SPECIAL NOTICES - Food Security 11222021.pdf

SPECIAL NOTICES

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

FOOD SECURITY, NUTRITION AND RESILIENCE IN LIBERIA ACTIVITY

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) mission in Liberia has developed a draft concept and Theory of Change (TOC) to provide stakeholders an opportunity to review, comment, and make suggestions to enhance the Food Security, Nutrition and Resilience in Liberia activity design. USAID/Liberia would like feedback on the entire document including responses to questions attached to the cover letter.

The draft TOC is anticipated to result in finalizing either a Statement of Work or a Program Description that may lead to a formal solicitation or Notice of Funding Opportunity. The place of performance is Liberia. The potential period of performance is five (5) years. The draft concept is provided in the following pages.

DISCLAIMER

This is a Request for Information only. It is not a Request for Proposal, Request for Quotation, an Invitation for Bids, a Solicitation, or an indication that USAID/Liberia will contract for the services. 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. In accordance with FAR 15.201 (e), responses to this notice are not offers, and cannot be accepted by the Government of the United States to form a binding contract. Responses are strictly voluntary, and USAID will not pay respondents for information provided. Responses will not be returned, and respondents will not be notified of the result of the review. It is the respondent’s responsibility to monitor www.sam.gov or www.grants.gov for the release of any further information. Note that responding to this RFI will not give any advantage to any organization in any subsequent procurement. No telephone calls will be accepted, and neither will responses to questions be provided with regards to this notice.

INSTRUCTIONS

To respond to this RFI, interested sources must provide not more than a maximum of seven (7) pages in

Microsoft Word or PDF format by Wednesday, December 8, 2021, 11:30 AM, Liberian time. Please submit responses to Ruth D. Caesar-Hne, Acquisition & Assistance Specialist at rcaesar-hne@usaid.gov with copy to

Garth Patterson, Contracting Officer at gpatterson@usaid.gov. Interested sources must provide the following information:

✔ A capability statement inclusive of information and evidence of programming to support the four objectives mentioned in the attached concept.

✔ Responses to questions posed outlining sources of information.

✔ Additional comments or suggestions on the concept, if any.

Sincerely

Garth Patterson

Contracting Officer http://www.sam.gov/ http://www.grants.gov/ mailto:rcaesar-hne@usaid.gov mailto:gpatterson@usaid.gov

Questions For Feedback:

Responses are also not limited to the questions posed, if there is other pertinent information that should be highlighted, please include that information as well. Responses will be kept confidential and not shared with anybody outside of USAID.

Permanent/Sedentary farming

1. What best practices could be considered in Liberia for incorporating community land use planning, individual land rights, and tenure security into a food security, nutrition, and resilience project to bridge gender gaps related to farmland tenure?

2. What are the best practices and opportunities for maximizing impact and effective implementation of climate-smart agriculture programming? Are there any potential issues with implementing climate-smart agriculture programming in Liberia?

3. How can investments in rice and vegetable irrigated schemes (particularly low-tech) be increased?

What are the financial, technical, or environmental constraints associated with these schemes?

4. What activities are effective and necessary to transition smallholder farmers from shifting agricultural practices to permanent intensive agricultural production in Liberia? What are the barriers to the adoption of permanent agricultural production techniques?

5. What are the key barriers that are hindering smallholder farmers in Liberia from growing tree crops to contribute to food security and economic growth? What approaches have been effective in enabling smallholder farmers to grow tree crops and which tree crops were of high preference?

6. What are the key barriers or opportunities for shifting to production of cash crops in Liberia? What is needed to increase the capacity and desire for farmers to shift from traditional value chains to more high-value products?

Nutrition/Social Behavioral Change/Communications

1. What key social norms, beliefs and behaviors in Liberian households are barriers to consuming a diverse diet? How do these social norms, beliefs, and behaviors vary across regions and by gender in

Liberia?

2. What are key challenges in promoting social and behavioral change for dietary diversity at household level in Liberia? How do these challenges vary across regions and by gender in Liberia? What would your approach be?

3. What approaches have been effective enablers in improving community adoption of nutrition education and increasing household consumption of diverse nutrient-rich foods in rural and peri-urban areas?

What gender-specific interventions have worked well? What lessons have you learned?

4. Are you aware of any successful interventions involving small ruminant production or other sources of animal-based proteins? If so, what were the successes, challenges, and outcomes? Please share what opportunities exist and would be most viable in this area.

5. What approaches have been effective in information exchanges, group learning, and information sharing/flow amongst producers, processors, and others?

Social Safety Net/Access to finance for farm development

1. What are some innovative and effective ways to leverage or increase access to finance in rural communities in addition to Village Saving Loan Associations (VSLAs)?

2. What are some innovative and effective ways that VSLAs have been leveraged to increase access to finance in rural communities?

3. What are effective approaches to incorporating cash transfers or other financial support approaches that ensure that this short-term support mechanism does not foster dependency?

4. What are the critical practice challenges and market or finance constraints that push farmers in Liberia toward unsustainable or shifting cultivation strategies? How can activities that increase access to financial services for smallholder farmers address these challenges and constraints? How would you link activities with those of other development actors to contribute to collective action by all key actors and beneficiaries to mitigate these challenges and constraints?

Implementation Approach

1. What evidence/experience is there to support different approaches to smallholder farmer, cooperative, or other assistance to production groups (cash grant, in-kind grant, technical assistance, capacity building, etc.) Which of these approaches or combinations of approaches would help to achieve the outlined project goals while allowing for flexibility and adaptive implementation?

2. What are some sustainable examples of integrated school feeding and community education approaches that have had a significant impact on nutrition and dietary intake for target populations? Specifically, what are some best practices or successful models for social behavior change?

Food Security, Nutrition and Resilience Activity

Purpose for the RFI

The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to solicit feedback for USAID’s investment related to

Food Security, Nutrition and Resilience in Liberia. USAID’s Theory of Change (TOC) is that:

If smallholder farmers, women and youth groups apply new knowledge and skills, have access to finance, improved technologies, and reliable markets, improve their land and tenure security and invest in sedentary farming and diversify their production and consumption of nutritious and high-value crops, then agricultural productivity will increase and contribute to improved food security, nutrition, incomes, resilience, and employment opportunities for Liberians, especially youth and women.

Background / Context

Liberia is ranked 102 out of 107 countries in the 2020 Global Hunger Index. This places Liberia in a serious hunger category. The country is also ranked 175 out of 189 countries in the UNDP Human Development Index for 2020. Additionally, the World Bank 2020 report estimates Liberia's national poverty rate for 2021 at 52.1 percent,1 while the Liberia Demographic and Health Survey 2019-2020 showed that 30 percent of children under five years are stunted, three (3) percent are wasted, and 11 percent are underweight. This data indicates that the country has high food insecurity and poverty rates, and an alarming nutritional status.

The most recently published Comprehensive Food Security and Nutrition Survey of Liberia’s agriculture sector was conducted in 2018. At that time, 18 percent of the Liberian population (810,000), which included 23 percent of the rural and 11 percent of the urban population, were moderate to severely food insecure, and 35.5 percent were malnourished. Dietary diversity was low, animal protein consumption was limited, and nutritious vegetables were not widely grown. This percentage of food-insecure households was slightly higher than that of the 2015 survey which indicated that 16 percent of the population was moderately to severely food insecure.

Access to farmland and tenure security remains a challenge. Two out of every three households (66%) lack access to farmland, and more than 68% of those with access to farmland lack title deeds to safeguard their property rights. Primary crops grown were Liberia’s staples, rice and cassava, however, some farmers also grew some assorted vegetables (pepper, bitter balls, okra, and leafy vegetables). Access to improved varieties of seeds is a challenge as 97% of households reported using unimproved seeds. Sixty-four percent of farming households grew rice, while 60% cultivated cassava. The local production of rice could only meet 35% of the National Rice

Consumption Requirements (NRCR); to make up for the deficit, 65% of the NRCR had to be imported.2

The Liberian economy and the agriculture sector specifically have continued to be impacted significantly by the effects of the Ebola crisis and, more recently, by the COVID pandemic. These shocks led to further deterioration of the already challenged agricultural sector, by reducing market access and access to agricultural inputs. Data is sparse and unconfirmed, but a recent Liberia Food Security and Post-Harvest Snapshot

Assessment (LFSPHA) was conducted in February 2021 and validated in March 2021. The results from this assessment have not been published or officially ratified, and there remain disagreements over the methodology.

However, the preliminary report indicates that approximately 50 percent (approximately 2.3 million) of the country's population is food insecure. Rice and cassava remained the most frequently planted crops with an average farm size of 0.8 ha and 0.4 ha, respectively. Access to farmland seems to have improved considerably since the 2018 survey, with 60% of rural households, and 21% of urban households reporting having access to farmland. Some 20% of those who farmed reported that they had title deeds for their farmland, while 54% had

1 World Bank. 2020. Macro Poverty Outlook, October 2020. Washington, D.C

2 Government of Liberia Comprehensive Food Security and Nutrition Survey, 2018 no legal title. Some 82% of rice producers and 78% of cassava growers used recycled seeds and cuttings.

Improved post-harvest management practice was a challenge for farmers as 84.4% of rice producers and 77.5% cassava growers reported some level of food losses. The main food losses were attributed to theft and the effects of climate change on agriculture. Other drivers of food losses reported were the invasion of pests and birds.

While the results are not published, this assessment showed an annual increase in the food insecurity situation in the country.3

The agriculture policy environment in Liberia includes the laws, plans, and government strategies that guide the sector and align with the overall strategic priorities of the Government of Liberia. In recent years, the focus of the government for the agriculture sector has been to intensify and expand rice production and processing, increase access to mechanization, and attract climate financing to enhance climate adaptation measures in the country. The government is in the process of updating the National Rice Strategy, which will continue to support increased production and processing of rice. In 2018, the government launched the Climate Change Policy and

Response Strategy with the aim of enhancing coordination of climate work in Liberia, providing cooperation and collaboration opportunities between the government and stakeholders, and enhancing ongoing efforts related to the country’s National Adaptation Plan (NAP) and Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).4 The

Government of Liberia must ensure that interventions in the sector support and align with the long-term sustainable agriculture practices and the country’s climate goals, specifically to reduce carbon emissions.

Agriculture is key to Liberia’s economic growth and self-reliance. Liberia’s farmers and agribusinesses have the potential to improve food security and nutrition, create jobs, and increase exports. In 2019, the Liberian agricultural sector accounted for 43.3 percent of formal employment and contributed 27.3 percent of real gross domestic product (GDP).5 In 2019, Liberia exported rubber with a dollar value of US$85.57 million, and palm oil with a dollar value of US$11.3 million.6 About 70% of the population in the country depends on agriculture for their livelihoods.7 The country’s ample rainfall and favorable climate provide ideal growing conditions that produce a variety of staple and specialty crops. In addition to the current cash crops in the country (rubber, oil palm and cocoa), there exists market opportunities and potential for vegetables, fruits, poultry, and fish, which are key to improving nutritional outcomes (Minimum Dietary Diversity (MDD) and Minimum Dietary

Diversity for Women (MDD-W)).8 However, rice and cassava remain the most frequently planted food crops, and efforts to fortify and enrich these foods are limited.9

Liberia’s agricultural economy was hit particularly hard by the civil wars and the Ebola crisis, as families abandoned traditional farms and fled to urban areas. The Government of Liberia’s (GOL’s) support for agriculture only marginally assisted in the recovery of the sector from the impact of the wars and Ebola. Budget shortfalls and a lack of political will created key policy gaps and left critical agricultural services and infrastructure, mainly research and extension, paralyzed and ineffective. In March 2020, the country was hit by the global COVID-19 pandemic, which led to further deterioration of the already challenged agricultural sector.

3 MOA.2020. Liberia Food security and Post-Harvest Snapshot Assessment report, 2020 (*Not yet published)

4 EPA. 2018. National Policy and Response Strategy on Climate Change

5 World Bank. 2020. Project Information Document

6 Central Bank of Liberia(CBL). 2020 Annual Report, pg. 48

7 UNDP.2015. GCF National Adaptation Plans Project in Liberia

8 International Trade Administration. 2021. Liberia -Country Commercial Guide

9 MOA.2020. Liberia Food security and Post-Harvest Snapshot Assessment report, 2020 (*Not yet published)

COVID-19 impeded farmers’ access to farm inputs, technical agriculture extension services, and markets. This led to increased food insecurity and poverty, especially in the rural parts of the country. As a result of the limited resilience capacity of smallholder farmers, they remain susceptible to shocks and stresses (internal and external), to such an extent that some farming households consume stored seeds during the lean season when harvests are depleted. In addition, during a stock or stressor many farmers tend to buy food on credit or spend their savings as a coping strategy. While in crisis, these farmers tend to reduce non-food expenses on health, education, and in some cases, are forced to withdraw their children from school.

With this activity, USAID intends to shift its focus of agricultural intervention to a diverse mix of nutritious and high-value crops to enhance food security, dietary diversity, and economic empowerment. In addition, this activity will promote climate-smart adaptation practices to enhance permanent farming, intensification, and sustainable productivity-led agricultural growth. The target beneficiaries would be smallholder farmers, subsistence farmers, agriculture cooperatives/farmers associations, women, and youth groups in rural and peri-urban communities in Bong, Nimba, Lofa, Montserrado, Grand Bassa, and Margibi counties.

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. This activity will include resilience approaches such as climate-smart agricultural practices, crop diversification/intercropping, peri-urban farming, and alternative livelihoods to ensure resilience to shocks and stressors.

Drivers of food insecurity and poverty in Liberia

Many factors contribute to high food insecurity and malnutrition in Liberia. Key factors identified through stakeholders consultation and reports in the agricultural sector include lack of sustainable systems for the production of improved varieties of seeds (rice and vegetables); limited access to finance for farm investment;

lack of land ownership/collateral; limited extension and advisory services; limited improved agronomic skills;

limited access to technological equipment; poor post-harvest management; high-food prices; inadequate dietary intake in terms of quantity and diversity nutritious foods; limited access to storage and reliable markets; and climate change.10,11,12

Access to quality seeds was a challenge encountered by smallholder farmers in the country due to limited capacity for seed production and multiplication as a result of COVID-19 effects on the sector. Food and

Agriculture Organization (FAO) 2021 findings suggested that moving into subsequent farming seasons, access to seeds needs to be prioritized by addressing the structural and institutional barriers affecting domestic seeds production.13 Seed security is closely linked to food security, as seeds are an essential input for agriculture;

therefore, seed insecurity directly undermines production capabilities. Currently, Liberia’s Ministry of

Agriculture (MOA) believes that smallholder farmers still have limited access especially rice seeds and is supporting cooperatives in Bong County, for rice seed multiplication to provide access to improved quality of seeds to farmers. The Food Security, Nutrition, and Resilience activity intends to complement this effort of the

Ministry of Agriculture to improve the accessibility and availability of improved seeds for farmers by promoting seeds (rice and vegetables) multiplication by agriculture cooperatives and youth groups. Work through the Food

Security, Nutrition, and Resilience activity towards increasing production in the rice value chain will be limited

10 USAID Office of Food of Peace. 2016-2020. Food Security Desk Review for Liberia

11 FAO’s Country Programming Framework for Republic of Liberia 2016 – 2019_(Pg. 3)

12 MOA.2020 Liberia Food Security and Post-Harvest Snapshot Assessment (*Not yet published)

13 FAO.2021. Agricultural Livelihoods and Food Security in the Context of COVID-19 to lowland farmers. In addition, the cooperatives and youth groups will also establish tree crop nurseries to provide farmers with increased access to seedlings for planting. This activity will also encourage crop diversification by smallholder farmers to ensure the affordability, availability, and accessibility of nutritious food throughout the annual farming season; and promote alternative livelihood opportunities to enable households and communities to build their resilience capacities. This activity will promote intensification of land and promote permanent farming of the land. This activity will promote environmentally sustainable farming practices, and work to reduce slash and burn and other destructive tactics.

In addition to the key drivers for food insecurity mentioned above, even though the Land Rights Act was passed in 2018 with the aim of increasing access to, and the security of land rights, access to land and secure titles is still a challenge.14 The lack of land tenure by most smallholder farmers affects their choice of crops to grow, limits long-term investments in the land, impedes permanent farming, and contributes to unstable agricultural practices. Most smallholder farmers rely on labor-intensive and slash-and-burn shifting cultivation techniques for food crop production.15 These unsustainable agricultural practices have contributed significantly to soil depletion, low productivity, food insecurity, malnutrition, habitat fragmentation, and biodiversity loss.

Moreover, the lack of land tenure and tenure security inhibits smallholder farmers from investing in tree crop production, an opportunity for long-term income generation for households, and a critical driver for sedentary farming, household economic security, and resilience. Community land planning and secured land rights for individual farmers, especially women, are short and medium-term measures that provide safeguards for them to make investments in their land to improve households’ production, incomes, and resiliency.

Gender-specific constraints in the agricultural sector

Although women play vital roles in food production, the agricultural labor force, marketing, and trading, there exists entrenched gender inequality and discrimination in the agricultural sector in Liberia.16 Women continue to encounter highly visible gender-specific constraints, especially limited access to farm land, agricultural inputs, technical extension and advisory services, access to finance and working capital, information sharing, educational opportunities, technologies, markets, and decision-making. These inequalities are largely contributing to the sector’s underperformance.

Climate change and adaptation measures

Liberia is one of the countries that are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.17 Currently, Liberia is experiencing a rapid change in its rainfall patterns and temperatures, posing a severe threat to Liberia’s agricultural development. Liberia is still struggling to develop a comprehensive climate information system and capacity to inform decisions across all sectors that are vulnerable to climate change. Currently, smallholder farmers’ production and yields are affected by climate variability and change and have increased their vulnerability to shocks and stresses. It is projected that climate change would have far-reaching national effects that would undermine agricultural production, food security, and economic growth, undermining development, peace, and stability in Liberia. The Government of Liberia is expected to commence the implementation of a

14 MOA. 2020. Building Climate Resilience in Liberia’s Cocoa and Rice Sectors

15 Wollor and UNDP. 2011. Assessment of Investment and Financial Flows for Adaptation in the Agriculture

Sector in Liberia.

16 FAO. 2018. Country Gender Assessment Series, National Gender profile of Agriculture and Rural

Livelihoods-Liberia

17 EPA. 2020. Enhancing Climate Information Systems for Resilient Development in Liberia (Liberia CIS) project “Enhancing Climate Information for Resilient Development in Liberia.” This project is co-financed by the Green Climate Fund, African Development Bank, and the Government of Liberia. Given the need for adaptive measures to climate change effects, the Food Security, Nutrition, and Resilience activity will promote an agriculture approach that will be environmentally friendly, economically sound, and socially equitable. This climate-resilient approach will strive to maximize sustainable productivity; enhance the resilience of households; promote land use planning to ensure crops are appropriate for respective landscapes; enhance soil fertility; and protect the environment. Additionally, due to the high rate of rural-urban migration, increased demand for employment opportunities, and pressure urban cities place on rural areas for food, this activity will also support peri-urban areas for agriculture production and productivity.

Purpose of the activity

The Food Security, Nutrition, and Resilience (FSNR) activity aims to improve Liberia's food and nutrition security and households' resilience. FSNR is a five-year activity that will target smallholder farmers, subsistence farmers, cooperatives, women, and youth groups in rural and peri-urban communities within USAID/Liberia's zone of influence (Lofa, Bong, Nimba, Margibi, Grand Bassa, and Montserrado).

Overall Objectives

This activity has four (4) specific objectives:

1. Strengthen smallholder farmers, women, and youths’ ability to sustainably produce a diverse mix of nutritious and high-value crops using climate-smart agriculture practices.

2. Increase aggregation, farm-level processing, value addition, and marketing of targeted staple and commercial crops to increase incomes and create employment opportunities especially for women and youth.

3. Support economic development and resilience through alternative livelihood opportunities, improved access, and participation in markets for smallholder farmers, agriculture cooperatives, women and youth groups, and subsistence farmers.

4. Enhance year-round availability, accessibility, and the utilization of nutritious food by households in targeted communities to enable them to improve their health and nutrition.

The objectives of the activity will be achieved through increased sustainable agricultural production and productivity by smallholder farmers, subsistence farmers, agriculture cooperatives, and women and youth groups. Potential value chains for this activity include vegetables, fruits, mini-livestock, poultry, small ruminant, rice, cassava, integrated rice-fish and vegetables, aquaculture, and a variety of high-value crops (e.g.

cocoa, coffee, oil palm, etc.).

Objectives and anticipated outcomes

Objective 1: Strengthen smallholder farmers, and the ability of women and youth to sustainably produce a diverse mix of nutritious and high-value crops using climate-smart agriculture practices.

Anticipated outcomes:

○ Increased participation of women and youth in long-term agriculture activities.

■ Promotion of permanent farming and reduction in slash/burn techniques and shifting cultivation.

● Promotion of upland tree crops.

● If rice, lowland only.

● Switch from extensive to intensive agriculture.

○ Increased access to inputs and utilization of natural inputs would be a welcomed shift - especially environmentally friendly/organic alternatives.

■ Increased farm succession planning to increase youth participation and economic opportunities.

○ Increased production of a diverse mix of nutritious and high value crops.

○ Increased access to agricultural inputs, technologies, technical extension, advisory services.

○ Increased adoption and diffusion of climate-smart adaptation practices by smallholder farmers, agriculture cooperatives, women and youth groups.

○ Increased rice yields through the adoption of improved low land rice production mechanisms.

○ Enhanced efficiency and optimization of USAID-funded processing equipment.

○ Increased participation of subsistence and smallholder farmers in local self-saving and loans groups.

○ Enhanced intensive production of a diverse mix of nutrition crops by farmers, smallholder farmers, youth groups, and agriculture cooperatives.

○ Increased long-term investments on farmland by smallholder farmers; and

○ Improved soil fertility and management and increased agricultural intensification.

Objective 2: Increase aggregation, farm-level processing, and value addition, and marketing of targeted staple and commercial crops to increase incomes and create employment opportunities for women and youth.

Anticipated outcomes:

○ Increased agricultural-related jobs created for women and youth.

○ Commercial agriculture strengthened.

○ Increased availability, accessibility, affordability, and utilization of nutritious crops.

○ Increased incomes generated by smallholder farmers, subsistence farmers, women and youth groups, agriculture cooperatives, and processors from agriculture product and services; and

○ Increased utilization of business development service providers for producer organizations.

Objective 3: Support economic development and resilience through alternative livelihood opportunities, improved access, and participation in markets for smallholder farmers, agriculture cooperatives, women and youth groups, and subsistence farmers.

Anticipated outcomes:

○ Increased access to finance for household livelihoods development.

○ Increased women and youth participation in agriculture activities.

○ Increased on and off-farm jobs for households.

○ Increased diversification of agriculture related jobs and opportunities.

○ Enhanced social capital in communities.

○ Increased prevalence and productivity for peri-urban farming.

○ Increased practice of integrated fish, rice, and vegetables farming.

○ Increased application of environmentally friendly, economically sound, and socially equitable agriculture approaches by subsistence farmers, smallholder farmers, youth groups, and cooperatives.

○ Strengthened savings and loans groups and access to finance opportunities; and

○ Increased incomes from agriculture products and services.

Objective 4: Enhance year-round availability, accessibility, and the utilization of nutritious food by households in targeted communities to enable them to improve their quality of life.

Anticipated outcomes:

○ Improved household dietary diversity.

○ Increased household consumption of nutritious foods.

○ Nutrition-sensitive agriculture production strengthened.

○ Intra-household distribution of diverse diets and appropriate feeding practices for young children enhanced.

○ Increased availability, accessibility, affordability, and utilization of nutritious crops by households.

○ Promotion of school and kitchen/home gardens.

○ Improved community education (especially for women) on nutritious diets and the long-term impacts of malnutrition.

○ Improved local capacity and coordination for sustainable school feeding and improved nutrition outcomes.

○ Improved storage and availability of diverse foods for year-round consumption; and

○ Reduction in childhood malnutrition.