RFI 72068523RFI00001_Regional Resilience _English version.signed.RT.pdf

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

Regional Resilience Activity for Sahel Region

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) #72068523RFI00001

1. Purpose of the Notice and Overview of the requirement

This is not an invitation for bid, request for proposal or other solicitation; and in no way obligates the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to award a contract.

RFI Number: 72068523RFI00001 Agency: US Agency for International Development Requiring Office: USAID/SENEGAL/Sahel Regional Office ( SRO) Estimated Period of Performance: Five years Location: Burkina Faso, Chad, The Gambia, and Mauritania Notice Type: Sources Sought Notification/Request for Information Posted Date: April 25,2023 Response Due Date: May 31st, 2023, 5:00 Pm ,Dakar Local Time (GMT)

The U.S. Agency for International Development is starting the design of a new Regional Resilience Activity for the Sahel Region in Burkina Faso, Chad, The Gambia, and Mauritania.

USAID/Senegal/SRO is reaching out to local stakeholders and interested parties to obtain comments and suggestions in order to incorporate relevant information, local perspectives and experiences, and innovative approaches to support this new activity. Responses to this RFI must not be portrayed as proposals and will not be accepted by the USG to form a binding agreement.

It should be noted that responding to or providing comment on this RFI will not give any advantage to any organization in any subsequent procurement(s), if such a procurement(s) is released. USAID will not provide answers to anything submitted in response to this request. USAID posts its competitive business opportunities on sam.gov or grants.gov. It is the potential offeror’s/applicant’s responsibility to monitor these sites for announcements of new opportunities.

Responses to this RFI may be used by USAID without restriction or limitation.

DISCLAIMER

The information contained within the RFI is intended solely as a thought-piece; ideas may change significantly during the activity’s design and approval process. In addition, this RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes. It does not constitute a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), Request for Applications (RFA), an Annual Program Statement, a Request for Proposal, a Request for Quotation, an Invitation for Bids, a Solicitation, or any indication that USAID/Sahel Regional Office (SRO) will make an award from this RFI. Responses to this RFI shall not be portrayed as applications and will not be accepted by the USG to form a binding agreement. This RFI is not to be construed as a commitment by the USG to issue any NOFO or ultimately award of an agreement on the basis of this RFI, or to pay for any information submitted as a result of this request. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI.

It is the respondent’s responsibility to monitor www.sam.gov or www.grants.gov for the release of any further subsequent procurement. Note that responding to this RFI will not give any advantage to any firm or organization in any subsequent procurement and will not lead to an organizational conflict of interest. Responses will be strictly held confidential.

INSTRUCTIONS

Responses (comments, suggestions, and enhancements) to this RFI must be in Microsoft Word or PDF format and submitted by May 31 2023. To expedite our review and also be considerate of your time, please keep responses to no more than 4 pages in length, 12 pt font. Responses may be submitted in English or French. Please number each page consecutively. While the limit on the length of submissions is 4 pages, we value concise, issue-specific comments.

Please send responses to this RFI via email to Aminata Diallo at amdiallo@usaid.gov and copy to rtrimble@usaid.gov and hcisse@usaid.gov with the subject title “Request for Information (RFI): USAID/Senegal -Regional Resilience Activity for Sahel Region” no later than the date/time stated above. You will only receive an electronic confirmation acknowledging receipt of your response. No feedback or debrief will be provided on comments received. Phone calls or hard copy responses will not be accepted.

Thank you for your assistance and interest in USAID programming.

Sincerely, Robert Trimble, Regional Agreement Officer

Attachment : Questions mailto:rtrimble@usaid.gov mailto:hcisse@usaid.gov

2 Overview

Burkina Faso, Chad, The Gambia, and Mauritania face concurrent crises with both unique and shared challenges as they recover socially and economically from COVID-19 and deal with the impacts of the Russian war in Ukraine, two shocks that have exacerbated persistent challenges.

These challenges include long-standing poverty, fragile governance, political instability, violent extremism and rising insecurity, climate change, inflation, growing populations, internal displacement, and food insecurity. The devastating effects of these challenges disproportionately affect women and youth, with women shouldering much of the burden and an increasing risk of youth recruitment into violent extremists organizations. Countries in the Sahel are among the most vulnerable to climate change in the world and rural economies in particular face growing climate shocks, as their economies largely depend on agriculture activities.1

A recent report, from the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET),2 warned that some regions of Burkina Faso and Chad are facing emergency or worse food needs. In Burkina Faso, the cumulative impacts of mounting challenges, driven by rising insecurity, are revealed in the stresses on food security. Due to blockades, FEWS NET predicts that a small percentage of households in inaccessible areas of the country’s Sahel region are already at their worst levels. The western regions of Chad will face acute food insecurity in the upcoming months. Mauritania also is experiencing a food crisis due to climate change, with flooding and periodic droughts disrupting agriculture activity.

The history of tensions between herders and farmers is often a source of conflict over scarce natural resources across these countries. Over the past decade, this situation has been worsened by violent extremism that destabilizes communities, resulting in the forced displacement of millions of people and consequently undermining development gains.

Despite efforts at both the regional (ECOWAS) and national level to encourage public policy reforms in key sectors such as health, water, sanitation and hygiene, and agriculture, populations in these countries still lack enough opportunities, training, and tools to strengthen their ability to cope with stresses, shocks, and climate change effects.

While the context varies in each Sahelian country, the economic and social vulnerability of individuals, households, and communities is a shared reality. Furthermore, socioeconomic

1 World Bank : chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10 986/37620/P17734308632c80a0b8170f1a6d6df3790.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

2 Fews Net; the Famine Early Warning Systems Network created by USAID IN 1985.

https://fews.net/west-africa https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/37620/P17734308632c80a0b8170f1a6d6df3790.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/37620/P17734308632c80a0b8170f1a6d6df3790.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y https://fews.net/west-africa dynamics in one country rapidly affect another, requiring the consideration of both local and regional contexts to generate positive outcomes.

3. Purpose

USAID seeks to expand resilience in the Sahel, improving the ability of individuals, households and communities to mitigate, adapt to, and recover from perennial shocks and stresses.

Through this RFI, USAID is eager to 1) validate our theory of change, 2) better understand the diverse perspectives of respondents, and 3) identify opportunities to better integrate programming to improve resilience. USAID is in the process of gathering information to inform its next iteration of resilience programming. USAID also recognizes the importance of identifying the unequal impact of shocks, stresses, and climate change on women and youth, and their implication on households and the local economy.

4. Concept

Background:

The Sahel is extremely vulnerable to climate change. According to the ND-GAIN country index, four of the seven countries most vulnerable to climate change globally are in the Sahel, including Mali, Guinea-Bissau, Chad, and Niger.3 Climate change is causing more intense, less predictable rainfall; droughts are becoming more pronounced; the combination of more severe rainfall paired with droughts leads to increased risk of flooding; and temperatures are rising 1.5 times faster than in the rest of the world. These climate shocks are degrading the natural resources that are essential to the agro-pastoral livelihoods that underpin the economy in the region. This dynamic situation disproportionately affects rural populations and economies that depend on agricultural livelihoods, and increases gender inequalities.

The effects of climate change are amplified by the deterioration of security in the Sahel, leading to increased vulnerability among populations. The proliferation of terrorist and other non-state armed groups, coupled with political instability, fuel internal displacement and conditions associated with long-standing poverty. High levels of unemployment, as well as political and economic marginalization, among the large youth populations in the region, increases the risk of conflict and instability.

Equally important, the combination of these new climate patterns and displacement due to insecurity have increased food insecurity across the region. The most recent Cadre Harmonisé

3 ND-Gain Index: https://gain.nd.edu/our-work/country-index/ https://gain.nd.edu/our-work/country-index/ report (March - May 2023) identified 6.7 million people across the region facing crisis-levels of food insecurity or worse. Increasing food insecurity in Burkina Faso is particularly acute given the high levels of displacement and difficulty for farmers to access their lands in certain regions.

These long term challenges have led to, or been exacerbated by, fragile governance, political instability, inflation, internal displacement, the socio-economic effects of COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine, such as international supply chain disruptions.

In short, attempts to build livelihoods in the region have been systemically challenged on every level.

Current efforts under the USAID Resilience in the Sahel Enhanced (RISE) II program implemented in Burkina Faso and Niger support five objectives:

Objective 1: Enhance social and ecological risk management systems

Objective 2: Increase and sustain economic well-being

Objective 3: Improve health, family planning and nutrition outcomes

Objective 4: Enhance governance of institutions and organizations

Objective 5: Enhance social, economic and political agency of women and youth

Capability-enhancing activities focus on improving livelihood profitability through increased human capacity, access to finance, productive assets, markets, and business networking. The 2022 RISE II baseline report indicated multiple factors – including climate shocks, insecurity, and high food prices – as main drivers of food insecurity among Sahelian countries.

USAID recognizes that current efforts to build resilience have been challenged to keep pace with the changing environment in the Sahel. Efforts under RISE II did not anticipate the extraordinary proliferation of violent extremism and its devastating effects that have come to pass in the past four years. Still, successes in several activities discussed below highlight opportunities to build resilience despite the challenging circumstances.

Burkina Faso:

Efforts through the USAID Terre Eau Vie (TEV) Activity have focused on sustainably enhancing water resource management, water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) service delivery, and access to water for productive uses in Centre-Nord, the Sahel, and the East—three regions with some of the largest concentrations of internally displaced people in Burkina Faso. This has been achieved by enhancing productive land use, reducing natural resource conflicts, and ensuring more equitable, secure access to land. TEV has also improved management of shocks, risks, and stresses through improved capacity for preparedness, response, and recovery; improved access to and use of climate information services; and integrated early warning and response systems.

The USAID Yidgiri Activity strengthens resilience and improves the inclusivity of food market systems by building individual and institutional capacities of agricultural actors in Burkina Faso.

It focuses on the cowpea, small ruminant, and poultry value chains, while also integrating strategies to promote the consumption of nutritious, safe foods.

USAID Catalyze Finance for Resilience Activity facilitates access to credit using a pay-for-results model based on a blended finance approach. It works with a network of financial institutions and financial facilitators, connecting them with micro-, small-, and medium- sized enterprises (MSME) in the agricultural sector and women- and youth-led MSME, including those working with other USAID partners. The objective of the activity is to sustain economic growth, reduce poverty, and create jobs in the intervention zones (East, Centre Nord, and Sahel of Burkina Faso).

USAID PREPARE- BURKINA supports vulnerable communities in Burkina Faso to effectively prepare for and manage recurrent crises and pursue sustainable pathways out of poverty. The activity builds the capacity of public, NGO, and community institutions to improve and sustain access to and use of high-quality, evidence-based, rights-centered, and gender-sensitive health services.

USAID ViMPlus is a Resilience Food Security Activity (RFSA) funded by USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA). Its main objective is to ensure sustainable food and nutrition security for households in eight communes of the Centre-Nord region in Burkina Faso. The activity focuses on strengthening inclusion in institutions that support vulnerable households; improving health, nutrition, and WASH of vulnerable households; equitably improving and maintaining economic well-being of vulnerable households; and empowering youth and women.

USAID Bridge Youth Connect improves the livelihoods of 65,000 vulnerable youth by providing economic and social opportunities in Niger and Burkina Faso. The activity focuses on enhancing youth agency and assets through employment and increased opportunities for civic engagement.

SERVIR West Africa 2 aims to improve resilience, food security, disaster risk reduction, and sustainable resource management at local, national, and regional scales through early action and increased use of Earth Observation information, earth science, and technologies. The Activity: 1) builds the capacity of analysts and decision makers in government, civil society groups, and the media to integrate geospatial data, including climate data, and technologies into their analysis, operational systems, policy, planning, management, and communications; 2) raises awareness of, and increase access to, geospatial data and information by improving management and access to existing and new data and information at national and regional levels; and 3) creates user-tailored geospatial services (such as decision support tools, applications, models, dissemination, and training) to get information to the people who need it to address priority development issues.

Mauritania:

USAID Nafoore strengthens the resilience capacities of vulnerable Mauritanian youth in urban and peri-urban communities in order to prevent radicalization and counter violent extremist recruitment efforts by increasing the incomes of vulnerable youth. USAID Nafoore promotes a local resilience-based approach centered on a social enterprise model and prioritizes collective business initiatives that offer solutions to local needs.

Chad:

Since September 2022, USAID has supported the World Food Programme’s Food Assistance for Assets (FAA) program. Grounded in the principles of building resilience, this project contribution supports productive asset creation in the three priority regions of Sila, Salamat and Lac. FFA protects household food needs by enhancing the protection and management of the natural resource base (agro-ecology) in the face of a changing climate. It contributes to the mitigation of disaster risk and livelihood adaptation, encompassing activity and income diversification. Implementation is done through WFP’s NGO partners in coordination with local and regional government units.

Activity Overview:

USAID seeks to improve the ability of individuals, households and communities in the Sahel to mitigate, adapt to, and recover from perennial shocks and stresses. In order to achieve this outcome, USAID envisions multiple awards under a singular mechanism with an emphasis on local partnership and potential transition awards to local partners. The Activity will require close collaboration, including joint strategizing, work planning, implementation, learning and shared indicators among the various awards. It is envisioned that applicants will form consortia of organizations with an array of expertise to meet the complex demands of the Sahel region and the various requirements of the solicitation. USAID envisions the following interventions will be prioritized:

● Improved water access and management;

● Improved drought resistant agriculture techniques developed in coordination with agriculture extension facilities;

● Targeted production of nutrient-rich commodities, ideally those with nutrients currently missing from household diets;

● Improved quality and safety of processing, storage, and preservation of food;

● Expanded market access for nutritious foods to vulnerable groups;

● Increased livelihood diversification vis-a-vis value chains and agribusinesses for vulnerable producers;

● Increased market systems development;

● Improved access to finance by promoting savings and credit groups and linking local producers to the financial market;

● Increased coordination and collaboration with local government and non-government counterparts;

● Enhanced municipal or community-based contingency planning related to natural disasters increased internal migration and expected semi- and peri-urban population shifts;

● Increased visibility, accessibility, and transparency, and capacity of government technical services (e.g. water management, agricultural extension, health services);

● Expanded use of a conflict sensitive approach;

● Improved nutrition, sanitation and hygiene practices and use of social behavior change (SBC) strategies;

● Increased gender and youth integration, with a focus on enhancing agency of women and youth; and

● Enhanced Collaboration, Learning and Adaptation among IPs to collaboratively build the resilience of individual, household and communities.

It should also be stressed that this activity will prioritize strengthening the role of governance wherever possible, improving the ability of relevant state entities to deliver services that matter most to citizens' livelihoods and well-being, including those related to natural resource management, health, and agriculture, among others. As stated in the U.S. Regional Strategy for the Sahel, "growing instability in the Sahel is a symptom of a long-standing crisis of state legitimacy in the region." As such, activities will seek every opportunity to increase public confidence in the state, in particular at the local level. While USAID's previous investments under RISE II tended to be seen as somewhat distinct or separate from our investments in governance, our intention is to better integrate those efforts in this next iteration of programming.

Activities will integrate climate smart and adaptive approaches throughout the portfolio, appropriate to improve outcomes and living conditions. It will be imperative for the implementer to also put forth sustainable solutions including an exit strategy where aspects of implementation are handed over to local partners and beneficiaries. Furthermore, USAID will seek to sequence, layer, and integrate with humanitarian assistance programs, whenever possible, in order to ultimately reduce the need for emergency assistance and grow sustainable solutions.

Preliminary Theory of Change:

If community networks are strengthened to sustainably manage resources, supported by local institutions seen as effective and legitimate; AND IF household level assets are diversified and increased; AND IF barriers in the uptake of key behaviors are addressed for vulnerable communities Then households, communities and institutions will be able to take charge of their own development, increase resilience, and manage uncertainty.

Link to the RDCS:

This activity will contribute to Development Objective 4 of West Africa and the Sahel Regional Development Cooperation Strategy: Vulnerability of Target Populations Reduced.

Expected Outcomes:

Expected outcomes of this activity include:

● Enhanced social and ecological risk management systems

● Increased and sustained economic well-being

● Increased food security

● Improved nutrition outcomes

This activity will strengthen resilience capacities within communities, reinforcing supportive systems and individual capacities while tackling the core economic and political drivers of susceptibility to extremist organizations.

Geographic Focus:

While current resilience programs have focused on Burkina and Niger, due to the graduation of USAID Niger into a standalone USAID Mission, this RFI seeks feedback on the applicability of the concept to Burkina Faso, Chad, The Gambia and Mauritania.

It is anticipated that at least 65 percent of this activity will be implemented in Burkina Faso, and the remaining funds will be split between Mauritania and Chad. There is potential for additional programming in The Gambia. Within these countries, USAID has not prescribed a fixed geographical focus for this activity; however, the activity will work in locations where the thematic challenges are most pronounced, and will constantly analyze the evolving dynamic in order to ensure interventions are targeted.

Localization:

Applicants are encouraged to propose working with local civil society organizations and local governments in key districts to develop policies and regulations supporting the technical focus of this report. The selection of locations and approach should be guided by the latest research and data available. In support of USAID’s localization efforts, USAID also anticipates potential transition awards.

Working in Insecure Areas:

USAID anticipates an agile approach that responds to and considers existing and potential insecurity as part of the operating environment, and anticipates increasing volatility. The implementer should utilize strategies such as digital technology, partnership with local actors, built-in flexibilities, and other new and innovative approaches in order to implement in inaccessible or unsafe areas. Interventions should be relevant for a population that is at high risk of displacement and trauma. The implementer should incorporate conflict-sensitivity and do-no-harm approaches.

Attachment :Questions

Respondents are asked to provide input on some or all of the questions below considering how USAID could best achieve its objective to strengthen resilience in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania, and The Gambia. Responses will help shape USAID’s thinking and approach during its current phase of stakeholder consultation and activity design. In responding to the questions, please take into consideration the dynamic security situation in the Sahel region, such as potential changes in accessibility to the zones of the intervention and other critical developments that might occur in the next 5-10 years across the region, within countries and among activity participants.

1. What are the critical lessons learned in addressing community governance, decentralization, provision of basic services, and/or engagement with the private sector to achieve results within limited resource settings?

2. What opportunities should USAID prioritize to build resilience in regards to water and sanitation services?

3. How might USAID improve perceptions of government effectiveness and legitimacy as part of a broader resilience strengthening activity? Are there particular state technical service providers (e.g. hydrological or agriculture extension services) that USAID should include and support to that end?

4. What kind of flexibilities would you like to see in the implementation of this new Activity?

What is your approach to working in a deteriorating or high-threat security environment?

5. What are entry points for social protection, including prevention of gender based violence and Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) in resilience programming?

6. From your perspective, what are some of the unanswered implementation research questions that would advance successful approaches in the field?

7. What other factors, recommendations or considerations do you think USAID should take into account in this process?

8. How realistic is the Theory of Change to achieve desired outcomes?