RESINA RFI-Request for Information.pdf

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

RFI number: 72065621-RFI- RESINA Program Name: Resiliência Integrada na Nutrição e Agricultura (RESINA) Issuance Date: March 30, 2021 Response Due Date and Time: April 15, 2021 ate 5:30pm Maputo Local Time Response email address: amanhica@usaid.gov & gboateng@usaid.gov

To: ALL INTERESTED PARTIES

Thank you for your interest in USAID/Mozambique’s upcoming agriculture and resilience activities. The purpose of this communication is to obtain industry comment on the attached DRAFT Project Description for the RESINA: Resiliência Integrada na Nutrição e Agricultura Assistance Award. To that end, information obtained through this RFI will be held in confidence and will not be disclosed to the public unless specifically requested by responding sources.

Exclusivity agreements with local organizations and individuals are strongly discouraged by USAID. Click on the link below for more information on how to work with USAID:

https://www.usaid.gov/work-usaid/how-to-work-with-usaid

USAID is currently designing three new activities:

(1) Resiliência Integrada na Nutrição e Agricultura activity (RESINA)

(2) Promoting Market Systems, Innovation and Resilience (PREMIER)

(3) Resilient Coastal Communities (RCC)

These activities are being designed in tandem to be mutually reinforcing by working to layer, sequence, and integrate in the same general Resilience Focus Zone (RFZ), but will target different sub-geographies, actors, and market segments, and will align incentive structures needed to achieve sustainable results. While this RFI is focused on RESINA, linkage to other procurements is important to provide context to USAID/Mozambique’s broader strategic approach to building resilience in and around the RFZ.

(1) The Resiliência Integrada na Nutrição e Agricultura activity (RESINA) is a five year $29.5M1 activity that integrates WASH ($5M), Nutrition ($4M) and Agriculture ($20.5)

1 Contingent upon availability of funding mailto:amanhica@usaid.gov mailto:amanhica@usaid.gov mailto:gboateng@usaid.gov mailto:gboateng@usaid.gov

USAID MOZAMBIQUE REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI): Resiliência Integrada na Nutrição e Agricultura activity

(RESINA)

funding. RESINA will identify, analyze, prioritize, and address the key drivers of chronic poverty, food security, and malnutrition by strengthening the resilience capacities of targeted vulnerable households and communities. The activity seeks to support adaptation to and transformation in the face of shocks and stresses through a systems-based approach, enabling households to recover and pursue pathways out of poverty. It is an integrated agriculture-focused activity that includes nutrition and WASH funding for improved nutrition and clean water access, including for productive uses. In line with USAID’s approach to Resilience, the activity is designed to layer, sequence, and integrate interventions in coordination with other USAID mechanisms in the Resilience Focus Zone (RFZ). These activities include: the Resilience and Food Security Activity (RFSA) currently under design with the USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, Transform Nutrition (Nampula), the LOGOS Local Government activity, and the forthcoming Market Systems Development agriculture activity (PREMIER), Transform WASH, among others. RESINA will combine agriculture, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), and Nutrition funding to address programmatic gaps and approaches to build resilience of vulnerable households and communities in the target zone. The word “RESINA” in Portuguese means resin, the substance produced by plants to protect them from insects and pathogens. As resin increases resilience of plants, RESINA is designed to Increase resilience of smallholder farmers and rural households in selected districts of Zambezia and Nampula provinces.

(2) USAID/Mozambique’s PREMIER Agriculture Market Systems is a five year $20.5M2 activity that will support the goals and objectives of Feed the Future, the U.S.

Government’s initiative to reduce poverty, fight hunger, increase smallholder incomes, and improve nutrition. It will do so by promoting inclusive and resilient agriculture-led growth in the Nacala corridor, taking a market system approach that will incentivize responsible private sector investment, improve access to finance, enhance risk mitigation management, build the capacity of smallholder producers and agribusinesses, and expand employment and entrepreneurship opportunities, especially for youth and women. The activity will support ag-led growth through multiple pathways, and will target small and medium sized agribusinesses, smallholder commercial farmers and otherwise marginalized groups to engage in markets and activities that, by working to strengthen markets, will create commercial opportunities for farmers. With a strong learning component and using adaptive management to adjust interventions, the activity will strive to move beyond transactional to transformative results to deepen and accelerate inclusive and resilient agricultural growth, improved market system functions, and increased incomes for smallholder farmers. The activity will prioritize partnerships with, and sub-awards to, new and underutilized local organizations and private sector firms.

2 Contingent upon availability of funding

USAID MOZAMBIQUE REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI): Resiliência Integrada na Nutrição e Agricultura activity

(3) The Resilient Coastal Communities (RCC) activity is a five year $20M3 activity and will focus on a subset of the coastal region south of Pemba and North of Quelimane. The RCC activity will blend Environment and Feed the Future resources, possibly with other funding sources to be determined, to improve the resilience of coastal communities where rich, yet fragile land and marine ecosystems are at risk of climatic shocks and human-inflicted degradation. Sustainable marine and land-based systems management and conservation strategies will be identified. The Implementing Partner(s) will work with stakeholders to identify and promote employment and enterprise opportunities, especially for youth. The activity will work proactively with public, private, and CSOs stakeholders to improve the resilience of households, communities, and regional systems. There is growing evidence of ongoing recruitment from coastal communities by groups engaged in violent extremism in Cabo Delgado, which is exacerbated by limited livelihood opportunities in these coastal communities. Supporting realistic opportunities that improve the sustainable livelihoods of large numbers of people, particularly for youth and women, while having positive impacts on large areas of high biodiversity marine ecosystems will be prioritized.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Agriculture, Business, and Environment (AEB) Office seeks to do the following:

- Obtain information on the level of capacity of potential local and locally established partners, including NGOs, cooperatives, and private sector actors, relative to the tasks and objectives described in this RFI titled, “Resiliência Integrada na Nutrição e Agricultura: RESINA”;

- Solicit and obtain input, advice, knowledge, and best practices from organizations interested in participating;

- Receive comments and recommendations on potential Resilience Zones of Zambezia and

Nampula, and key considerations to be considered in district and community level programming;

- Information on existing activities, programs, projects, investments, etc., for consideration for collaboration, coordination, and partnership.

While we welcome any comments you may have, we ask that if you chose to respond, that you answer the following questions to assist USAID:

1. TECHNICAL QUESTIONS

USAID values concise, specific and useful responses. When preparing your response to the following questions please ensure that your comments are specific to the question asked.

3 Contingent upon availability of funding

USAID MOZAMBIQUE REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI): Resiliência Integrada na Nutrição e Agricultura activity

Responding to each question is not required. For market research purposes, USAID/Mozambique is also interested in your organization’s capabilities, geographic coverage, and experience. All organizations are invited to respond to this RFI. As noted above, please do not submit requests for funding, proposals, or statements of qualifications in response to this request as they will not receive a response.

a. Does the draft Program Description contain sufficient information to draft a response, including a Technical and Cost Application? If not, what else is needed?

b. Is the draft Program Description sufficiently flexible to allow for innovation and collaboration in support of Mozambique's journey to self-reliance? If not, how could it be improved?

c. Are there any gaps in the problem analysis and results framework that are needed to achieve increased resilience of the target zone?

d. Are there any additional considerations that USAID should be taking into account for the Zone of Influence targeting? What additional criteria for targeting is recommended? Are there significant opportunities outside of the RFZ that contribute to the identified objectives that USAID should consider?

e. With regard to existing activities, programs, projects, investments, etc., what is working well, and in what ways could USAID investments be most strategically targeted so as not to encourage implementing partners to focus simultaneously on an unwieldy and large number of issues?

f. What examples of successful resilience, WASH, and agricultural interventions could provide inspiration for achieving the goal of this activity? Are there examples of successful multi-use water systems in the RFZ, in other parts of Mozambique, or abroad?

g. What are the specific challenges and/or advantages of combining drinking water with agricultural uses?

h. What other comments or recommendations do you have about the RFI and its requirements?

2. CONTRACTUAL QUESTIONS

a. Provide the contact information (telephone, email, physical address) of the organization.

Who is the point of contact for donor coordination?

b. Is your organization currently registered in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov)?

c. Does the organization meet the definition of a Local Established Partner (LEP)?

a. USAID defines a LEP as an international organization that works through locally-led operations and programming models. In addition, LEPs have maintained continuous operations in-country for at least five years and materially demonstrate a long-term presence in a country through adherence or alignment to the following:

i. Local staff comprises of at least 50% of the office personnel, USAID MOZAMBIQUE REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI): Resiliência Integrada na Nutrição e Agricultura activity

ii. Maintains a dedicated local office,

iii. Possesses all of the registrations.

iv. Maintains a local bank account

v. A portfolio of locally-implemented programs.

vi. Demonstrated links to the local community, including:

1. If the organization has a governing body or board of directors, then it must include a majority of local citizens;

2. A letter of support from a local organization to attest to its work;

and

3. Other criteria that an organization proposes to demonstrate its local roots.

d. Does your organization meet the definition of a local partner?

a. According to USAID, to be considered a “local” organization, an entity must:

i. Be organized under the laws of the recipient country;

ii. Have its principal place of business in the recipient country;

iii. Be majority owned by individuals who are citizens or lawful permanent residents of the recipient country or be managed by a governing body, the majority of whom are citizens or lawful permanent residents of a recipient country; and

iv. Not be controlled by a foreign entity or by an individual or individuals who are not citizens or permanent residents of the recipient country.

1. The term “controlled by” means a majority ownership or beneficiary interest as defined above, or the power, either directly or indirectly, whether exercised or exercisable, to control the election, appointment, or tenure of the organization’s managers or a majority of the organization’s governing body by any means, e.g., ownership, contract, or operation of law. “Foreign entity” means an organization that fails to meet any part of the “local organization” definition.

e. In your experience delivering similar or relevant services, what contract type/mechanism has worked well?

f. Do you have any other feedback or recommendations that you would like to share with USAID regarding any anticipated solicitation for this requirement?

3. RESPONSES SHOULD INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:

- Cover page, not to exceed one (1) page, that includes

a. Organization name and address

b. Point of contact name, telephone number and email address

- Response in regards to the Technical and Contractual questions above, Comments, and suggestions on the Draft program description should Not to exceed four (4) pages. While the

USAID MOZAMBIQUE REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI): Resiliência Integrada na Nutrição e Agricultura activity limit on the length of submissions is four pages, we value concise, issue-specific comments with reference to page and section numbers in the DRAFT Program Description document. You may receive an electronic confirmation acknowledging receipt of your response

Responses to this RFI must be submitted by email only to Antonieta Manhica at amanhica@usaid.gov with a copy to gboateng@usaid.gov no later than the date and time shown above on the cover page. When responding, please include 72065621-RFI-RESINA in the email subject line.

We look forward to your responses to this Request for Information.

Sincerely, ____/s/_____ George K. Boateng Agreement Officer U.S. Agency for International Development

NOTICE: THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. The RFI is solely issued to gather information for planning purposes as an attempt to identify capabilities of potential contractors and to gain feedback on the Project Description (PD).

Therefore, respondents are advised that any information submitted may be used to inform the development of the anticipated Project Description (PD). This RFI is NOT a Request for Application/Proposal (RFA), a Request for Quotation (RFQ), an Invitation for Bids (IFB), a solicitation or an indication that USAID will contract for the requirement contained in this RFI.

USAID MOZAMBIQUE REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI): Resiliência Integrada na Nutrição e Agricultura activity

DRAFT PROGRAM DESCRIPTION (PD)

RESINA: Resiliência Integrada na Nutrição e Agricultura

I. Program Description

A. INTRODUCTION

The Resiliência Integrada na Nutrição e Agricultura Activity (RESINA)4 will address the key drivers of chronic poverty, food security and malnutrition by strengthening the resilience capacities of targeted vulnerable communities and systems to absorb, adapt to and transform in the face of shocks and stresses to recover and pursue pathways out of poverty and take part in inclusive and sustained economic and social growth. It is an integrated agriculture-focused activity that will layer, sequence and integrate interventions in coordination with other USAID mechanisms in the defined Resilience Focus Zone (RFZ), including the Resilience and Food Security Activity (RFSA) currently under design with the USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, and the Markets Systems Development Activity, concurrently being designed by the USAID/Mozambique Agriculture Team. RESINA will combine agriculture, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), and Nutrition funding to address programmatic gaps and approaches in building resilience of vulnerable households and communities in the target zone. RESINA is designed to achieve this objective through inclusive approaches to increase productivity of farm and food systems, foster diversification of household income, layer, sequence and integrate food security, sustainable water, and positive nutrition interventions with those of the Resilience and Food Security Assistance (RFSA). The activity will work in collaboration with the PREMIER Market Systems Activity to facilitate linkages and share risks with the private sector to open market and employment opportunities for vulnerable households. Together, the target populations will have improved access, availability, and utilization of food, and diversified incomes through agriculture and other livelihood pathways.

The Goal of RESINA is to Increase resilience of smallholder farmers and rural households in selected districts of Zambezia and Nampula provinces. It aims to achieve this through three Intermediary Resultus (IR):

● Strengthening inclusiveness of food systems and value chains;

● Increasing sustainable management of productive natural resources; and

● Enhancing household and individual consumption of nutritious foods and diverse diets

4 The word RESINA means resin, a substance secreted by plants, to protect them from insects and pathogens, making them more resilient.

USAID MOZAMBIQUE REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI): Resiliência Integrada na Nutrição e Agricultura activity

B. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

B.1 Background and Problem Analysis

Mozambique faces an array of challenges to achieving the inclusive rural growth needed to reduce high levels of poverty, malnutrition, and food insecurity. Additionally, much of the country’s population is subject to frequent and recurrent shocks and stresses due to climatic events, chronic and catastrophic health events, and violent extremism or civil unrest. These challenges have become more acute over the past few years as Mozambique emerges from macroeconomic and health shocks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, from powerful tropical storms that decimated infrastructure, housing, and farmland, and armed violence that has led to large numbers of internally displaced persons in the north and center of the country.

The majority of Mozambicans continue to live in rural areas, and 71% earn their livelihoods from agriculture and natural resources. Despite having abundant fertile land and conducive agro-climatic conditions in many parts of the country, agricultural productivity remains quite low, and the agricultural employment as currently practiced is associated with higher levels of poverty in Mozambique.

Populations in RESINA’s selected districts of Nampula and Zambezia provinces suffer from the highest levels of poverty, lowest agricultural productivity, highest rates of malnutrition, and lowest access to improved water and sanitation in Mozambique. Living on the margins, people in the target zone of influence are also among the most vulnerable to recurrent shocks and stresses that can undermine their ability to withstand and overcome recurrent crises. RESINA will seek to address the challenges of high poverty levels, low agricultural productivity, vulnerability to shocks and stresses, poor nutrition, and low access to water and sanitation to strengthen their resilience and set them on the path to improved prosperity. Challenges to reducing poverty and improving food security in Mozambique include the following:

Poverty: Mozambique ranks 181 out of 187 on the world’s Human Development Index, which reflects the depth of hardship among the Mozambican people with respect to poverty and social indicators such as literacy, malnutrition, and maternal mortality. National poverty rates are in the range of 41–46 per cent of the population — reflecting between 10.5 and 11.3 million absolutely poor people. In the provinces of Zambezia and Nampula, 62% and 65% of the population respectively live below the poverty line, considerably higher than the national average. In the target mid- and high-elevation zones of central Nampula and Zambezia provinces, food insecurity is also rampant, with 48% and 43% of households experiencing periodic hunger throughout the year5.

5 Tschirley, et al, MSU Analysis to guide USAID/Mozambique Programmatic Investments in Agriculture and Food Security, December 2020

USAID MOZAMBIQUE REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI): Resiliência Integrada na Nutrição e Agricultura activity

Despite nationwide gains in poverty alleviation between 2003 and 2015, Mozambique is now among the most unequal countries in sub-Saharan Africa, with a Gini coefficient of 0.56 in 2014/2015. Agriculture is one of the most effective drivers of inclusive economic growth, having the highest multiplier effects on poverty alleviation, estimated to be four times the impact on poverty reduction compared to other sectors of the economy (World Bank 2008 Development Report). Similarly, an International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) analysis found that a 1% growth in the agriculture GDP results in a 2.6% reduction in poverty, compared to 1% overall GDP growth resulting in only 0.25% reduction in poverty6.

Agriculture sector performance and transformation: Broad-based, long-term economic development in Mozambique is limited by weak, inefficient, and noncompetitive market systems that do not sufficiently include or benefit smallholder farmers, youth and women.

There are many factors that contribute to this problem including:

● The agricultural sector is dominated by smallholders, whose landholdings range in size from 0.5 to 1.5 hectares, although there are some larger enterprises engaged in production and agro-processing.

● Despite high potential of the agriculture sector, productivity is well below continental average and there has been little meaningful transformation of the agricultural sector7 .

Farmers do not invest in productivity enhancing technologies and practices.

● With the exception of improved seeds, adoption of productivity enhancing technologies is very low.

● Value chain governance is generally characterized by the selling/purchasing an undifferentiated product (based solely on price) rather than a more direct relationship with suppliers that can reduce risks of investing in productivity for smallholders.

● Sectors of the population are excluded from economic benefits (including job opportunities) by both geography and explicit discrimination (smallholder farmers, youth, women).

● Businesses are not competitive and do not respond to the market incentives.

● Lack of competitive financial services tailored for target groups (high cost of capital)

● Poor market infrastructure - High (road and rail) transport costs due to a poor road network hinders smallholders’ access to markets, information, inputs and services, and drives down competitiveness.8

● High risk of climate variability means farmers cannot predict their agricultural cycle or production due to natural disasters and increasingly unpredictable weather patterns.

● Smallholder farmers are viewed as high risk clients and not attractive to private sector businesses, including service providers.

6 Mellor, JW et al Agricultural Development and Economic Transformation, Palgrave, 2017 7 Michigan State Univ 2021 (draft) 8 MCC Binding Constraints Analysis 2021?

USAID MOZAMBIQUE REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI): Resiliência Integrada na Nutrição e Agricultura activity

● Neighboring countries out-compete Mozambican farmers with imports of cheaper agricultural products.

Markets: Mozambican agricultural markets are "thin", with few or nonexistent supporting services to enable more sustainable and inclusive business strategies that link to smallholder farmers; dispersed and remote producers have little choice of whom to sell their products to.

They lack market intelligence, produce low volumes of poor quality produce, receive low farm gate prices, and ultimately make little profit. Meanwhile, business practices of output buyers have tended to be exploitative, with traders negotiating exclusively on price (not on quality of produce or supplier loyalty). Therefore, smallholder farmers do not invest in improving yields and quality of their production because there are few formalized, stable market relationships to provide good returns on investment. Poor infrastructure and high transport costs are also major barriers for farming households to access input and output markets and raise productivity (WB Moz Economic Update 2018.)

Vulnerability to Shocks and Stressors: While agriculture is central to inclusive growth, so is the resilience of households, communities and systems to shocks and stresses that can often reverse hard-earned gains. Social protection, in the form of safety nets and improved livelihood opportunities play a foundational role in improved resilience by enabling poor households to increase consumption and retain productive assets in the face of shocks and stresses.

Investment in household assets, (e.g., livestock, agricultural machinery, bicycles, solar panels, etc), can assist vulnerable households to weather shocks by either selling, but not depleting assets as needed, or applying them towards productive income opportunities.

The majority of rural livelihoods in Mozambique are agriculture-based subsistence producers.

Households and communities are extremely vulnerable to a full range of shocks and stressors -from food prices (many farming households are net buyers of food), to poor market access, environmental degradation, climatic catastrophes, under-nutrition and poor family health - that deplete their abilities to adapt and recover. Frequently, households face more than one shock, requiring them to sell key assets, and thus impinging on their ability to withstand and recover from shocks. In 2020, COVID-19 further challenged already vulnerable and impoverished households in Mozambique.

Malnutrition: In Mozambique, chronic malnutrition (stunting or low height-for-age), affects more than 2 million children under 5 years (43 percent) and around 69 percent of children of this age have some form of anemia. Adolescent girls are among the most vulnerable, because during this period of rapid development their nutrient needs are high, and those needs increase with pregnancy. Given that 46% of Mozambican girls become pregnant in their teens9, adolescent nutrition is directly correlated with nutrition during pregnancy. Around 54 percent of Mozambican women of reproductive age (15-49 years) have some form of anemia, and the

9 2015 Malaria Survey (IMASIDA)

USAID MOZAMBIQUE REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI): Resiliência Integrada na Nutrição e Agricultura activity majority live in rural areas (DHS, 2011). According to the World Food Program (WFP), 80% of Mozambicans cannot afford an adequate diet. Stunting levels are among the highest in Nampula and Zambezia provinces, with 51% of children experiencing stunting. The first thousand days, from pregnancy until a child’s second birthday, offer a window of opportunity to reduce stunting and other forms of malnutrition, including anemia and wasting. It also has far-reaching consequences for human capital, economic productivity, and national development overall.

In spite of considerable public and private investment in the nutrition sector in Mozambique over the past years, including from USAID, the national stunting and wasting (low weight-for-height) numbers seem to be stagnant for over 10 years. Food insecurity (eating less than three meals a day), poor diet (insufficient micronutrient intake), and poverty are contributing factors to malnutrition and stunting. These factors have only been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Low access to improved water and sanitation: Inadequate access to clean water and poor sanitation and hygiene practices are contributing factors to malnutrition. The disease burden due to diarrheal disease is high in Mozambique, contributing to 17% of under-five deaths.

Nationally, only 24% of Mozambican households have access to basic sanitation and 36% still defecate in the open; in rural areas almost half of the population (47%) practices open defecation. Hygiene fares much worse than sanitation, with only 12% of the population having basic access, defined as having soap and water available on their premises.

Additionally, there is a lack of access to water for productive uses in agriculture and livestock husbandry. The dominance of rainfed agriculture greatly increases risk for smallholder producers due to unpredictable and variable rainfall. Improved water access, harvesting, and management can mitigate risks of crop failure and facilitate small livestock husbandry, a critical source of protein for household diets, and a moveable asset in times of need.

Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment: Mozambican women and girls are particularly impacted by extreme poverty, HIV/AIDS epidemic, low levels of education, high maternal health risks, limited economic prospects, and cultural beliefs that disadvantage them. Women and girls are also more vulnerable to the effects of crisis such as droughts and floods and political unrest. Fewer girls complete a lower primary school education (27% of girls versus 40% of boys). As a result, women are less literate than men, especially in rural areas (23% of women versus 65% of men). The overall literacy rate for women is 37% and worse in Mozambique’s populous provinces of Nampula (23%) and Zambezia (21%). Overall, 96% of all working women in Mozambique are unskilled laborers working in the informal sector. Only 4% of working women in Mozambique are formally employed in the government or private sector. Women collect firewood, access water, and gather fruit and other foodstuffs to feed their families, and they are often not engaged in decision making roles beyond their family. Women’s lack of

USAID MOZAMBIQUE REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI): Resiliência Integrada na Nutrição e Agricultura activity economic assets and collateral (including land) hinders their access to credit and their ability to gain a livelihood, and compounds the cycle of gender inequality.

Youth: Youth constitute the majority of the population in Mozambique and are better educated than their parents. Many have reached higher levels of education, often being the first in their family to attain middle or higher education. However, many still lack decent employment, quality education, and health care and feel marginalized from mainstream society as they try to survive through odd jobs and precarious livelihoods in the informal economy.

The USAID/Mozambique Cross-Sectoral Youth Assessment 10 found that the majority of young participants, especially in rural areas, requested support in developing modern agriculture.

They desire to move away from traditional subsistence agriculture, which they perceive to be outdated and retrograde, and to engage in mechanized agriculture using modern tools and machinery. Many are interested in jobs in the food production value chain, as well as in green jobs and environmentally friendly enterprises. While urban youth were dismissive of jobs in agriculture, rural youth demanded more entrepreneurial skills and technical training in agribusiness and services. Another finding from the assessment is that youth have a desire to participate in their own development and have a deciding voice in development plans.

Environment and natural resources: The most menacing threats to Mozambique’s environment and biodiversity range from destructive agriculture and extractive practices, to poaching, climate change, and the government’s low capacity to manage them. With competing needs and population growth already increasing pressure on these unique and limited resources, the issue of livelihoods and enhanced agricultural productivity must be addressed if conservation is to be sustainable. This highlights the importance of increasing agricultural productivity per hectare, to mitigate against a growing trend of agricultural extensification and accompanying deforestation. Similarly, without improved agricultural stewardship, soil fertility will continue to decline, threatening the viability of both productive and natural landscapes.

GRM Policy and Regulatory Environment: The MCC conducted a Binding Constraints analysis of Mozambique and found that poor agricultural policy, legal, and regulatory frameworks and implementation of the framework inhibit the functioning of input markets, vertical coordination of value chains, and input and output market competitiveness. These policy constraints negatively impact agricultural productivity, as they result in low technology adoption, low commercialization, low crop diversification, and high price and market access uncertainty.

B.2. Geographic Focus and Target Population

10 conducted by the Mozambique M&E Mechanism and Services (MMEMS) activity in 2020.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Kz47hhKjrY0KhqZg-uMh6Q6th5Rhroyx/view?usp=sharing

USAID MOZAMBIQUE REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI): Resiliência Integrada na Nutrição e Agricultura activity

Based on the evidence laid out in the previous section, this Activity will target districts in Nampula and Zambezia provinces in north/central Mozambique. These are the two most populous provinces in the country, with the lowest human development indicators for poverty and nutrition. They are also both highly vulnerable to climate induced shocks, and are potentially at risk of violent extremism. Historically, these two provinces saw some of the most intense fighting in the civil war, and they have been historically neglected by the central government in Maputo.

In Zambezia and Nampula Provinces, RESINA will target districts of higher and intermediate elevation within FEWSNET Livelihood Zone Five, in order to complement other programmatic investments under USAID Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance planned programming.

Geographic selection criteria should prioritize investments in relatively isolated areas that have been under-served by past GRM and donor programming. This could include districts in the intermediate and higher elevation areas of these provinces, such as Gile, Ile, Namarroi, Gurue, Alto Molocue, Lugela, Mocuba, and Morrumbala in Zambezia Province, and Ribaue, Morrupula, Mogovalas, Nampula, Lalaua, and Mecuburi in Nampula Province.

The intermediate elevation zones listed below have the highest number of adults with farming as their principal activity (82%), low levels in use of improved agricultural inputs, and the highest number of households experiencing hunger in the previous 12 months (47.9%)11 The table below, from the MSU 2020 Analysis to Guide USAID/Mozambique Programmatic Investments in Agriculture and Food Security, shows agricultural characteristics of the potential target zones.

B.2.1 Target Districts The activity is not expected to work in or cover all districts listed, but theApplicant should provide a proposed list of targeted districts with a justification for their selection as per the priorities and criteria laid out in this Program Description.

Zone Districts Characterization

Mid-elevation Nampula and Zambezia (MID-

ELEVATION)

Gile, Ile, Lalaua, Lugela, Mecuburi, Mocuba, Mogovolas, Morrumbala, Morrupula, Muecate, Nampula, C. de Nampula

Somewhat isolated with manioc, beans, maize and some cash crops, and moderate non-farm engagement

Western Nampula and Alta Zambezia (WNAZ)

Alto Molocue, Gurue, Malema, Milange, Namarroi, Ribaue

Isolated with heavy dependence on maize and moderate nonfarm engagement

11 Tschirley, David, Cynthia Donovan, Tatiana Mata, and Antony Chapoto, Michigan State University “Analysis to Guide USAID/Mozambique Programmatic Investments in Agriculture and Food and Nutrition Security”, draft December 2020.

https://fews.net/sites/default/files/documents/reports/MZ%20LHdescriptions%20August%202013%20en3.pdf

USAID MOZAMBIQUE REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI): Resiliência Integrada na Nutrição e Agricultura activity

B.2.2. Targets of Opportunity

Where important targets of opportunity to increase RESINA’s impact exist in areas outside the selected priority zones and implementation sites chosen by USAID, the applicant is encouraged to propose a rationale for engagement in these areas. USAID will assess the proposal’s likely ability to contribute to successful program performance based on the following criteria: (1) the degree to which they are consistent with and contribute to the objectives of RESINA; (2) the extent to which they can produce tangible results within the lifetime of the RESINA activity; (3) the likelihood that they can demonstrate achievements that can inform and augment results in support of the criteria for implementation as defined above; and (4) degree to which activities are complementary to, or have the potential to be complementary to other USAID programming in the area (particularly resilience-focused programming).

During the life of the award, any proposed targets of opportunity will not utilize more than 20% of the total funding available for engagement in the Activity’s selected implementation sites.

USAID MOZAMBIQUE REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI): Resiliência Integrada na Nutrição e Agricultura activity

Targets of opportunity may include building engagement with private sector actors, civil society, community-based organizations, local/regional government structures, other USAID programs, other donor programs, and potentially other options that clearly contribute to activity objectives.

B.4 Summary of Relevant USG and Donor Activities

Relation to other USAID/Mozambique Priorities and Programs

The RESINA activity is aligned with Feed the Future, the USG’s initiative to combat global hunger, the USG Global Water Strategy, Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement, and with the USAID Policy and Programmatic Guidance on Building Resilience to Recurrent Crisis (2012). The Activity will also directly contribute to the USAID/Mozambique Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) 2020 - 2025, specifically to Development Objective (DO) 3:

Resilience of Vulnerable Populations to Key Shocks Increased with the following Intermediate Results (IR):

IR 3.1: Household Nutrition and Food Security Increased

IR 3.2: Sustainable Management and Use of Water and Sanitation Services for Target Populations Increased

To achieve the results indicated in DO 3 and to maximize collective impact, the RESINA activity will coordinate closely with other USAID, ongoing and new, activities to achieve an effective layering, sequencing, and integrating approach that will be critical to achieving this activity’s objectives and lead to greater collective impact as a sum of USAID investments. Sequencing and layering are most effective when geographies, beneficiary populations and systems, and timing overlap. Other USAID activities include, but are not limited to: a new Agricultural Markets Systems Development activity; the Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance planned Resilience and Food Security Activity (RFSA); Rural Water Supply and Sanitation programs; TRANSFORM Nutrition, a community based multisectoral nutrition activity in Nampula; TRANSFORM WASH/Mozambique that will increase use and sustainable management of water and sanitation services, with an emphasis on women and girls; the ongoing PEPFAR DREAMS program targeting women of reproductive age; as well as planned programming to support local governance.

Additionally, a new Millenium Challenge Corporation Compact is under development for Mozambique, with Agricultural Productivity and Rural Roads being identified as the two key constraints for Mozambique’s development. Therefore, it will be vital for this activity to coordinate closely with these investments as they move forward.

USAID MOZAMBIQUE REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI): Resiliência Integrada na Nutrição e Agricultura activity

The RESINA activity will collaborate with other USAID activities in order to layer onto other activities’ interventions, sequencing interventions such as humanitarian assistance, and integrating interventions in ways that make the overall package of investment across all USAID programming much more robust and inclusive. The Activity should also seek opportunities to complement, reinforce, and where possible, layer with other development partners’ programs to enhance collective impact and improve efficiency of implementation across programs. This collaboration also enhances potential learning across projects.

Relation to other donor activities

Donor programs that are or will be operating in these provinces, with high potential for complementary investments, include:

SUSTENTA is the primary agriculture program of the Mozambique Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADER), launched in February 2017 as a three year, $40M pilot program and funded by the World Bank covering 10 districts in Nampula and Zambezia. The initial phase, implemented from 2017 - 19, led to significant increases in annual production and household income for 10,000 households. SUSTENTA 2020 - 24, a $250M program funded by the World Bank, uses a pay-for-results approach to expand this approach to all provinces. MADER expects to make an overall investment of almost $2 billion to support production and marketing of six strategic crops (maize, rice, beans, soy, sunflower, sesame, cotton, and livestock: cattle, poultry, and swine). It will also include $200 million in opportunities for meat production.

SUSTENTA aims to rapidly increase the production capacity and profitability of the rural economy, while at the same time emphasizing environmental, economic, and social sustainability. There is a clear role for the private sector in the areas of input supply, equipment, storage, processing, and marketing, which will be supported with favorable lines of credit, public-private partnerships, and technical assistance for land based and processing investments. Seven pillars of SUSTENTA include: (1) Technology Transfer, (2) Finance, (3) Marketing, (4) Land Planning and Access, (5) Infrastructure, (6) Social and Environmental Safeguards, and (7) Production subsidies. SUSTENTA is nested within the greater framework of the National Strategy for Development, Transformation, and Industrialization (Plan 20/24), and is guided by the Agriculture and Rural Development Sector Strategic Development Plan, and other national development policies. With its focus on small commercial farmers as change agents and suppliers of inputs and services to smaller farmers, there is high potential for the USAID RESINA activity to positively interact with this GRM agricultural program. Though early in implementation, there is concern that large government subsidies for agricultural equipment and inputs under SUSTENTA will negatively impact the development of the private agribusiness sector. It will be important that RESINA, in cooperation with other USAID programming for market systems development and policy, work to positively influence the direction of SUSTENTA in order to mitigate and alleviate potential market distortions.

USAID MOZAMBIQUE REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI): Resiliência Integrada na Nutrição e Agricultura activity

Technical Secretariat for Food and Nutrition Security - SETSAN: Housed under the Ministry of Agriculture, SETSAN is the National coordinating body for the multisectoral nutrition response.

It is currently finalizing the Food and Nutrition Security Strategy (ESAN III), that is intended to be the guiding document for the multisectoral approach, joining together the PAMRDC - Multisectoral Action Plan for the reduction of Chronic Malnutrition document and the former ESAN II strategy that existed concomitantly and proved somewhat duplicative. The ESAN III is aligned with both the GRM five-year plan (PQG 2020-2024) and the SDG Goal two (Zero Hunger). The ESAN III also takes into consideration the Global Scaling Up Nutrition Movement guidance for Food and Nutrition Security, and SETSAN is currently leading one of the movement’s four platforms namely Government Platform, Civil Society Platform, Donor Platform, and the Private Sector/Business Platform.

World Food Programme (WFP): Emergency response feeding, with a focus on women-led organizations to improve product quality; improved terms of purchase with private sector buyers; aggregation, post-harvest management and storage; technologies; business management; gender awareness.

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) of the United Nations has launched the Inclusive Agrifood Value Chain Development Programme (PROCAVA) a US$72.5 million programme aiming to improve resilience and livelihoods for at least 902,500 Mozambican farmers. Half of them will be women, and 30 per cent will be young people.

PROCAVA will contribute to livelihood development, food security and resilience by increasing incomes, and improving food and nutrition security of rural families.

Food, Agriculture and Organization (FAO) activities aim at increasing the resilience of livelihoods to climate change, threats and crisis. The CPF aims to reduce the vulnerability of communities, the economy and the infrastructures to climate risks and natural and man-made disasters.

European Union (EU): Improving Rural Competitiveness in Nampula and Zambezia Provinces, Mozambique (PROMOVE Agribiz) is a EUR 69 900 000 European Union funded project.

PROMOVE-Agribiz is part of a comprehensive approach to rural development in the provinces of Nampula and Zambezia that includes support to energy, rural roads, biodiversity and nutrition. PROMOVE-Agribiz will specifically focus on supporting the development of small-scale, sustainable commercial agriculture. The action will aim at improving small producers' productivity and resilience, enhancing the provision of support services, including financial and rural extension services, as well as fostering commercial partnerships with enterprises and increasing the availability of commercial operational services along value chains. Cashew and quality seeds value chains will receive specific support in the frame of the priorities identified in the Jobs and Growth 3 compact for Mozambique. It is implemented as a Grant directed

USAID MOZAMBIQUE REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI): Resiliência Integrada na Nutrição e Agricultura activity awarded to the National Sustainable Development Fund -Fundo Nacional de Desenvolvimento Sustentável (FNDS) an institution under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC): Innovation for Agribusiness (InovAgro) is a SDC funded project (2011-2020) which uses a market systems development (MSD) approach to improve the incomes for poor men and women small scale farmers in three provinces in Northern Mozambique (Nampula, Zambézia, and Cabo Delgado). InovAgro applies facilitative approaches to engage with key market actors to strengthen the supporting institutional and policy/enabling environment to address systemic constraints of smallholder agricultural development. InovAgro’s major areas of focus include the private sector supply of agricultural inputs and extension, output marketing, access to finance for input supply, and improving the policy framework for certified seed production and marketing.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) supports activities with a geographic focus on the two south provinces of Maputo and Gaza. The Mozambique Drought Recovery and Agriculture Resilience Project (DRARP) is a five year (2018 - 2022), $15.5 million dollars integrated project that includes water harvesting infrastructure, improved food production, marketing and capacity building of vulnerable communities. The Agriculture Value Chain and Youth Empowerment Project (AVACYEP) includes the provision of horticulture and livestock related infrastructure for improved food production, marketing and capacity building. The total project cost is $17.294 million dollars, over 5 years (2018-2023), also in Maputo and Gaza provinces.

B.5 Relation to Government of the Republic of Mozambique (GRM) Priorities

The GRM’s Five Year Plan (2020-2024) outlines its priorities to improve the well-being and quality of life of Mozambican families, reduce social inequalities and poverty, create an environment of peace, harmony and tranquility, with a strong emphasis on creating employment. The overall objective is to achieve a “diversified and competitive economy, intensifying the productive sectors with the potential to increase income generation and create more job opportunities. especially for young people.”

The GRM Five-Year Plan aims to boost growth, productivity and competitiveness of the agricultural and industrial sectors, and sees agriculture as the engine of growth that supplies and stimulates industrial growth and catalyzes job creation. It also prioritizes social and economic stability and climate change adaptation through building resilience of vulnerable populations and communities to withstand and recover from various shocks and stressors.

The RESINA activity will contribute to several of these priorities through its interventions to strengthen households’ abilities to increase profitability of agriculture, diversify livelihoods, and improve health and nutrition practices. It will also foster job creation both through on- and off-farm employment, by promoting entrepreneurship and technological innovation through

USAID MOZAMBIQUE REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI): Resiliência Integrada na Nutrição e Agricultura activity enhancing skills and increasing use of technology to improve productivity (on- and off-farm and employment).

The Ministry of Health, along with the Food Security and Nutrition Secretariat (SETSAN), are keen collaborators in focusing on food security and nutrition outcomes. The key challenge in this area is the multi-faceted nature of poverty, food security, and nutrition. The GRM has many of the right policies in place, but faces challenges in taking a holistic approach to addressing the issues.

Multi-sectoral Action Plan for the Reduction of Chronic Undernutrition (PAMRDC) is a master plan for implementing nutrition-sensitive and nutrition-specific interventions in Mozambique. It was approved in 2010 with the commitment of key ministries that would provide an enabling environment for appropriate nutritional intake of Mozambican populations.