported humanitarian and development activities to build resilience to cyclical drought in northern Kenya. The DFSA(s) are expected to complement and coordinate with the PREG and other relevant activities— including current and planned acute malnutrition treatment programs—as well as to leverage investments supported by the Government of Kenya (GoK), county governments, and other donors to benefit populations vulnerable to acute malnutrition.

B. Background

Country Background In light of significant economic progress, Kenya was reclassified as a lower-middle income economy in 2014.2 However, poverty, food insecurity, undernutrition, and income inequality remain high, particularly in the arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs).3 Cyclical droughts, conflict, and a legacy of marginalization by state and non-state actors has exacerbated vulnerabilities and has led to chronic humanitarian caseloads, driven by high food insecurity and persistent acute malnutrition.

Responding to these challenges, in 2011 the GoK released Vision 2030, which outlined a plan to improve conditions in northern Kenya through strategic investments in a number of key sectors.4 In addition, devolution, as mandated by the 2010 Kenya Constitution, officially began in 2013 and has transferred formerly centrally held power to county units. This move to a more localized government has led to the larger allocation of resources to historically marginalized areas and greater local authority regarding the use of those resources. In addition, governors and members of the county assembly are now subject to constituent-level calls to improve service delivery and better meet local needs.

Following years of providing humanitarian assistance to vulnerable populations in northern

Kenya, USAID stood up the PREG to coordinate and geographically layer humanitarian and development activities to build resilience to shocks and to reduce the need for future emergency assistance.5 PREG targets nine ASAL counties and builds on community-identified strengths and priorities. FFP currently supports asset creation activities in 14 counties, which serve as the base layer for the PREG. Five of these counties have significant additional USAID

2 https://datahelpdesk.worldbank.org/knowledgebase/articles/906519-world-bank-country-and-lending-groups;

http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2014/09/30/kenya-a-bigger-better-economy 3 Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (2015). The Kenya 2014 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey.

4 Government of Kenya (2008). Vision 2030 Development Strategy for Northern Kenya and Other Arid Lands.

5 USAID defines resilience as “the ability of people, households, communities, countries, and systems to mitigate, adapt to, and recover from shocks and stresses in a manner that reduces chronic vulnerability and facilitates inclusive growth.”

https://www.usaid.gov/kenya/cdcs https://www.usaid.gov/kenya/cdcs http://www.ndma.go.ke/index.php http://www.ndma.go.ke/index.php https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1867/FFP-Strategy-FINAL%2010.5.16.pdf https://www.usaid.gov/nutrition-strategy https://www.usaid.gov/nutrition-strategy https://www.usaid.gov/what-we-do/agriculture-and-food-security/us-government-global-food-security-strategy https://datahelpdesk.worldbank.org/knowledgebase/articles/906519-world-bank-country-and-lending-groups http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2014/09/30/kenya-a-bigger-better-economy investments, including livelihoods, Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH), health, nutrition, and natural resource management activities. (Note: Please see Appendix VI for map of PREG activities.)

Acute Malnutrition Background While interim monitoring of PREG investments in 2015/2016 suggest positive trends, including improvements in dietary diversity, one notable counter trend was the prevalence of wasted children, which increased from the 2013 baseline.6 Acute malnutrition rates in northern Kenya fluctuate, but too frequently remain at or above emergency levels and frequently fail to improve even when households’ access to food and quality healthcare improves and the burden of disease is reduced.7 Specific population sub-groups in the ASALs tend to be more susceptible to acute malnutrition, due to either unique nutritional needs (e.g. children between 6 and 23 months of age as they begin to eat family foods more regularly; adolescent girls who become pregnant; infants under six months who are not exclusively breastfed) or systemic issues that can lead to deprivation or exacerbate it (e.g. vulnerable pastoral groups; those cut off from markets, access to quality healthcare services).

Emergency nutrition responses in Kenya and elsewhere have historically employed short-term, malnutrition treatment-focused methods.8 These approaches have been critical in averting excess mortality, but they have been unable to sustainably prevent acute malnutrition due to limited project timelines and a relative lack of focus on addressing its key drivers.9

FFP’s intention to invest development funds to tackle persistent acute malnutrition in Kenya reflects the understanding that this problem will require an approach that goes beyond short-term humanitarian response and tackles the immediate and underlying causes of acute malnutrition through an integrated, multi-sectoral activity that leverages ongoing emergency and development activities.

The United Nations Children’s Fund’s (UNICEF) conceptual framework for undernutrition10 remains a broadly accepted model for understanding the causes of malnutrition. While evidence exists to support the framework’s identification of (1) insufficient household food security, (2) inadequate maternal and child care, (3) insufficient health services and unhealthy environment as the primary underlying causes of acute malnutrition, the specific drivers are often less clear— particularly in areas that experience ‘persistent’ acute malnutrition—because these three underlying causes and their interaction can have varied relative impacts depending on the local context.11

Therefore, in order to design interventions that achieve sustainable results in northern Kenya, additional research is needed to more fully understand the specific drivers of acute malnutrition in each county, sub-county, and community where the DFSA(s) will operate. The following list

6 USAID/Kenya (2015). Feed the Future Northern Kenya 2015: Zone of Influence Interim Assessment Report. Rockville, MD:

Westat and USAID/Kenya (2016). Mid-term assessment of Kenya’s Feed the Future Program.

7 Government of Kenya (2018). The 2018 Long Rains Season Assessment Report.

8 USAID/FFP Fact Sheet for Kenya: https://www.usaid.gov/kenya/food-assistance 9 Young & Marshak (2018). Persistent Global Acute Malnutrition: A Feinstein International Center Brief. Tufts University and

USAID Multi-sectoral Nutrition Strategy.

10 UNICEF’s Approach to Scaling up Nutrition (2015) pg 9. https://www.unicef.org/nutrition/files/Unicef_Nutrition_Strategy.pdf 11 Young & Marshak (2018). Persistent Global Acute Malnutrition: A Feinstein International Center Brief. Tufts University https://www.usaid.gov/kenya/food-assistance https://www.unicef.org/nutrition/files/Unicef_Nutrition_Strategy.pdf of factors and conditions is meant to illustrate the complexity of what is currently known and unknown about persistent acute malnutrition in northern Kenya. (Note: This list should not be inferred as a specific technical recommendation or prescription for applicants as they develop research and programming priorities, as these priorities are expected to be particular to each targeted geography and population.)

Table 1: Reported Drivers of Acute Malnutrition in Northern Kenya

Reported, Underlying Drivers of Acute Malnutrition

● Access to food: Insufficient access to food is a widespread problem and is particularly acute among poor pastoralist households, which may have insufficient productive capacity, purchasing power and/or entitlements (through social capital and/or welfare entitlements such as the Hunger Safety Net Program

(HSNP)).

● Availability of food: Food availability varies by locality, season, and year. Spot shortages and seasonal food deficits often occur in drought years, particularly for high-value, nutrient-dense foods like milk and other animal-source foods, which are historically important components of people’s diets in the region. In addition, the availability of fortified foods is limited throughout the ASALs.

● Childhood Illness: Children in the ASALs experience a high but seasonally variable incidence of disease, particularly pneumonia, malaria, and diarrhea. In addition, the care practices used in feeding sick children are reported as suboptimal.12

● Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF): Age-appropriate complementary feeding is uncommon and is partly due to seasonal availability and households’ limited access to appropriate, nutrient-dense complementary foods. While exclusive breastfeeding rates have substantially improved, significant drop-offs after two months of age remain.

● Access to quality health services and health-seeking behaviors: Access to high quality health care services such as antenatal and postnatal care, breastfeeding, and nutrition counseling and support, malnutrition treatment, supplementation as well as clinical services to diagnose and treat common illnesses is highly variable throughout the ASALs. Remote populations often having difficulty accessing formalized, static health facilities and instead are often dependent upon irregular mobile clinics or turn to traditional healers. Many of these challenges serve to undermine efforts to encourage caregivers to seek early medical attention for disease and malnutrition treatment.

● Seasonality Impacts: Increases in the frequency and severity of droughts, as well as changes in season migration traditions, has resulted in men and adolescents remaining away from families for longer periods and has increased the time and labor burden on women.

● Women’s Nutrition: Adult women in the ASALs experience acute malnutrition (termed "thinness” and measured by BMI) at a uniquely high rate as compared with Kenyan women from elsewhere in the country.

High rates of anemia appear to contribute to thinness, and women with no formal education and/or in the lowest socioeconomic quintile are the most vulnerable.

Reported, Basic/Systemic/Societal Drivers of Acute Malnutrition

● Income Diversification: Non-diversified and climate-dependent income sources (e.g. sole reliance on livestock pastoralism) and degraded environmental landscapes increases vulnerability to environmental shocks like drought and floods.

● Market Isolation and Market Functionality: Populations in northern Kenya are reliant upon market purchases to meet household consumption needs, and all areas are deficit in terms of crop production.

Markets in many localities are thin, weakly integrated, and seasonal, with a limited number of market traders. In spite of counties’ recent prioritization of road construction, distances and poor road conditions

12 Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (2015). The Kenya 2014 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey.

persist, contributing to significant transport time and costs and poor market functionality. In some places, insecurity also interferes with markets. Due to this poor market integration, food prices are higher in northern Kenya than elsewhere, markets are not consistently price-responsive, and food does not necessarily flow into the market when prices rise and/or food is scarce. The poor diversity of food available in markets, in turn, negatively affects consumption habits.

● Women's Time Poverty: The time and labor burden on women is particularly significant in some areas of the ASALs, where they are often responsible for construction and maintenance of homes; water and fuel collection; food production and preparation; income generation; and child and elder care. This burden increases during migratory seasons and is further exacerbated by the climate variability of the ASALs and changing seasonal migration patterns. All of these factors can negatively impact the ability to breastfeed with the frequency and regularity required (both for health of the baby as well as for the sustained milk production for the mother); to introduce foods and feed older children according to their needs; and to provide a healthful and hygienic environment for children.

● Water/WASH: Low water availability and poor management of water resources may underpin many of the health, nutrition, and broader resilience challenges in the ASALs. The high burden of disease is potentially driven by poor hygiene practices and a dependence on surface water in certain geographies. Productive water access (e.g. for fodder and livestock) is increasingly susceptible to drought, which in turn contributes to low milk production and broader livestock/pastoral challenges. In addition, long distances traveled to water sources in some areas may contribute to women’s time poverty.

● Recurring Drought, Climate Variability, and Natural Resource Management Constraints: Climate variability has increased the severity and frequency of droughts and floods, which have altered the functioning of rangelands and their ability to support community livelihoods, as well as reduced the availability and quality of surface and groundwater resources. This, in turn, has contributed to human-wildlife conflicts, increased competition and conflict over grazing lands, and widespread zoonotic disease. Repeated shocks have resulted in the severe loss of productive assets for poor households and those on the fringes of market systems and have triggered the need for significant and recurrent humanitarian response.

● Weakened Pastoralist livelihoods: The weakened viability of pastoral livelihoods has been driven in part by reduction in pastoralists’ rights to own/manage rangeland, commercialization of the livestock sector, concentration of herd ownership, private expropriation of rangeland, and increased conflict over access to water, land, and fodder. Though pastoralism remains the predominant livelihood strategy in the ASALs, many have left pastoralism, or transitioned to agro-pastoral livelihoods, compelled to search for alternative livelihoods and/or to settle near urban centers.

● Poor Governance: Due to historic marginalization, the ASALs have missed opportunities for strong developmental structures compared to the rest of Kenya. Despite recent improvements with devolution which are now bringing opportunities and services to the ASAL counties, the spatial variation in incomes, poverty, and human development in Kenya indicate the significant under-development and marginalization of the ASALs. This under-development has multiple causes, including climatic and agro-ecological factors and socio-economic conditions, such as low levels of access to markets and services.

● Low literacy and education levels: Literacy and education levels in the ASALs are substantially lower than the national statistics (e.g. 42-75 percent illiteracy among women in the ASALs versus 12 percent nationally).13 The analogous statistics for men demonstrate large gender gaps, as well as the divergence of the ASALs from national averages.14

● Conflict: Multiple causes of conflict in the ASALs persist, including those based on conflict over natural resources (e.g. rangeland and water), inter-ethnic tensions, communal-private land conflict, human-wildlife conflict and refugee-host community tensions.

Advancing nutrition requires capable human resources, effective institutions, and functional systems to plan, manage, and evaluate programs. Strong country commitment and government leadership along with the active engagement of communities, the private sector, and civil society

13 Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (2015). The Kenya 2014 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey.

14 Men age 15-49 who cannot read at all: national (7.7%); Marsabit (36.4%); Samburu (29.2%); Turkana (47.2%); and Isiolo (12.1%). Men age 15-49 who have received no education: national (3.1%); Marsabit (35.7%); Samburu (25.9%); Turkana (35.2%);

and Isiolo (11.3%), Kenya DHS 2014.

are essential for achieving and sustaining nutrition outcomes.15 To this end, devolution in Kenya has provided a unique opportunity to partner with county governments, both technically and financially, to achieve greater and more sustainable impacts around nutrition. While the national government continues to lead on nutrition policy, nutrition programming is now a devolved function of the county governments, which are nascent and could benefit from institutional strengthening activities. The USAID Kenya CDCS is built around support for devolved power, and USAID’s programming in Kenya emphasizes county administrative and financial leadership of development activities where possible. FFP’s 2016-2025 Strategy also emphasizes the need to strengthen communities and institutions to serve as catalysts for greater and more sustainable change. Therefore, a key objective of the DFSA(s) will be to prepare local systems and institutions to assume financial and technical responsibility for the implementation of nutrition programming following the end of the activity.

Applicants should refer to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) Kenya

Enhanced Market Analysis, and key sectoral and county-level background sources of relevance

(Appendix V) for additional background on the unique food security, health, nutrition, and climate conditions, market viability, and shocks and stresses in the four target counties.

C. Phased Approach and Implementation Strategy

FFP will use a phased approach for the Kenya DFSA(s) to provide implementing partners with the time, support, and access needed to research the local drivers of persistent acute malnutrition and to design interventions that are rooted in evidence, contextually informed, and viable for GoK implementation and scale up. The phased approach aims to ensure the activity is learning focused, evidence based, and adaptively managed.

The first 18 to 24 months will constitute a research and collaborative design phase (Phase 1), with a subsequent transition to a systems-driven implementation and institutional strengthening phase (Phase 2). Phase 1 activities should directly inform Phase 2; all formative research should be focused on creating a field-ready, field-viable design. The applicants should also consider the use of pilots or other implementation research methods to test innovative approaches and to help tailor planned interventions to each implementation area. Phase 1 will culminate with an internal assessment and partners’ submission of a Phase 2 transition plan, which will outline the findings of Phase 1 and include the Phase 2 implementation plan (i.e. proposed activity design and budget).

Upon USAID approval of the transition plan, the DFSA(s) will enter Phase 2 and begin a three to three-and-a half year period of systems-driven activity implementation and institutional and system strengthening. (Note: Please refer to Section 1.D and Appendix III for additional information on the phased approach).

Given the need for rigorous formative and implementation research to understand the key drivers of acute malnutrition in northern Kenya and the programmatic approaches expected to avert it, partners will be expected to leverage robust research capacity and expertise within

15 U.S. Agency for International Development. Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Strategy 2014-2025. https://www.usaid.gov/nutrition-strategy https://www.usaid.gov/nutrition-strategy https://www.usaid.gov/nutrition-strategy their own organizations or consortia to successfully fill key information gaps and positively direct the activity design. Similarly, demonstrated capacity and expertise in institutional-strengthening and capacity-building approaches will be needed throughout the award.

As part of this approach, a Technical Steering Committee, made up of USAID staff, DFSA staff including their research leads), and GoK representatives, will provide strategic and technical direction to the DFSA(s) and support the program objectives and outcomes throughout the life of award. During Phase 1, the Technical Steering Committee will meet monthly for joint planning exercises that will help to align the DFSA designs to GoK priorities to promote sustainability as well as to avoid duplication of efforts by ensuring collaboration with current

PREG activities.

D. Programmatic Emphasis and Objectives

Overall Goal: The overarching goal of this multi-sectoral activity is to sustainably reduce levels of acute malnutrition in Kenya’s ASALs.

1. Phase 1 - Research and Collaborative Design

Phase 1 Objective: Research, test approaches, and collaboratively design a context-sensitive, multi-sectoral activity that sustainably reduces acute malnutrition.

The drivers of persistent acute malnutrition are complex and are specific to the localities, livelihoods, and other particularities of affected groups. During Phase 1, the DFSA(s) will:

(a) identify and understand the immediate and underlying causes of persistent acute malnutrition through formative research (e.g. desk review; context assessments); (b) conduct implementation research, including piloting activities; and (c) design, in consultation with the

Technical Steering Committee, a scalable, context-sensitive, multi-sectoral activity that prioritizes working through and strengthening existing systems and institutions.

Partners should note that formative and implementation research can occur simultaneously, and that implementation research can span both phases of the award.

Objective 1a: Identify and understand the immediate and underlying causes of acute malnutrition in target populations.

The DFSA(s) are expected to develop and articulate research priorities, questions, and methods that will push for deeper exploration of context-specific drivers and potential solutions to acute malnutrition in Kenya. For this objective of Phase 1, the DFSA(s) will work alongside public and private systems to conduct formative research (1) to validate the people, groups, and communities identified in their applications as being most vulnerable to acute malnutrition; and (2) to deepen the understanding of household-, community-, and systems-level drivers of acute malnutrition within the targeted groups and geographies.

During this period, the DFSA(s) are expected to hold consultations with a variety of stakeholders, including, but not limited to, households affected by acute malnutrition, community leaders and community-based organizations, youth, GoK national- and county-level technical staff, relevant PREG partners and other relevant implementing partners.16 The DFSA(s) are also expected to revisit and further refine their initial theories of change to capture the key drivers of acute malnutrition in each identified target geography and/or population sub-group.

Objective 1b: Undertake implementation research, including pilots, to inform activity design and refine approaches.

Given the limited evidence base for addressing persistent acute malnutrition, piloting and testing interventions is welcomed and encouraged. Root causes may be similar across counties, but prioritization and focus of the particular pathways and interventions will be context dependent at the county-, sub-county, ward-, community-, or household-level. Partners will be expected to carefully consider these contextual variations as they pilot activities and set out evaluation criteria to gauge the success of pilots to inform their activity design and refine their theories of change.

Objective 1c: Design—in consultation with the Technical Steering Committee—a scalable, context-sensitive, multi-sectoral activity that prioritizes working through and strengthening existing local public, private, and informal systems and institutions.

The DFSA(s) will review and use the evidence (i.e. assessments, refined theories of change, etc.)

from Objectives 1a and 1b to design, in consultation with the Technical Steering Committee, a context-sensitive, scalable activity to reduce levels of persistent acute malnutrition.

Multi-sectoral solutions are likely needed to reduce levels of persistent acute malnutrition, and the DFSA(s) should focus on the combination of drivers most likely to yield results within the scope, budget, and timeframe of the award. Addressing some of the underlying causes of persistent acute malnutrition identified during Phase 1 may require change that is beyond the manageable interest or timeframe of the DFSA(s). The DFSA(s), therefore, will be expected to evaluate and prioritize causal pathways and then design interventions on the basis of comparative advantage, likely impact, and sustainability. While the DFSA(s) may not be able to address all underlying causes of acute malnutrition, the DFSA(s) are encouraged to deliberately align with other activities to fill priority gaps by leveraging ongoing activities of NGOs, PIOs, and the GoK. Given the vulnerability of the four target counties, planning for shocks and stresses should also be clearly reflected in the DFSA design(s).

Wherever possible and appropriate, the DFSA(s) should strive to create a design that works through existing systems and institutions and includes interventions that can be incrementally transitioned and handed over to public institutions, community and informal systems, and the private sector by the end of the award. Ensuring the GoK’s ability to champion, lead, and manage these activities will require meaningful engagement of public institutions from the beginning of Phase 1 and throughout the life of the award.

16 To include other USAID/Kenya and East Africa implementing partners and other development partners in Kenya, such as the

EU, DFID, GIZ, the United Nations, and others.

2. Phase 2 - Activity Implementation and System and Institutional Strengthening

Phase 2 Objective: Working with and through local systems and institutions, implement and adapt a multi-sectoral activity to reduce acute malnutrition and strengthen local systems and institutions to manage, adapt, and scale the approach.

While the DFSA(s) will use Phase 1 to research and collaboratively design interventions to sustainably reduce acute malnutrition levels, Phase 2 will focus on (a) implementing and adapting these activities, as necessary; and (b) strengthening local formal and informal systems and institutions to prepare for activity handover and exit.

While sustainability should be an integral component of the overall activity design, preparing for handover to relevant systems and institutions is listed as a separate objective in Phase 2 to emphasize that clear exit strategies are essential for ensuring the success of the overall goal of

“sustained” reduction of acute malnutrition in the ASALs.

While the logical framework driving Phase 2 activities will be dependent on Phase 1 outcomes, some key metrics to measure institutional strengthening in Phase 2 could include: demonstrated management capacity around policies, strategies, guidelines, standards, and protocols for malnutrition; demonstrated leadership around malnutrition; capacity to manage data and research; effective use of data and research outcomes; budget-related decision making (e.g. co-funding activities); developing and operationalizing county implementation plans; social dynamics; motivations and incentives in the system; networking and strategic problem-solving and partnering; adaptive management and shock responsive planning capabilities.

Objective 2a: Working with and through local systems and institutions, implement and adaptively manage the multi-sectoral activity designed in Phase 1.

After developing a sound, scalable model for addressing acute malnutrition, the DFSA(s) will implement these activities with and through the GoK and local systems and institutions, as appropriate. Given the multiple causes of acute malnutrition, coordination with the GoK will likely be multi-sectoral and require engagement with technical staff from multiple ministries and county offices. USAID assistance is most effective when aligned with county sectoral plans (e.g.

County Integrated Development Plans (CIDPs)), budgets, and systems to avoid the creation of parallel NGO-driven systems.

The DFSA(s) should also prioritize working through, empowering, and building the capacity of local implementing partners, community-based organizations, and community leaders at every stage of activity implementation.

In addition, the DFSA(s) should continually assess progress and adapt activities based on lessons learned and submit revisions to the program description for approval, as necessary. The need for shock-responsive approaches, as articulated in the Guiding Principles Section, should also be reflected in activity adaptation, particularly with respect to changing rainfall/drought conditions.

Objective 2b: Strengthen formal and informal systems and institutions to manage, scale, monitor, and learn from activities that reduce acute malnutrition.

Key challenges to reducing acute malnutrition cannot be solved in an effective and sustainable manner without systems-driven, shock-responsive approaches. Therefore, throughout the life of the activity, the DFSA(s) will work in conjunction with and, as much as possible, through local public, private, and informal systems and institutions to strengthen the capacity of local actors to adaptively manage the interventions and approaches to reduce acute malnutrition.

While the DFSA(s) are expected to work hand-in-hand with local systems and institutions over the course of the activity, special consideration will be given to planning activity handover and exit in Phase 2.

Over the life of the award, the DFSA(s) are expected to review and incorporate best practices for capacity strengthening as well as use innovative methods and metrics to evaluate success and to address institutional strengthening at multiple levels:

1) Government of Kenya and County Governments

Devolution and economic progress in Kenya have provided a unique opportunity to develop effective, sustainable, and scalable approaches that can be institutionalized and taken over by relevant public service delivery systems. The DFSA(s) will be expected to leverage this opportunity to cultivate leadership, influence incentive systems, build expertise and institutional capacity, and strengthen systems to ensure that service delivery, monitoring and evaluation, learning, and accountability systems are responsive and sustainable. In addition, the DFSA(s) should support deepening the national and county governments’ capacity for using available nutrition and other relevant sector information for multi-sectoral and collaborative decision making, adaptive program planning, and performance and results monitoring.

2) Community and informal systems GoK’s devolution policy on public participation through the CIDPs provides a significant opportunity for the DFSA(s) to partner with local communities. Over the lifetime of the

DFSA(s), communities are expected to gradually assume their rightful role as partners in the service delivery, moving toward a participatory approach where communities are empowered to advocate for themselves and hold the service providers like county governments accountable. DFSA(s) are also encouraged to understand and strengthen informal systems that support community well-being and address drivers of acute malnutrition.

3) Private Sector During activity implementation, the DFSA(s) are encouraged to work closely with the private sector to ensure that any market linkages, products, and key partnerships developed over the course of the activity to improve the nutritional status of vulnerable populations will continue beyond the life of the award(s).

E. Guiding Principles

The following considerations aim to ensure that the design process builds on existing structures, systems, and strategies while at the same time also encouraging implementing partners to bring innovative approaches to address persistent acute malnutrition. Applicants should consider these guiding principles as they create their Research and Evidence-Based

Design Strategy, further detailed in Section IV. For broader FFP priorities, please see Appendix

IV.

● Sustainably strengthen and support existing markets, social systems, and GoK strategies. Effective and well-functioning systems that implement sound policies and strategies are drivers of sustainability and positive change. Applicants are encouraged to identify and support local systems that are within their manageable interest that are critical to the delivery of goods and services for this activity. Where appropriate and feasible, applicants should link and contribute to the GoK’s strategic plans (e.g. Kenya Ending

Drought Emergencies Framework) and the CIDPs.

● Coordinate and link with PREG partners, the ASAL donor group, or other relevant actors to leverage comparative advantages and catalyze investment for collective impact. The PREG platform provides a valuable opportunity for implementing partners to leverage ongoing activities and coordination networks to take advantage of synergies and maximize potential impact. Specific methods of collaboration with other

PREG partners include but are not limited to co-design and implementation of layered activities, coordination of annual work plans, sharing information on participant households, making joint field visits (e.g. bi-annual PREG learning events), and regular meetings and communication with other implementers, including sharing relevant reports.

● Demonstrate a clear and thoughtful strategy for empowering and engaging communities and community-based organizations throughout activity design and implementation. The applicant should demonstrate both active engagement of participants in activity design and implementation, as well as mechanisms to “close the feedback loop” via participant feedback collection, response, and activity adaptation. A strategy for empowering local communities recognizes the multiplicity of interests and needs at the local level; solicits and incorporates feedback from diverse local perspectives into all stages of programming from design to implementation and evaluation; and organizes regular and routine meetings with activity participants and local community-based organizations. Community engagement and empowerment strategies should be attentive to social dynamics, such as gender, age, and ethnicity, and how they link to inter-/intra-community inequalities.

● Design and plan for flexibility and shock response. The proposed implementation areas have historically been affected by large-scale shocks, including cyclical droughts, and conflict. Applicants should adopt a shock-responsive and adaptive approach, which includes ways to monitor these shocks, and develop contingency plans and design shock-responsive activities to adapt to changes in the environment and the needs of drought- or other shock-affected vulnerable people. Specific consideration should be given to how shock-responsive

DFSA interventions may complement existing safety net programs (e.g. HSNP).

● Adherence to “Do No Harm” and conflict sensitivity principles, and careful management of strategies that risk exacerbating the situation for target groups.

Applicants should be aware and familiar with the sensitivities of the programming context.

For example, designs should ensure that interventions do not exacerbate inter-ethnic conflict, nor add additional time/labor burden to women’s existing workloads. Women’s time poverty is of particular concern in the ASALs because livelihood adaptations have modified traditional roles and placed new or exaggerated burdens on women. Activities should respect the value of participants’ time and labor, especially that of women, and should minimize new burdens and/or seek to reduce existing burdens.

● Explore appropriate use of resource transfers. Any proposed activities involving resource transfers, including in-kind food assistance rations, specialized nutrition commodities, or cash-based transfers, must be justified using the USG modality decision tool. In addition, the DFSA(s) must also consider GoK priorities in determining the most appropriate modality for populations vulnerable to acute malnutrition. Taking these considerations into account, applicants are encouraged to explore the entire list of Title II commodities for potentially appropriate in-kind options. While the DFSA(s) are anticipated to prioritize prevention activities to address underlying factors, the DFSA(s) should carefully consider how to best support and strengthen treatment services. Any activities proposed to provide treatment services will require strong justification and must seek to work in conjunction with GoK and not create parallel service delivery platforms. (Note: Due to

GoK restrictions on genetically modified commodities, corn- and soy-based products are currently unavailable for programming.)17

● Commitment to Collaborating, Learning and Adapting (CLA). The phased approach inherently embodies a commitment to CLA. Throughout Phase 1 and Phase 2, the DFSA(s) are expected to (1) to support and engage with local government, civil society, other donor funded projects, and local researchers and academics; (2) identify and fill knowledge gaps, including ongoing efforts to understand and assess local context, and community needs and capacities; (3) ensure analysis and application of knowledge to adapt implementation and improve activity effectiveness; (4) capture and share results, lessons learned, and promising practices, including through participation in USAID-convened meetings and workshops and; (5) strengthen capacity of staff, partners, communities, systems, and institutions based on best practices and program learning.

● Explore the linkages between gender and social dynamics with food security and malnutrition: Gender equity in decision-making, access to and control of resources, livelihood options, and time burdens all affect food security and nutrition outcomes.

Preventing or reducing acute malnutrition requires attending to the different experiences and needs of women, men, boys and girls, and deliberately engaging these gender and age

17 Kenya National Biosafety Authority. June 2013. Guidelines and Checklists for the Risk Assessment and Certification of

Facilities dealing with Genetically Modified Organisms.

http://www.biosafetykenya.go.ke/Docs/Guidelines%20and%20checklist%20for%20Risk%20assessment%20and%20certification%2

0of%20facilities(1).pdf https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1866/USG_MDT_Final_2017.pdf https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1866/USG_MDT_Final_2017.pdf http://www.biosafetykenya.go.ke/Docs/Guidelines%20and%20checklist%20for%20Risk%20assessment%20and%20certification%20of%20facilities(1).pdf http://www.biosafetykenya.go.ke/Docs/Guidelines%20and%20checklist%20for%20Risk%20assessment%20and%20certification%20of%20facilities(1).pdf groups across all development interventions. Applicants should, likewise, consider ways young people can be positive change agents who bring creativity, energy, commitment, and novel perspectives to understanding and addressing malnutrition in their communities.

Section II – Federal Award Information

1. Estimate of Funds Available

Subject to availability, the anticipated funding for the Kenya multi-year DFSA(s) is approximately

$186 million (($100 million Title II/$86 million Community Development Funds) over a five-year period for up to two cooperative agreements. 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, 2019. The award(s) will be issued for a performance period of five years during which the applicant will research and collaboratively design during the first 18-24 months of the award called Phase 1 and implement the activity in the following three to three and a half years called Phase 2. FFP anticipates the

Kenya FY 2019 DFSA(s) to be implemented according to the phased approach model (see Section 1.C and…