SOL-176-15-000005-00.pdf

Issue Date: March 10, 2015 Questions Due: March 17, 2015, 10:00 am Almaty Time Closing Date: April 10, 2015, 10:00 am Almaty Time

SUBJECT: Request for Proposals (RFP) RFP No.: SOL-176-15-000005 Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water Project

To All Potential Offerors:

The United States Government, represented by the United States Agency for International Development Regional Mission to Central Asia (USAID/CA), is seeking proposals from qualified organizations to implement a project entitled Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water Project as detailed in Section C.

USAID anticipates awarding a cost plus fixed-fee completion-type contract as a result of this solicitation, covering an estimated base period of three years with an option period of one and half years, subject to availability of funds and satisfactory performance. Offerors must propose costs that they believe are realistic and reasonable for the work described herein.

This procurement will be conducted under full and open competition procedures, pursuant to Part 15 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) (48 CFR Chapter 1). All types of organizations are eligible to compete. If your organization decides to submit a proposal in response to this solicitation, it must be submitted in accordance with Section L of this RFP. Offerors must also carefully review Section M - Evaluation Factors for Award. Sections B through I of the solicitation will become a substantive part of the anticipated contract with blanks to be completed by the Contracting Officer upon award. Section K - Representations, Certifications and Acknowledgements must be filled out in full.

It is the responsibility of the recipient of this solicitation to ensure that the solicitation has been received from the FBO page in its entirety. USAID bears no responsibility for data errors resulting from download or conversion processes.

Offerors can register and use the Interested Vendor List (IVL) on the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) website, so that firms can contact one another for consideration of teaming arrangements and/or small business subcontracting opportunities in response to this solicitation.

Questions and comments related to this RFP must be submitted electronically to Ms. Kerry West, Contracting Officer, at kwest@usaid.gov, with copies to the attention of Ms. Natalia Portnyagina at nportnyagina@usaid.gov and AlmatyAAsolicitations@usaid.gov no later than March 17, 2015 at 10:00 am Almaty Time (UTC +6) using the following format for the email subject line: “SOL-176-15-000005, Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water Project – [Name of Organization] Questions/Comments”.

USAID may consolidate and/or not respond to questions/comments and will publically post all responses as an amendment to this RFP. All amendments to this solicitation will be issued and posted on the FBO website. Offerors are encouraged to check this website (http://www.fbo.gov) periodically.

The Technical and Cost proposals must be separate and must be submitted according to Section L of this RFP. Only electronic proposals will be accepted in response to this RFP. The subject line for Technical and Cost Proposal submissions must follow the following format: “SOL-176-15-000005, Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water Project - [Name of Offeror] [Technical/Cost] Proposal, [Email _ of _]. Proposals must be signed by an official who is authorized to bind the offeror’s organization.

Sincerely, Kerry et Contr. cting Officer

Proposals are due April 10, 2015 at 10:00 am Almaty Time (UTC +6). Proposals received after the closing date and time will be processed as late and handled in accordance with FAR 15.208

Issuance of this REP in no way obligates the U.S. Government to award a contract nor does it commit the U.S. Government to pay any costs incurred in the preparation and submission of a proposal.

Furthermore, the Government reserves the right to reject any and all offers, if such action is considered to be in the best interest of the U.S. Government.

Thank you for your interest in USAID programs.

1. THIS CONTRACT IS A RATED ORDER RATING PAGE OF PAGES

UNDER DPAS (15 CFR 700)

2. CONTRACT NUMBER 3. SOLICITATION NUMBER 4. TYPE OF SOLICITATION 5. DATE ISSUED 6. REQUISITION/PURCHASE NUMBER

SEALED BID (IFB)

NEGOTIATED (RFP)

7. ISSUED BY CODE 8. ADDRESS OFFER TO (If other than Item 7)

NOTE: In sealed bid solicitations "offer" and "offeror" mean "bid" and "bidder".

9. Sealed offers in original and _____________________________ copies for furnishing the supplies or services in the Schedule will be received at the place specified in Item 8, or if handcarried, in the depository located in until local time _______________________ (Hour) (Date)

CAUTION - LATE Submissions, Modifications, and Withdrawals: See Section L, Provision No. 52.214-7 or 52.215-1. All Offers are subject to all terms and conditions contained in this solicitation.

A. NAME B. TELEPHONE (NO COLLECT CALLS) C. E-MAIL ADDRESS

AREA CODE NUMBER EXT.

(X) SEC. DESCRIPTION PAGE(S) (X) SEC. DESCRIPTION PAGE(S)

PART I - THE SCHEDULE PART II - CONTRACT CLAUSES

A SOLICITATION/CONTRACT FORM I CONTRACT CLAUSES

B SUPPLIES OR SERVICES AND PRICES/COSTS PART III - LIST OF DOCUMENTS, EXHIBITS AND OTHER ATTACH.

C DESCRIPTION/SPECS./WORK STATEMENT J LIST OF ATTACHMENTS

D PACKAGING AND MARKING PART IV - REPRESENTATIONS AND INSTRUCTIONS

E INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE

F DELIVERIES OR PERFORMANCE

G CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION DATA L INSTR., CONDS., AND NOTICES TO OFFERORS

H SPECIAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS M EVALUATION FACTORS FOR AWARD

K

REPRESENTATIONS, CERTIFICATIONS AND OTHER

STATEMENTS OF OFFERORS

NOTE: Item 12 does not apply if the solicitation includes the provisions at 52.214-16, Minimum Bid Acceptance Period.

12. In compliance with the above, the undersigned agrees, if this offer is accepted within ________ calendar days (60 calendar days unless a different period is inserted by the offeror) from the date for receipt of offers specified above, to furnish any or all items upon which prices are offered at the price set opposite each item, delivered at the designated point(s), within the time specified in the schedule.

13. DISCOUNT FOR PROMPT PAYMENT 10 CALENDAR DAYS (%) 20 CALENDAR DAYS (%) 30 CALENDAR DAYS (%) CALENDAR DAYS (%)

(See Section I, Clause No. 52-232-8)

14. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF AMENDMENTS AMENDMENT NO. DATE AMENDMENT NO. DATE

(The offeror acknowledges receipt of amendments to the SOLICITATION for offerors and related documents numbered and dated:

CODE FACILITY

16. NAME AND TITLE OF PERSON AUTHORIZED TO SIGN OFFER15A. NAME AND

ADDRESS

OF OFFEROR

(Type or print)

15B. TELEPHONE NUMBER 17. SIGNATURE 18. OFFER DATE

AREA CODE NUMBER EXT.

15C. CHECK IF REMITTANCE ADDRESS IS DIFFERENT FROM

ABOVE - ENTER SUCH ADDRESS IN SCHEDULE

19. ACCEPTED AS TO ITEMS NUMBERED 20. AMOUNT 21. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION

22. AUTHORITY FOR USING OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION: 23. SUBMIT INVOICES TO ADDRESS SHOWN IN ITEM (4 copies unless otherwise specified)

10 U.S.C. 2304(a) ( ) 41 U.S.C. 253(c) ( )

24. ADMINISTERED BY (If other than Item 7) 25. PAYMENT WILL BE MADE BYCODE CODE

26. NAME OF CONTRACTING OFFICER (Type or print) 27. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 28. AWARD DATE

IMPORTANT - Award will be made on this Form, or on Standard Form 26, or by other authorized official written notice.

(Signature of Contracting Officer)

(REV. 9-97)

10. FOR INFORMATION CALL:

11. TABLE OF CONTENTS

STANDARD FORM 33

SOLICITATION, OFFER AND AWARD

SOLICITATION

OFFER (Must be fully completed by offeror)

AWARD (To be completed by Government)

1 N/A 89

SOL-176-15-000005

X

03/10/2015

Acquisition and Assistance Office USAID | Central Asia Regional Mission 41 Kazibek bi Street Park Palace Building Almaty, Kazakhstan 050010

See section L.6

See section L.5 10:00am Almaty time April 10, 2015

Ms. Kerry West kwest@usaid.gov

See Attached Table of Contents x 1 x 5 x 7 x 21 x 23 x 24 x 36 x 40 x 53 x 63 x 64 x 74 x 86

Kerry West

RFP No.: SOL-176-15-000005

Contents

PART I – THE SCHEDULE

SECTION B – SUPPLIES OR SERVICES AND PRICE/COSTS

B.1 PURPOSE

B.2 COST REIMBURSEMENT CONTRACT TYPE

B.3 TOTAL CONTRACT VALUE AND OBLIGATED AMOUNT

B.4 PRICE/COST SCHEDULE

B.5 FIXED FEE (CPFF)

B.6 INDIRECT COSTS (CPFF)

B.7 COST REIMBURSABLE (CPFF)

B.8 CANCELLATION CEILING

SECTION C – DESCRIPTION / SPECIFICATIONS/STATEMENT OF WORK

SECTION D – PACKAGING AND MARKING

D.1 AIDAR 752.7009 MARKING (JAN 1993)

D.2 BRANDING AND MARKING POLICY

D.3 BRANDING STRATEGY

D.4 APPROVAL OF BRANDING IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

SECTION E – INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE

E.1 NOTICE LISTING CONTRACT CLAUSES INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

E.2 INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE

SECTION F – DELIVERIES OF PERFORMANCE

F.1 NOTICE LISTING CONTRACT CLAUSES INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

F.2 PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

F.3 PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

F.4 AUTHORIZED WORK DAY / WEEK

F.5 DELIVERABLES AND REQUIRED REPORTING

F.6 DELIVERABLES, DELIVERY SCHEDULE AND FIXED FEE PAYMENT SCHEDULE

F.7 KEY PERSONNEL

F.8 PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

F.9 752.7005 SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS FOR DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCE DOCUMENTS

(SEPTEMBER 2013)

F.10 752.242-70 PERIODIC PROGRESS REPORTS (OCTOBER 2007)

SECTION G – CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION DATA

G.1 CONTRACTING OFFICER'S AUTHORITY

G.2 ADMINISTRATIVE CONTRACTING OFFICE

G.3 CONTRACTING OFFICER’S REPRESENTATIVE (COR)

G.4 AIDAR 752.7003 DOCUMENTATION FOR PAYMENT (NOV 1998) (CPFF)

G.5 TECHNICAL DIRECTIONS/RELATIONSHIP WITH USAID

G.6 PAYING OFFICE

G.7 ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA

G.8 CONTRACTOR’S PRIMARY POINT OF CONTACT

SECTION H – SPECIAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS

H.1 INSURANCE AND SERVICES

H.2 AUTHORIZED GEOGRAPHIC CODE

H.3 AIDAR 752.225-70 SOURCE AND NATIONALITY REQUIREMENTS (FEB 2012)

H.4 AIDAR 752.7032 INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL APPROVAL AND NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

(APR 2014)

H.5 AMMONIUM NITRATE AND CALCIUM AMMONIUM NITRATE RESTRICTION (SEPTEMBER

2011)

H.6 LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS

H.7 NONEXPENDABLE PROPERTY PURCHASES AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

RESOURCES

H.8 ADS 548 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENT

H.9 ADS 547 MANAGEMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES

H.10 FOREIGN GOVERNMENT DELEGATIONS TO INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES

H.11 REPORTING OF FOREIGN TAXES (JULY 2007)

H.12 NONDISCRIMINATION (JUNE 2012)

H.13 ACCESS TO USAID FACILITIES AND USAID’s INFORMATION SYSTEMS (AUGUST 2013)

H.14 USAID DISABILITY POLICY - ACQUISITION (DECEMBER 2004)

H.15 USAID-FINANCED THIRD-PARTY WEB SITES (AUGUST 2013)

H.16 CONFERENCE PLANNING AND REQUIRED APPROVALS (AUGUST 2013)

H.17 USAID IMPLEMENTING PARTNER NOTICES (IPN) PORTAL FOR ACQUISITION (JULY 2014) .. 47

H.18 302.3.5.22 SUBMISSION OF DATASETS TO THE DEVELOPMENT DATA LIBRARY (DDL)

(OCTOBER 2014)

H.19 ELECTRONIC PAYMENTS SYSTEM

H.20 COMPLIANCE WITH SECTION 508 OF THE REHABILITATION ACT OF 1973, AS AMENDED ... 49

H.21 GENDER CONSIDERATION

H.22 ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE

PART II – CONTRACT CLAUSES

SECTION I – CONTRACT CLAUSES

I.1 52.252-2 CLAUSES INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE (FEB 1998)

I.2 NOTICE LISTING CONTRACT CLAUSES INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

I.3 52.222-50 COMBATING TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS (MARCH 2, 2015)

I.4 52.244-2 SUBCONTRACTS (Oct 2010) ALTERNATE I. (JUNE 2007)

I.5 52.222-52 EXEMPTION FROM APPLICATION OF THE SERVICE CONTRACT ACT TO

CONTRACTS FOR CERTAIN SERVICES – CERTIFICATION (MAY 2014)

PART III – LIST OF DOCUMENTS, EXHIBITS AND OTHER ATTACHEMENTS

SECTION J - LIST OF ATTACHMENTS

PART IV – REPRESENTATIONS AND INSTRUCTIONS

SECTION K – REPRESENTATIONS, CERTIFICATIONS, AND OTHER STATEMENTS

K.1 NOTICE LISTING SOLICITATION PROVISIONS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

K.2 52.204-8 Annual Representations and Certifications (Oct 2014)

K.3 52.209-5 CERTIFICATION REGARDING RESPONSIBILITY MATTERS (APR 2010)

K.4 52.209-7 INFORMATION REGARDING RESPONSIBILITY MATTERS (JUL 2013)

K.5 FAR 52.209-XX REPRESENTATION BY CORPORATION REGARDING A DELINQUENT TAX

LIABILITY OR A FELONY CRIMINAL CONVICTION (Deviation OAA-DEV-14-02c) (August 2014) 69

K.6 52.222-22 PREVIOUS CONTRACTS AND COMPLIANCE REPORTS (FEB 1999)

K.7 52.230-1 COST ACCOUNTING STANDARDS NOTICES AND CERTIFICATION (MAY 2012)

K.8 52.230-7 PROPOSAL DISCLOSURE—COST ACCOUNTING PRACTICE CHANGES (APR 2005) 72

K.9 INSURANCE - IMMUNITY FROM TORT LIABILITY

K.10 SIGNATURE

K.11 CERTIFICATION REGARDING TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS COMPLIANCE PLAN (MARCH 2, 2015) 72

SECTION L - INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS, AND NOTICES TO OFFERORS

L.1 52.252-1 SOLICITATION PROVISIONS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE (FEB 1998)

L.2 NOTICE LISTING SOLICITATION PROVISIONS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

L.3 52.216-1 TYPE OF CONTRACT (APR 1984)

L.4 52.233-2 SERVICE OF PROTEST (SEP 2006)

L.5 GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS

L.6 PROPOSAL SUBMISSION

L.7 INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE TECHNICAL PROPOSAL

L.8 INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE COST PROPOSAL

SECTION M - EVALUATION FACTORS FOR AWARD

M.1 NOTICE LISTING SOLICITATION PROVISIONS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

M.2 GENERAL AND SOURCE SELECTION INFORMATION

M.3 EVALUATION CRITERIA

M.4 COST PROPOSAL EVALUATION

M.5 DETERMINATION OF THE COMPETITIVE RANGE AND CONTRACT AWARD

M.6 SOURCE SELECTION

PART I – THE SCHEDULE

SECTION B – SUPPLIES OR SERVICES AND PRICE/COSTS

B.1 PURPOSE

The purpose of this contract is to obtain services as described in Section C. Statement of Work.

B.2 COST REIMBURSEMENT CONTRACT TYPE

This is a Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee (CPFF) completion contract. For the consideration set forth below, the contractor must provide the deliverables or outputs described in Sections C and F in accordance with the performance standards specified in Sections C and F.

B.3 TOTAL CONTRACT VALUE AND OBLIGATED AMOUNT

(a) The estimated cost for the performance of the work required hereunder, exclusive of fixed fee, if any, is TBD. The fixed fee, if any, is TBD. The estimated cost plus fixed fee, if any, is TBD.

(b) Within the estimated cost plus fixed fee (if any) specified in paragraph (a) above, the amount currently obligated and available for reimbursement of allowable costs incurred by the contractor (and payment of fee, if any) for performance hereunder is TBD. The contractor cannot exceed the aforesaid obligated amount.

(c) Funds obligated hereunder are anticipated to be sufficient through TBD.

B.4 PRICE/COST SCHEDULE

TBD at time of award

B.5 FIXED FEE (CPFF)

Pursuant to FAR 16.306(d), the fixed fee payable under this contract will be tied to the completion of the reports and deliverables specified in Section F.6 of this contract and in accordance with the final approved Fee Schedule.

B.6 INDIRECT COSTS (CPFF)

Pending establishment of revised provisional or final indirect cost rates, allowable indirect costs will be reimbursed on the basis of the following negotiated provisional or predetermined rates and the appropriate bases:

Description Rate Base Type Period Indirect Cost X % 1/ 1/ 1/ Indirect Cost Y % 2/ 2/ 2/ Indirect Cost Z % 3/ 3/ 3/

1/Base of Application:

Type of Rate:

Period:

2/Base of Application:

Type of Rate:

Period:

3/Base of Application:

Type of Rate:

Period:

B.7 COST REIMBURSABLE (CPFF)

Allowable costs will be limited to reasonable, allocable and necessary costs determined in accordance with FAR 52.216-7, Allowable Cost and Payment, FAR 52.216-8, Fixed Fee, if applicable, and AIDAR 752.7003, Documentation for Payment.

In addition, the requirement and conditions concerning estimated cost and funding apply as detailed in FAR 52.232-22, Limitation of Funds, incorporated by reference in Section I of this contract.

B.8 CANCELLATION CEILING

CLIN 0001 is considered non-severable, and is therefore a multi-year contract as defined in FAR

17.103. Therefore, this contract is subject to the requirements of FAR 17.106.

Cancellation Dates:

Contract Year 2: Date______ Amount: $___0___ Contract Year 3: Date______ Amount: $___0___ Contract Year 4: Date______ Amount: $___0___ Contract Year 5: Date______ Amount: $___0___

Cancellation Ceiling: This is a CPFF Completion type contract where the contractor is authorized to be reimbursed for all costs which are allowable in accordance with FAR 52.216-7, “Allowable Costs and Payment.” Therefore, the contractor will not incur any costs which would have been amortized over the life of the contract should the contract be cancelled in accordance with FAR 52.217-2. Therefore, the cancellation ceiling for each cancellation date is indicated above.

[END OF SECTION B]

SECTION C – DESCRIPTION / SPECIFICATIONS/STATEMENT OF WORK

C. 1 Title

Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water activity.

C. 2 Introduction

This agricultural and water activity is a key component in USAID Tajikistan’s overall Feed the Future program to improve nutrition of women of reproductive age and children under the age of two in what is referred to as nutrition sensitive agriculture. Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water activity will directly support Feed the Future objectives by assisting smallholder farmers1 to increase, diversify, and add value to their agricultural production to address dietary deficiencies and market surplus production. Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water activity will place special emphasis on engaging women in all activities. Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water activity’s agricultural interventions will be coupled with a robust portfolio of non-agricultural Feed the Future Tajikistan activities implemented through separate mechanisms to address sanitation, hygiene, health behavior change, iodized salt, wheat fortification, and promoting private sector entrepreneurship.

C. 3 Development Hypotheses

Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water activity was designed around the following development hypotheses:

● Increasing and improving the production of vegetables, fruits, and dairy products by smallholder farmers while simultaneously increasing their access to irrigation water and educating them on improved nutrition and sanitation behaviors, will increase their incomes and improve the nutrition of women of reproductive age and children under two.

● Provision of public and private agricultural extension services, will lead to increased agricultural production by smallholder farmers, and will broaden the base of farmers receiving extension services.

● Targeting women with agricultural knowledge and technology will have equal or greater impact on household production and nutrition than targeting men with the same interventions.

C. 4 Background

As part of Feed the Future, the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative, Tajikistan is part of a broad international effort to transform lives toward a world where people no longer face extreme poverty, under nutrition, or hunger. Tajikistan’s multi-year Feed the Future strategy was approved in March 2012 and officially launched in May 2012. Feed the Future Tajikistan improves food security by reducing poverty and improving nutritional status, particularly of women and children.

Feed the Future implements activities in 12 districts within Khatlon Province referred to as the Zone of Influence (ZOI). These districts include: Bokhtar, Jomi, Jilikul, Khuroson, Nosiri Khisrav, Qabodiyon, Qumsangir, Rumi, Sarband, Shahritus, Vakhsh, and Yovon comprise the lower Kafarnigan and Vakhsh river basins. The Government of Tajikistan is subdivided in descending order:

● national

● oblast or provincial

● rayon or district (note: the Feed the Future initiative is implemented in 12 districts in western

Khatlon Province)

1 Smallholder farmers are those farmers with five hectares or less of farm holdings.

● jamoat or group of villages

● mahalla or village or neighborhood or group of streets

In Tajikistan, Feed the Future works to reduce nutrition deficiencies. These deficiencies are currently reflected in a 30.7% stunting rate and a 6.87% wasting rate in the ZOI. Stunting and wasting are primarily the function of deficiencies in Vitamin A, iron, zinc, iodine, and animal proteins. All Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water activity interventions will contribute to reducing stunting and wasting rates of children under the age of 24 months and under-nutrition of women of reproductive age within the

ZOI.

Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water activity will carry on the development of public extension services that have been piloted under USAID and other donor activities, but this effort alone will not be sufficient to reach population level impacts. Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water activity will combine public extension with a robust private extension program provided by input dealers and other private sector suppliers of goods and services.

USAID will scale piloted technologies to reach population level impacts. Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water activity will lead implementation of USAID’s extended season vegetable production under plastic scaling plan which is attached in Attachment J.10, and may implement portions of future scaling plans currently under development.

Increasing the yields and returns from household plots and positively impacting nutritional outcomes is Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water activity’s primary focus. The secondary focus is to work with family owned private farms or small commercial farms that average less than five hectares. Regardless of farm size, this activity will focus on horticulture and orchard production, and not work with cotton or wheat crops. In addition to private sector engagement, institutional interventions with public entities such as agricultural universities are encouraged and will increase sustainability. In addition to extension and agricultural technology interventions, Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water activity will increase the sustainability of the 60 water users associations USAID organized through its Family Farming Program from 2010-2014 in the Feed the Future ZOI.

Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water activity should develop public-private partnerships to further expand the impact of the activity. Partnerships and working with local privately owned businesses have been highly successful in providing farmers with higher quality inputs, providing technical advice, and post-harvest value added processing, storage, and marketing opportunities. This effort should be expanded to strengthen local value chains and processors. Particularly for the provision of technical advice on production, in addition to public sector and donor funded support, private sector engagement is imperative to the sustainability of the agriculture extension component.

Private sector engagement with international businesses is more challenging in Tajikistan than in other parts of Central Asia. Despite the limited presence of international businesses in Tajikistan, such entities may serve as potential partners.

Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water activity should recognize, address, and incorporate the agency-wide priorities of Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment, Empowering Local Solutions, Ending Extreme Poverty, and Science, Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (STIP). These are overarching agency priorities and should be fully incorporated throughout project proposals. The targeted districts have special gender considerations. Most of the men, estimated as high as 70-80%, are working in Russia, the United Arab Emirates, and Kazakhstan either semi-permanently or seasonally during the period of April to November. This in turn causes an increasing labor shortage in agriculture. Thus much of the farming and hired farm labor is provided by women. At the same time, the fertility rate within the ZOI is 4.2 children per woman which is the highest in the former Soviet Union and very high by international standards2. Most of the rural population and possibly more than 90% live in extended

2 Tajikistan Demographic and Health Survey 2012, November 2013.

families situations where the sons and their families live with the parents. Because of the large number of women working in agriculture, programming must be directed at the women to be effective. Consideration should also be given to the volatility of international labor markets and uncertainties, with men potentially returning to Tajikistan in the future with domestic employment needs.

Some programming must be directed at these potentially returning labor migrants.

Key components within Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water activity must3:

1. focus on both men and women, recognizing that constraints exist for both male and female farmers (including the needs to migrate due to lack of jobs with earning potential);

2. reduce the confidence gap by developing activities that address women’s low confidence at all levels of household, farm, community, and government;

3. reduce the resources gap to ensure that both women and men farmers have access to extension services, credit, and agricultural inputs; and

4. address time-saving measures for improved technologies.

Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water activity will be a three-year contract with a potential option period for an additional one and half years. The option will be planned to correspond to the growing season so that the activity ends after the traditional growing season has ended. This will allow for the activity to fully capture all results from the planned interventions.

C. 5 Relationship to the Country Feed the Future Strategy and the USAID/Central Asia Regional Development and Cooperation Strategy (RDCS)

The Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water activity is consistent with the Feed the Future Multi- Year Strategy for Tajikistan. The strategy consists of three pillars and this activity will address pillars One and Two of the three:

● Pillar One is assistance to household and small commercial farms to increase income and the production of food for home consumption, and support to improve nutritional and health outcomes.

● Pillar Two is building the capacity of local institutions and community-based organizations. Feed the Future Tajikistan will support public and private agricultural extension to advise farm families on production technique, natural resource conservation, food utilization, and formation of producer groups to facilitate access to markets and inputs. It will also support village organizations to help rural residents tackle local development problems themselves. Finally, it will assist local governments in becoming more active and effective, as well as support and expand community-based health efforts.

● Pillar Three is completion of effective agrarian reform in selected districts of Khatlon

Province. Agrarian reform includes changes in land and water relations and rights, institutions, policies, and incentives.

Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water activity supports the USAID/Central Asia Regional Mission’s RDCS, the goal of which is “Enhanced regional cooperation and broad-based prosperity in the Central Asian Republics.” Specifically, it supports Development Objective 1: Expanded diverse and competitive trade and markets; and Intermediate Result 1.2: Enhanced agricultural competitiveness and food security.

C. 6 Relationship to Host Country, External Actors and Other USAID Programs

3 USAID Gender Analysis for Feed the Future Project Activity Document: Tajikistan 2013.

In 2012, the President of Tajikistan established food security as one of his three presidential priorities. He reaffirmed this priority in a speech to the Parliament following his November 2013 re-election and added the goal of reducing Tajikistan’s national poverty rate from 38.3% in 2012 to 20% by 2020. Despite a strong host government emphasis on food security, USAID and development partners are keen to help the Government of Tajikistan understand that food security does not equate to food self-sufficiency, but is the result of food availability, accessibility, utilization, and stability.

The Government of Tajikistan’s food security strategy is reflected in the Agrarian Policy Concept and Food Security and Agriculture Investment Plan prepared as a part of the National Development Strategy 2006-2015, the Strategy for improving the Welfare of Population of the Republic of Tajikistan for 2013- 2015, and enshrined in the National Food Security Strategy of 2008 and the Law on Food Security in 2010. These documents, developed with extensive stakeholder consultation, establish agricultural productivity and output growth targets, and define priorities, which include a focus on ensuring food security, redefining the State’s role in agriculture, and promoting the development of Tajikistan’s agricultural industry. In May 2011 the government established a cabinet-level coordinating Council on Food Security including all the major government agencies involved in the agriculture and food sectors. In September 2013 Tajikistan joined the Scaling-Up-Nutrition (SUN) movement. These efforts are also coordinated with Tajikistan‘s efforts to fulfill the Millennium Development Goals. Together these documents establish a framework for reform, which is steadily gathering speed.

The Government in Khatlon must and NGOs should participate in planning and implementation of the activity. The Consultative Council of Khatlon is a public-private organization which can improve the offerors direct access to the Khatlon Government. Several NGO’s had past implementation experience in the ZOI and should be included in future programming.

This activity builds on achievements made by prior and on-going USAID activities in agriculture, land reform, water management, and food security including:

● Productive Agriculture: The activity helped farmers increase production and processing of agricultural products in the Feed the Future geographic focus area. This work addressed the basic needs of farmers in food-insecure areas of Tajikistan and increased their incomes. The activity helped farmers access better quality inputs; supported processing, packaging, warehousing, transport, and marketing of agricultural products for local and regional markets;

expanded the use of quality standards and certifications; increased access to finance for farmers, support service providers and processors; and strengthened market linkages between farmers and consumers. This activity ended in September 2014.

● Family Farming Program: The Family Farming Program works with smallholder and household farmers to increase agricultural production and improve irrigation water management in the Feed the Future geographic focus area. USAID Family Farming improves water provision for agricultural production by establishing and strengthening water users associations (WUAs) and providing grants to improve physical infrastructure of irrigation systems. In addition, the activity adapts and disseminates agricultural technologies to small holder farmers; improves household budgeting and planning; and supports policy reforms that enhance food security. This activity will end in February 2015.

● Farmer Advisory Services of Tajikistan: This activity has two components 1) agriculture extension development and 2) agriculture policy support. The first component will build capacity for an agriculture extension advisory system in the Feed the Future geographic focus area. The extension system model will assist smallholder and household farmers to increase agricultural production for sale to market and for home consumption. The second component will assist and build government capacity at the national and Khatlon regional level to implement agricultural reform policies in land distribution, irrigation water management, agriculture regulation, tax regulation, and other aspects of agrarian reform.

● Land Reform and Farm Restructuring: This activity supports continued restructuring of dekhan farms and the recognition of property rights. It creates the foundation for a land-use rights market.

The activity has three components: a) strengthening government capacity to develop progressive market-oriented land policy and to effectively monitor and implement the land reform process; b) expanding awareness of land-use rights among rural government and citizen stakeholders; and c) protecting farmers’ land use rights and facilitating acquisition of land-use certificates by individual and family dekhan farms.

● Farmer to Farmer: The activity pairs local farmers with international volunteers to establish economically viable farming. Volunteers provide short-term technical assistance in such areas as agribusiness, financial management, marketing, cooperative development, agricultural production, and post-harvest and processing technologies.

● Maternal and Child Health: The activity improves the health and nutrition status of women and children under five and engages local communities, especially pregnant women, mothers of children under five, and their mother-in-laws and husbands in health and nutrition discussions and links them with maternal and child services; trains the Health Department to improve delivery of quality maternal and child health services; helps plan and evaluate activities; and teaches schoolchildren health, hygiene and nutrition skills.

As well as USAID support for the World Vegetable Center, International Potato Center, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), and micronutrient distribution through the Government of Tajikistan, all active in the Feed the Future zone of influence.

Many international organizations are active in Tajikistan. The offeror should be aware of the international organizations that operate in other areas of the country. Coordination of activities is expected and partnerships are encouraged.

Select Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water activity staff will be required to regularly participate in relevant donor and activity coordination meetings, USAID quarterly Partners Meetings, and monthly Feed the Future Tajikistan implementing partner meetings to be well informed of other International and USAID programs in agricultural development. Activity will be in direct contact with these entities that operate in the ZOI including: JICA, World Bank, UN-FAO, World Food Programme, Mercy Corps, UKAID, Asian Development Bank, Hilsfwerk – Austria, GIZ – German AID, The First Micro Finance Bank, Save the Children, Oxfam, and Aga Khan Development Network agencies.

C. 7 Strategy

The Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water activity will directly support Feed the Future objectives by assisting smallholder farmers to increase, diversify, and add value to their agricultural production to address dietary deficiencies and market surplus production. Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water activity will address the lack of dietary diversity and poor nutrition by focusing on five (5) nutrition sensitive agriculture sectors. These sectors were identified as having the greatest possibility of scaling in the ZOI by efforts of this activity. These five sectors will include Agriculture Extension, Vegetables, Fruits, Dairy, and Irrigation Water. These activities may be supported by a Communications subcontract and collaboration with Universities, Private Enterprises, and Non- Governmental Organizations. The Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water activity will place special emphasis on engaging women in all activities. This combination of activities will increase agricultural production, which will directly address lack of Vitamin A, Iron, Zinc, and animal protein in the diet. Agriculture production activities must be linked and coordinated with on-going USAID nutrition activities to assure target beneficiaries properly consume adequate amounts of agricultural products targeted by Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water activity.

These Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water activity interventions will be coupled with a robust portfolio of other USAID activities, which address non-agricultural activities implemented through separate mechanisms to address sanitation, hygiene, health behavior change, iodized salt, drinking water, and wheat fortification. Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water activity should align with these other activities within the USAID portfolio to complement and coordinate activities.

Contracting period will be a base period of three years with an additional option period of 1.5 years. The option period will end after the traditional growing season has ended to facilitate capturing results per the agriculture cycle and harvest season. Level of effort should follow these approximate guidelines:

At least half of the level of effort should focus primarily on these two areas:

● Agricultural Extension Service Development

● Extended Season Vegetable Production

These areas should be addressed in descending order of importance:

● Orchards Production

● Dairy Production

● Water

● Communications

C. 8 Work Requirements

C. 8.1 Agriculture Extension Service Development Extension Background: Agricultural Extension can best be defined as the transfer of current agricultural knowledge to farmers through individual consultations, train the trainer, group training, or mass media as appropriate and economically feasible. Therefore the person transferring the knowledge should be considered as an educator or facilitator is sometimes referred to as an extension agent.

During the Soviet era agriculture extension services were provided by the collective farms. After the collapse of this system most extension has been carried out informally by experienced farmers at the local level. In addition to extension that is informally provided by experienced farmers, there are four other current sources of extension services and information in the Feed the Future Tajikistan zone of influence:

● There are government extension agents and agricultural specialists at the jamoat level with a very broad mandate of responsibilities including many activities that are not related to agricultural extension. There is also some limited research carried out at the Tajik Government Academy of Sciences Plant Science Institute.

● Several NGOs with donor and international funding provide extension services to their target communities.

● Lastly there are private sector extension specialists available to small commercial farmers who are employed by Sughd Agro Serve Company, an input supplier; and Sarob Company which provides for fee extension services to commercial farmers of higher value crops and cotton.

Feed the Future Tajikistan will build a modern agriculture extension and advisory system. Currently, the Government of Tajikistan jamoat agricultural specialists are government employees at the jamoat level and cover many diverse topics such as agricultural marketing, taxation, and statistics. They currently supplement the informal extension system comprised of experienced farmers.

Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water activity will continue to develop an agriculture advisory service and information system in the Feed the Future area and improve on the pilot which builds on USAID’s priority to empower local solutions. It is recommended that Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water activity maximizes educational activities with existing groups such as participatory farmer groups, health groups, saving groups, Water User Associations, women’s savings groups,, and others to deliver extension services in a cost-efficient and sustainable way. These groups can be either formal or informal groups. They may or may not have received USAID assistance in the past. Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water activity must educate both experienced farmers and the jamoat agricultural specialists who will further disseminate the new knowledge and farming methods.

Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water activity’s interventions should include support of well-staffed offices at the district level supported by Tajik Government entities, such as the Cotton Scientific Research Institute (CSRI) which researches a wide variety of crops in spite of its name. The CSRI has land and equipment available for demonstration activities. The CSRI is in turn supported at the national level by the Academy of Sciences and has responsibility for agricultural research and is under the

Ministry of Agriculture. The offeror should also work with and be aware of the activities of the free private extension provider Sarob. Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water activity will support and foster the formation of sustainable public and private sector extension.

Agricultural universities, junior colleges, and research stations are all underfunded. They do not graduate professionals with the skills needed today to service the new private farmers or generate the types of research and demonstration materials needed to support extension agents. The World Bank is working on a new program to work with curriculum redesign of these institutions with a proposed roll out in mid- 2015. The Tajik Government’s Civil Service Institute is responsible for training current government employees, including those Jamoat level agricultural advisors and other others at all levels of the government.

Note: All agriculture extension, advisory, and information services component tasks should be undertaken during the three-year base of the activity, and further scaled or intensified during the option period if it is exercised.

Extension Tasks: All interventions should support the Feed the Future Tajikistan objectives to increase income for smallholder farmers and to improve nutrition of children under the age of two and women of reproductive age. Agricultural production should address how to increase the amount of Vitamin A, iron, zinc, and animal protein in the diet. Extension tasks will include:

● Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water activity will support extension services to reach target beneficiaries, preferably covering both the core agricultural sciences of agronomy and horticulture and home economics which will deal more with budgeting for food, food preservation, drying, and/or food preparation.

● Train agriculture extension agents in delivery methods and how to reach appropriate audiences for dispersing agricultural technologies. Utilize new and innovative education methods, including information and communication technologies (ICT) that have had success elsewhere and are socially and economically appropriate for Tajikistan.

● Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water activity will provide technical training to extension educators who will then transfer this information to the traditional lead farmers (early adopters), GoT jamoat extension and agricultural specialists, input suppliers, private sector extension agents, and Train the Trainer activities to reach the broadest possible audience.

● Revive existing and develop relevant extension materials to support extension agents in their work. Electronic versions and Information and Communications Technology applications that are appropriate for Tajikistan’s context are encouraged. Materials should be prepared or adopted for wide-use in partnership with public and private sector entities.

● Issue competitive subcontracts to public and private universities to develop or demonstrate appropriate technologies and develop educational materials for dissemination through the Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water activity extension educators. These institutions may include, but are not limited to: Technological University of Tajikistan (private), Tajikistan Academy of Sciences, Tajikistan Agrarian University, and Tajikistan Academy of Agricultural Sciences or other accredited institutions of higher learning.

● Engage existing groups that are successfully working with target smallholder and household farmers. Propose an appropriate model for scaling up existing or new models for outreach.

● Develop international partnerships similar to the current USAID supported Feed the Future Tajikistan partnership with the International Potato Center (CIP) with a regional office in Tashkent, Uzbekistan4. Other potential partners may/could include International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC), and International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

● Target educational activities that will help to achieve the Feed the Future goals with appropriate technologies to increase production and consumption of vegetable, fruit, and dairy products.

Direct nutritional messaging to the entire family and not just women.

4 In 2014 the Extension agents and International Potato Center cooperated in a series of 10 demonstration plots in the ZOI.

● Support innovative, cost efficient and sustainable ways to support and grow private sector extension services and information.

● On an ongoing basis, USAID may conduct analysis on Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water activity, such as Cost-Benefit Analysis, and share these results with the offeror. The offeror should be prepared to work with USAID to incorporate findings into the work plan to maximize benefits of the intervention.

C. 8.2 Extended Season Vegetable Production Vegetable Background: Extended season production of vegetables under plastic should be the primary focus of efforts to increase the consumption of vegetables in Tajikistan, especially in the off season when vegetable consumption falls to very low levels, primarily due to cost and availability. Khatlon enjoys some relative advantage in a milder and earlier climate than the rest of Tajikistan or Central Asia and has historically grown extended season vegetables in limited quantity. This is a sector with long-term growth potential for the ZOI. There are currently an estimated 1,000 solar and semi heated greenhouses producing early vegetables in the ZOI. The greenhouses are managed under a relatively low level of technology. Major gaps are present in the production side of the value chain concerning the availability of galvanized pipe, black plastic mulch, ultra violet resistant plastics, seedling production, and adapted vegetable varieties. USAID’s Feed the Future Tajikistan Scaling Plan for Extended Season Vegetable Production under Plastic is attached in Attachment J.10. Expanding the production of extended season vegetables must be aligned with the USAID guidance on Science, Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (STIP).

Early season tomatoes produced in greenhouses was an early success with this production being consumed within the ZOI and sold into the rest of Tajikistan. These existing enterprises need to be expanded, other early season vegetables need to be produced to add diversification, and fall season production needs to be widely expanded.

Free ranging cattle have been a problem especially with fall production when they can damage plastic green houses. Cattle are allowed to range in rural areas after the cotton harvest is completed in the fall until the spring planting season. Fall production of vegetables should focus on backyards where free ranging cattle are not a problem or in large production areas where cattle can be fenced out.

Current greenhouse production is very concentrated around the village of G’ayrat. Efforts need to be made to move this technology into more communities and particularly to smallholder farmers. The Government of Tajikistan is highly supportive of expanding this technology. There is some early evidence that off-season production is profitable enough to reduce labor migration which is also a goal of the government and has beneficial social impacts including reduced divorce rates.

This technology should be supplemented by increases in vegetable drying, pickling, and home canning since extended season production cannot be extended throughout the year due to local limitations with power during the winter months. Home canning has been problematic for past programs due to poor canning methods, materials, and sanitation which have resulted in occurrences of botulism. For purposes of integration of food processing and nutrition education within the USAID Feed the Future Tajikistan portfolio, food processing will be supported principally within the Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water activity and direct nutrition education will be a part of the USAID Maternal and Child Health activity. These activities are encouraged to interact.

Note: All vegetable component tasks should be undertaken during the three-year base of the activity, and further scaled or intensified during the option period if it is exercised.

Vegetable Tasks: All interventions should support the Feed the Future Tajikistan objective to improve nutrition of children under the age of two and mothers and be integrated into the extension component. Tasks to increase extended season vegetable production under plastic include:

● Identify and scale up existing best practices for small scale extended season vegetable production.

● Strengthen the role of private sector supply chain services and products geared toward small scale extended season vegetable production.

● Work with the existing greenhouses, such as those in in G’ayrat village, to improve management practices.

● Identify and promote practical and economically viable cold chain options geared towards family dekhan farms or small commercial farms.

● Further scale-up the use of greenhouses in the underserved villages to extended family units who have enough available labor; target populations including smallholder farmers and women-run farms. This work will build on activities of the AVRDC - World Vegetable Center as described in Attachment J.13.

● Increase access to finance for extended season small scale vegetable growers through existing microfinance institutions and banks to encourage financial lending in this area and the scaling up and development of complementary loan products.

● Work with existing USAID partners and other relevant actors such as AVRDC – World Vegetable Center to increase the use of improved new varieties which have recently been released by both the public and private sector.

● Identify and implement a program providing farmers with access to high quality seeding equipment.

● Utilize subsidy or incentive programs to reduce the cost to the farmer of new practices…