RFI-OAA-720617-22.pdf

1 | Page

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

RFI Number: RFI-OAA-720617-22 USAID/Uganda’s Feed the Future and WASH Activity Subject: USAID/Uganda’s Feed the Future and WASH Activity Issuance Date: April 25, 2022 Submission Date: Monday, May 16, 2022, at 5:00 pm Local Uganda time Response to: kampalausaidsolicita@usaid.gov

Subject: USAID/Uganda’s Feed the Future and WASH Activity.

This request for Information (RFI) relates to an activity with the preliminary title of “USAID/Uganda’s Feed the Future and WASH Activity”

The United States Government, represented by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in Uganda, is seeking feedback for a Feed the Future and WASH program.

This Request for Information (RFI) aims to provide industry and stakeholders an opportunity to review, comment on, and suggest areas of enhancement to the attached RFI concept. This RFI seeks to solicit ideas related to the following:

• Innovative models to accelerate community- and locally-led resilient economic growth for improved food and water security in the Karamoja sub-region;

• Strategic and sustainable opportunities for strengthening the resilience of marginalized people and communities, including diversifying livelihoods and increasing assets in Karamoja;

• Effective approaches for sustainably improving the nutritional status of women and children in Karamoja;

• Innovative, sustainable ideas and approaches for improving watershed and water resource management.

The RFI is an attempt to reach out to the market to determine the scope of industry capabilities and interest and will be treated as information only. Responses (comments, suggestions, and enhance-ments) to this notice are not applications and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding agreement. This is not a Request for Proposals (RFP) or a Request for Applications (RFA) and therefore should not be construed as a commitment by the U.S. Government or USAID to issue any solicitation or Notice of Funding Opportunity, or ultimately award a contract or assistance agreement on the basis of this RFI. Do not submit any proposal/application in response to this RFI.

Responses to this RFI are strictly voluntary. USAID will not pay respondents for the information provided in response to this RFI. Information, comments, and suggestions received will be reviewed and may be incorporated into a future solicitation. USAID will not respond or notify respondents of the results of this RFI. USAID will keep this information confidential. Responding to this RFI does not give any advantage to any firm or organization in subsequent competitions. USAID mailto:kampalausaidsolicita@usaid.gov

2 | Page reserves the right to respond to any, all, or none of the comments and questions submitted. USAID’s responses (if any) will be posted on https://www.grants.gov/ and on https://sam.gov/ Please con-tinue to monitor the two sites for any updates to this RFI.

This RFI does not restrict the Government’s approach to a future solicitation. USAID has not de-termined the type of instrument that will be used (e.g., acquisition or assistance). For this reason, this RFI will be posted on the Federal Grants website, https://www.grants.gov/, and the Federal Government Business Opportunities website at https://sam.gov/

Interested parties who are not able to retrieve the RFI from the Internet can request a copy by con-tacting the Office of Acquisition and Assistance via email at kampalausaidsolicita@usaid.gov. Re-sponses in relation to the RFI questions should be submitted in written English to USAID via email only to kampalausaidsolicita@usaid.gov no later than the date and time shown above with the sub-ject line "Response to RFI-OAA-720617-22 USAID/Uganda’s Feed the Future and WASH Ac-tivity''. The contact information below is provided just in case you experience problems with the dedicated program mailbox.

POINTS OF CONTACT:

Primary Point of Contact: Jesse Gutierrez, Contract and Agreement Officer jgutierrez@usaid.gov

Alternate Point of Contact: Peter Mugerwa, Acquisition & Assistance Specialist pmugerwa@usaid.gov

We look forward to receiving your feedback on the questions attached in how the new activity design can best respond to the country’s needs to propel Uganda forward.

Sincerely, Jesse Gutierrez Contract and Agreement Officer Office of Acquisition and Assistance USAID/Uganda

ATTACHMENTS:

#1- Background for the USAID/Uganda’s Feed the Future and WASH Activity #2- Geographic Focus #3- Request for Information Questions https://www.grants.gov/ https://sam.gov/ https://www.grants.gov/ https://sam.gov/ mailto:kampalausaidsolicita@usaid.gov mailto:kampalausaidsolicita@usaid.gov mailto:jgutierrez@usaid.gov mailto:pmugerwa@usaid.gov

3 | Page

Attachment 1: Background

Background Karamoja is a semi-arid region in northeastern Uganda, and households depend primarily on pas-toralist or agro-pastoralist livelihoods. Karamajongs face numerous human-driven challenges, such as lack of access to veterinary services, market disruptions and price shocks, poor watershed man-agement, and resurging conflict, as well as natural shocks and stressors, including droughts, erratic rainfall, and flooding. As a result, Karamoja is one of the poorest regions in the country despite significant investment by the Government of Uganda and development partners. Between 2016/7 and 2019/20, the incidence of poverty in Karamoja increased from 60.8 percent to 65.7 percent of the population. In 2020, UNICEF estimated that 76 percent of Karamojongs experienced multidi-mensional poverty. Poor agriculture production, limited alternative livelihoods, and ongoing shocks and stressors undermine economic growth, and drive food and water insecurity in the re-gion.

Karamoja is one of the most food-insecure regions in Uganda. In 2021, 30 percent of the sub-re-gion’s population faced high levels of acute food insecurity, and the figures are rising. Food inse-curity drives poor nutrition outcomes, particularly for women and children. During the 2021 lean season, less than 1 in 10 children consumed a minimum acceptable diet, and only about one-quar-ter of women met the dietary diversity requirements. The World Food Program reported that 46,300 children in Karamoja were moderately malnourished and 10,200 were severely malnour-ished. Major contributing factors include poor quality and quantity of food, poor sanitation, low water usage and high incidence of diarrhea and malaria. Malnutrition rates in Kamoja continue to rise, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions.

Water insecurity and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) issues are persistent. Although approximately 83 percent of Karamojong households have access to a safe water source and over 54 percent reported being satisfied with these sources, the per capita water use is well below the recommended WHO standard of 20 liters per person per day and only about one-third of house-holds meet this recommendation. Households report long distances to the water source, long lines, and heavy workload for women that limit their utilization of the available water services.8 Addi-tionally, access to improved sanitation facilities, particularly toilet availability and use, is limited across the sub-region. Open defecation stands at 60 percent. Poor WASH practices and low access to basic water services for production and domestic needs undermine food availability and nutri-tion outcomes.

USAID/Uganda aims to develop a new activity that will build households' resilience, focusing on food and water security. Improved resilience is a key objective of the new, five-year Country De-velopment Cooperation Strategy (CDCS), and USAID is in search of new, innovative ideas and models that will empower communities and move beyond the status quo to achieve sustainable change. USAID seeks ideas on how to sustainably address food security and WASH challenges so that households can mitigate and adapt to shocks and stressors without compromising their health and nutrition, losing their livelihoods, or relying on humanitarian assistance.

4 | Page

Attachment 2: Geographic Focus

Geographic Focus The Karamoja sub-region, specifically the districts of Kaabong, Nakapiripirit, Napak, Nabilatuk, Karenga, Kotido, Moroto, Amudat and Abim. The sub-region shares porous borders with several counties in western Kenya as well as southern Ethiopia and South Sudan. There is considerable movement of people, animals, goods, and services across these borders.

5 | Page

Attachment 3: Request for Information Questions

Questions.

Instructions:

• We encourage responding to as many questions as possible; however, you do not have to answer all questions to submit.

• For Question 1, respond only for your sector(s) of expertise.

• For Questions 2-6, please consider the following sectors: crop and livestock production and marketing; water supply for production and consumption; sanitation and hygiene ser-vices; nutrition.

• Please be mindful of the Karamoja context, particularly the current conflict, and the focus on building household resilience to shocks and stressors.

• Submit a maximum of four (4) pages

1. Propose innovative and scalable ideas and opportunities that are feasible to accomplish in a five-year project to sustainably improve food and water security within the following sec-tors:

• Crop production and marketing

• Livestock production, animal health, and marketing

• Livelihoods (off-farm)

• Water supply for production and consumption/domestic needs

• Sanitation and hygiene services

• Nutrition

If available, please provide data-based evidence from Karamoja or comparable contexts.

2. How can activities effectively engage women, youth, and other marginalized groups to im-prove local participation and ownership? Please share examples if possible.

3. How should we define success in Karamoja in regards to food security, water security, and/or resilience and that can be achieved in a five-year project?

4. How have past interventions in Karamoja yielded positive, sustainable outcomes? How can a new Project build upon those successes?

5. What past interventions in Karamoja and/or comparable contexts have not worked well, and why? How could we improve the potential for success?

6. Some of the background problems mentioned above are true in areas outside of Kara-moja. How should a new activity take into account the complexities that are unique to Kar-amoja?

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION