NOI-660-17-000001 Notice of Intent SVS 1-MM.pdf

NOTICE OF INTEND TO MODIFY USAID/DROC

Strengthening Value Chains (SVC) activity CONTRACT AID-

660-C-17-00003

• Original Set Aside:

• Product Service Code: R - SUPPORT SVCS (PROF, ADMIN, MGMT)

• NAICS Code: 541990 - All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

• Place of Performance: Democratic Republic of the Congo (DROC)

Physical Address: U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)

Mobil Building No. 198 Avenue Isiro Gare Centrale / Gombe / Kinshasa

Description

The United States Government, represented by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Democratic Republic of the Congo (DROC) intends to modify Tetra Tech, ARD, Inc.

Contract AID-660-C-17-00003, 159 BANK ST STE 300 BURLINGTON VT 05401-4410. The

DRC Strengthening Value Chains (SVC) Project will continue to provide technical assistance to farmers and value chain actors to encompass one additional growing season called the “B” season. Due to disruptions from COVID-19, many industry events in 2020 and 2021 were cancelled. These events are crucial to coffee producers in DRC as they are international opportunities for local producers to meet regional and international buyers and enter into long-term contracts. DRC’s “B” season is the most productive and profitable of the year to coffee and other producers and coincides with numerous domestic and international trade and export events, especially the Saveur du Kivu Coffee Festival, the largest coffee festival in Eastern DRC which annually features major coffee buyers such as Nespresso, the exporter OLAM and Coffee

Cooperatives.

The proposed services below form part of USAID’s effort to increase household incomes and access to nutrient rich crops by linking small-holder farmers to stronger and more inclusive value chains and supportive market services, thereby strengthening the foundation for peace in eastern

Congo. Tetra Tech would provide technical assistance to coffee and bean producers for an additional growing season and help to solidify additional contracts for sale of these and other products. This technical assistance would encompass pre- and post-harvest support for coffee and other targeted value chains, assist coffee producer associations in their preparation for

Saveur du Kivu and assistance in planning their and representatives from the Government of DRC’s participation in the Specialty Coffee Association Annual Conference later in 2022.

Not extending the activity will leave producers without solid post-COVID-19 pandemic marketing efforts and threaten the sustainability of the program due to the long lapse between 2018 and 2021/2022 brought on by the pandemic and subsequent cancellations of key events and international travel for both producers and buyers. A follow-on activity is being designed by

USAID/DRC and will be competed, but it is unlikely to be awarded before the SVC award’s May 2022 end date. The follow-on activity would then be able to go through Activity startup and provide many months of support to coffee and other producers in anticipation of 2023’s “A” and

“B” seasons.

The value of this funding increase is estimated to be $1,750,000 of USAID/DRC’s available FY2020 EG.2 Agriculture funds from Feed the Future and will bring the activity from May 12, 2022 to September 30, 2022, and increasing the budget of the award from $22,993,029 to $24,743,029.

Primary Point of Contact

• Michele Maximilien

• Email: mmaximilien@usaid.gov

• Phone Number: (243)813 262 624

Secondary Point of Contact

• Dany Kopo

• Email: dkopo@usaid.gov

• Phone Number: (243)823 878 080 mailto:mmaximilien@usaid.gov mailto:dkopo@usaid.gov