RFP_SOL-442-16-000006_FtF_Cambodia_Horticulture.pdf

U.S. Agency for International Development US Embassy Tel: (855) 23-728-300 #1 St. 96 Fax: (855) 23-430-263 Phnom Penh, Cambodia

June 10, 2016

SUBJECT: Request for Proposal (RFP) No. SOL-442-16-000006

Feed the Future Cambodia Horticulture

Dear Prospective Offerors:

The United States Government, represented by the U.S. Agency for International Development in Cambodia (USAID/Cambodia), contemplates award of a five-year cost-plus-fixed fee completion form contract to perform the services described in the attached solicitation. The anticipated award date is January 15, 2016.

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 541990 (All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services).

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). Offerors will develop a Statement of Work in response to the Program objectives stated in Section C and other RFP requirements, and propose targets to be achieved. Offerors may propose up to $2 million for grants to non-governmental organizations. Cost proposals will be evaluated for cost reasonableness and cost realism as part of a best-value determination for contract award; therefore, offerors should propose cost effective approaches.

Interested parties are encouraged to register and use the Interested Vendor List (IVL) on the Federal Business Opportunities page, so that firms can contact one another for consideration of teaming arrangements and/or small business subcontracting opportunities in response to this solicitation. However, exclusive teaming arrangements with local Cambodian organizations are discouraged.

Questions regarding this RFP must be submitted in writing to phnompenhoaa@usaid.gov by June 20, 2016, 1400 Cambodia Time. All proposals in response to this solicitation must be submitted electronically to phnompenhoaa@usaid.gov no later than July 25, 2016, 1400 Cambodia Time. Late proposals will be handled in accordance with the provision FAR 52.215-1.

Any amendments to this solicitation will be issued and posted on the Federal Business Opportunities website (https://www.fbo.gov/) along with the RFP. Offerors are encouraged to check the above website periodically.

Issuance of this solicitation does not constitute an award commitment on the part of the Government, nor does it commit the Government to pay for any costs incurred in the preparation or 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 Government.

Sincerely, /s/ Bruce Gelband Regional Contracting Officer

USAID/RDMA

RFP No.: SOL-442-16-000006 Feed the Future Cambodia Horticulture

PART I—THE SCHEDULE

SECTION B—SUPPLIES OR SERVICES AND PRICES/COSTS

B.1 PURPOSE

The purpose of the Feed the Future Cambodia Horticulture activity is to increase sustainable economic opportunities within a market-based and inclusive horticulture value chain in Cambodia.

B.2 CONTRACT TYPE

This is a Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee Completion Contract. For the consideration set forth in the contract, the Contractor must provide the deliverables and results described in Section C and Section F on the contract. The Contractor must also comply with all other contract requirements.

B.3 ESTIMATED COST, CEILING PRICE, FIXED FEE, 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 must not exceed the aforesaid obligated amount.

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

B.4 PRICE/COST SCHEDULE

(a) Cost Category Amount

Estimated Cost TBD Grants under Contract Not To Exceed $2,000,000 Fixed Fee TBD Total Estimated Cost Plus Fixed-Fee TBD

(b) The inclusion of any costs in the above cost categories does not obviate the requirement for prior approval by the Contracting Officer of cost items designated as requiring prior approval by any of the terms and conditions of this contract, including the applicable cost principles (see FAR 52.216-07, “Allowable Cost and Payment”); nor does it constitute a determination of allowability by the Contracting Officer of any item of cost, unless specifically stated elsewhere in this contract. Also, these amounts may not be adjusted without a written modification signed by the Contracting Officer. The Contractor will not bill any amounts against this contract in excess of the amounts specified for each line item without the prior written approval of the Contracting Officer.

B.5 INDIRECT COSTS

(a) Pending establishment of revised provisional or final indirect cost rates, USAID will reimburse allowable indirect costs on the basis of the following negotiated provisional or predetermined rates and the appropriate bases pursuant to the Contractor’s current executed Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement [to be inserted at award]:

Description Rate Base Type Period % 1/ 1/ 1/

1/Base of Application:

Type of Rate:

Period:

(b) The Contractor will make no change in its established method of classifying or allocating indirect costs without the prior written approval of the Contracting Officer.

B.6 CEILING ON INDIRECT COST RATES (IF APPLICABLE)

(a) Reimbursement for indirect costs will be at the lower of the negotiated final (or predetermined) rates or the following ceiling rates [to be inserted at award]:

Description Rate Base Type Period

% 1/ 1/ 1/

1/Base of Application:

Type of Rate:

Period:

(a) The Government will not be obligated to pay any additional amount should the final indirect cost rates exceed the negotiated ceiling rates. If the final indirect cost rates are less than the negotiated ceiling rates, the negotiated rates will be reduced to conform to the lower rates.

(b) This understanding will not change any monetary ceiling, obligation, or specific cost allowance or disallowance. Any changes in classifying or allocating indirect costs require the prior written approval of the Contracting Officer.

B.7 COST REIMBURSABLE

(a) The U.S. dollar costs allowable 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,” FAR 52.232-20, “Limitation of Cost,” and FAR 52-232-22, “Limitation of Funds,” if applicable, and AIDAR 752.7003, “Documentation for Payment.”

(b) FAR 52.232-20, “Limitation of Cost” applies if the contract is fully funded. FAR 52.232-22, “Limitation of Funds” applies while the contract is funded in an amount less than the total estimated cost.

B.8 FEE PAYMENT

Payment of fixed fee will be made upon receipt of a proper invoice and shall directly correspond to the percentage of allowable costs being paid. In accordance with FAR 52.216-8, Fixed Fee, the CO will withhold 15% of the total fee or $100,000, whichever is less until the required awards conditions under the reference clause have been met.

B.9 MULTI-YEAR CONTRACT

This contract is considered non-severable, and is therefore a multi-year contract as defined in FAR 17.103.

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

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.” 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 established pursuant to FAR 17.106-1(c)(1) for each program year is $0.00.

END OF SECTION B

SECTION C— DESCRIPTION/SPECIFICATIONS/STATEMENT OF WORK

C.1 INTRODUCTION

In 2009, the U.S. government launched the Presidential Initiative “Feed the Future” (FtF) as its flagship global hunger and food security initiative (feedthefuture.gov). Globally, FtF works from farms to markets to tables to increase incomes and decrease malnutrition, particularly among children under five. This comprehensive approach of increasing agricultural productivity, strengthening markets, and creating an enabling policy environment, is the cornerstone to achieving the Initiative’s goal of sustainably reducing poverty and hunger around the world. Cambodia is one of the 19 countries of the FtF Initiative. In each country, programming focuses on a specific geographic area called the Zone of Influence (ZOI).

Cambodia’s ZOI includes the four provinces of Battambang, Pursat, Siem Reap and Kampong Thom.

The Feed the Future Cambodia Horticulture program (referred to as the Program) is intended to help USAID/Cambodia meet FtF objectives by strengthening the commercial horticulture value chains in the ZOI. USAID/Cambodia has a broad portfolio of activities in Cambodia that serve to increase food security and nutrition. USAID/Cambodia emphasizes the importance of considering the successes and lessons learned of all USAID/Cambodia FtF programs including the Helping Address Rural Vulnerability and Ecosystem Stability (HARVEST) (http://www.cambodiaharvest.org/), as well as lessons from other donor funded projects. Similarly, the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) has adopted (or, is in the process of drafting) various strategies and policies that are intended to support value chain development, market systems improvement, trade facilitation, and extension service enhancement. Key lessons learned in the agricultural development sector are expected to be regularly incorporated into Program interventions with particular emphasis on addressing obstacles that hinder long-term sustainability of interventions and impede private sector growth.

Additionally, it is expected that this Program will closely coordinate all activities with other programs funded by USAID as well as those funded by other donors that complement the objectives of the Program.

The Program will be the primary mechanism for supporting smallholder and commercial producers and facilitating market systems development under USAID/Cambodia’s Food Security & Environment’s Development Objective, “Strengthening sustainable and resilient pathways out of poverty”. The Program will engage the private sector all along the value chain to establish, develop, and/or strengthen various actors’ capacity to effectively and efficiently participate in the horticulture sector in Cambodia. Actors may include, but are not limited to those who are tangentially associated with, but may be essential to strengthening the value chain. More specifically, the Program is intended to achieve the following: (1) Enhance the capacity for market participation among producers, agribusinesses and other value chain actors, that leads to sustainable increases in productivity and incomes of smallholder and commercial farmers, including women and youth; (2) Improve the commercial horticulture market system by building linkages among value chain actors, facilitating market information flow, and creating market incentives for private sector engagement; and (3) Improve inclusive governance and enabling environment for market-driven agricultural growth by strengthening capacity of and engagement among and between public, private, and civil society stakeholders. By achieving the three objectives, the Program will accelerate economic growth thereby reducing poverty, and increase resilience at both the household and systems levels.

C.2 DEVELOPMENT HYPOTHESIS

The development hypothesis is that if USAID/Cambodia makes investments in the commercial horticulture sector that establish and support the necessary conditions for private sector-led expansion and transparent market access, then the social, economic, and climate resilience of the agriculture sector will be enhanced in the ZOI. Millions of Cambodians have recently risen from poverty, but remain just above the poverty line.

In order to sustainably develop the economy, it is imperative that these individuals do not fall back into poverty, and those conditions are established for further poverty reduction. It is critical to engage relevant stakeholders throughout the value chain, e.g. input suppliers, wholesalers, processors, producer associations, service providers, intermediaries, and retailers, that can best strengthen the farmer’s ability to provide a reliable and consistent supply that meets market demand. Additionally, it is necessary to promote postharvest handling and marketing so that the Cambodian commercial horticultural sector has sufficient capacity to meet both quality and quantity demand factors of the market.

USAID/Cambodia anticipates that interventions under the Program will help incentivize a private sector-led, demand-driven economy with clear economic benefits of market participation. At the same time, USAID/Cambodia anticipates that pathways for delivering technical assistance, facilitating private sector partnerships, and disseminating appropriate technologies, will be incorporated. Additionally, USAID takes seriously its policies ensuring cross-cutting issues are adequately addressed in all programs. These include, but are not limited to, gender equality and female empowerment, youth empowerment, climate change, and economic governance.

C.3 BACKGROUND

Over the past decade, Cambodia’s agriculture sector has become one of the world’s fastest growing. At the broadest level, the country is self-sufficient in staple foods with production increasing at roughly three times the rate of population growth. Cambodia experienced similar growth in its fishery sector. However, much of this growth involved environmentally damaging expansions in croplands, excessive water use, overfishing, and improper applications of agriculture inputs. Growth in the economy, in general, and in food production, in particular, has yielded relatively few real gains for the 80 percent of Cambodians who live and work in rural areas. For most crops, profitability has barely increased, with declines for some, notably rice. One of the most troubling manifestations of these low returns to agriculture is the persistence and high incidences of stunting and other indicators of insufficient diets, particularly among children.

Cambodia’s agricultural development path thus far has been to expand areas under cultivation. This approach, whether intentional or consequential, has contributed to environmental degradation and is ultimately both economically and environmentally unsustainable. A limiting legal and regulatory framework and the poor implementation and enforcement of existing laws adversely effects the costs of production and stymies the agricultural marketing system. These factors, among others, lead to high costs, inconsistent input supplies, high losses, low quality raw products, and limited opportunities for value addition. There is a dearth of processing capacity and other value adding activities in the agriculture sector.

With a few exceptions, Cambodia’s agricultural exports are in raw form and the large majority of processed food products are imported. An estimated 70 percent of the produce consumed comes from neighboring Vietnam and Thailand.

Recognizing that complete import substitution is not possible because of ecological and structural reasons, USAID/Cambodia’s experience in the ZOI demonstrates ample room to identify and develop Cambodia’s comparative advantage in the commercial horticulture sector. The agricultural expansion of the past decade achieved overall self-sufficiency, but through an approach which is environmentally unsustainable, yields few real economic benefits for farmers, and realizes only a fraction of the value added and employment potential in the off-farm parts of the value chain.

The value of the missed opportunities for income and job generation in the off-farm portions of the value chain could contribute significantly to increasing incomes of stakeholders all along the agricultural value chain. In addition, a more technologically advanced, climate-smart, and market-driven approach to agricultural production could realize similar production gains, with much higher profitability for farms, and at greatly reduced environmental cost. The primary focus of USAID/Cambodia’s work over the next five years is anticipated to assist Cambodia’s necessary shift to such a system. An important component of this approach is anticipated to be fostering conditions by which individuals employed in enterprises along the agricultural value chain (including smallholder farming) have adequate access to information and the skills needed to effectively participate in a market-driven economy. Finally, Cambodia’s demographics requires attention to its growing and increasingly mobile young population, especially as it relates to helping them pursue livelihoods in or outside of the agriculture sector, so that they can make better-informed decisions regarding the costs and benefits of out-migration.

C.4 DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES

Cambodia faces a number of development challenges that impact agricultural value chain development. The following is a short summary of the findings from USAID/Cambodia’s analyses that potentially impact the development of a private sector-led agricultural economy. This is not a comprehensive list of the development challenges nor does USAID/Cambodia expect this Program to address or overcome all of the development challenges outlined below. It is expected that the challenges listed below will be taken into consideration for all proposed program interventions and the affects posed by them will be mitigated within the manageable interests of the Program.

Governance and Infrastructure

In Cambodia’s agriculture sector, laws, regulations, and implementation procedures are often problematic.

For example, testing and enforcement of quality standards for agricultural inputs is inadequate or entirely absent. In addition, licensing and registration requirements and procedures are unnecessarily burdensome.

As a result, many business activities, including significant amounts of international trade in agricultural inputs and commodities, are outside of the formal sector. The cost of doing business in the agriculture sector is high and the enabling policy environment for agricultural development from seed to markets remains a challenge. Contributing to the suppression of agricultural development, road transportation costs are 25 percent higher than in Vietnam, and twice the cost of transportation in Thailand. In addition, Cambodia’s only deep-water port, Sihanoukville, is reputed to be the most costly in Asia. Electricity costs are high and the grid does not reach large areas of the country.

Uncertainties in Agricultural Input Markets

Over the past decade, the use of hybrid seed, chemical fertilizers, herbicides, insecticides and, for aquaculture, improved fingerlings and processed feed have increased significantly. However, these markets are hampered by uncertainties regarding input quality, including widespread mislabeling, high prices, and poor access to technical assistance regarding the appropriate types and levels of inputs. These problems are particularly difficult to address since much of the inputs are imported through informal channels. As such, there is limited government oversight, if at all, and often Cambodian farmers are sold inputs which are ineffective, damaging to the environment, and/or compromise food safety. Because of these uncertainties about input quality and appropriate application protocols, farmers are understandably cautious regarding their input acquisitions and application.

Poor Coordination and Little Value Added in Value Chains

Arguably, the worst failure in the agricultural system and the greatest potential for effecting improvements are in the segment of the value chains beyond the farm gate. Due in part to imperfect information about market prices and small numbers of collectors serving individual farm communities, farmers may be disadvantaged in these negotiations. In terms of the numbers of intermediaries, coordination across all or significant segments of these value chains is rare and monopolistic or oligarchic symptoms prevail. In the absence of such coordinating mechanisms or consistent government establishment and/or enforcement of quality standards, product quality tends to be highly variable. In addition, postharvest handling is very underdeveloped. This leads to many economic disadvantages, including but not limited to, high post-harvest losses due to food spoilage and damage and a low net profit margin. To compound the challenges in value addition, there is little agroindustry at all levels from simple packaging to more sophisticated processing facilities. Lastly, there is little to no coordination between actors beyond the farm gate, such as processors, retailers, and exporters. Nor are there significant incentives for (potential) market actors to ensure that products with the characteristics and volumes demanded by end users are moving through Cambodia’s value chain system.

Insecure Land Tenure

Lack of secure land tenure, slow and opaque land titling procedures, landlessness, and the impact of economic land concessions, and resettlement are key concerns. Under the Land Law of 2001, any person who had uncontested possession of land – excluding state public land – for at least five years prior to the law‘s promulgation has the right to request a definitive title of ownership. Registered land rights are considered the most secure. Having such rights increases incentives for farmers and business to invest in the land. It also increases the ability to make investments since nearly all banks will only consider registered land as collateral.1 Lack of land tenure places increased constraints in financing and private sector investment into Cambodia’s agriculture sector. USAID/Cambodia recognizes that it is not within the manageable interest of the Program to change Cambodia’s land tenure conditions and constraints. However, they need to be taken into consideration and the risks posed need to be mitigated given the private sector-driven approach anticipated under this Program.

Access to Finance

Despite positive developments in the financial sector over the past decade demonstrated by the rapid growth in the number of financial institutions, including microfinance institutions, there still are significant constraints. Agricultural lending represents only about 10 percent of the portfolios of commercial banks for reasons seen worldwide, i.e. that commercial banks in developing nations tend to be concentrated in the largest cities where agriculture is less present, and the agriculture sector is seen as riskier and more vulnerable to both economic and environmental shocks. In general, banks are only accessible to larger agricultural producers and other firms in the value chain. Many of the rural poor face considerable constraints to accessing credit for a number of reasons. First, interest rates can be quite high, typically 2.9 percent per month from monetary financial institutions (MFIs) and two to three times that rate from informal lenders. Input dealers or rice mills that provide goods on credit charge effective interest rates of about five percent per month.2 High interest rates compounded by fast pay back periods for the smallholder farmer makes this type of borrowing economically irrational. Second, many MFIs offer only credit. Other financing products such as savings are not provided through the formal financing sector. Lastly, other specialized financial packages such as crop insurance and leasing that mitigate the risk of investment in the agriculture sector are rarely available from Cambodia’s financial institutions.

C.5 COORDINATION WITH EXISTING PROGRAMS IN CAMBODIA

USAID supports a broad portfolio of programs to address food insecurity and malnutrition in Cambodia that both meet FtF goals and assist the RGC in developing its rural economy. This Program will be one part of this portfolio. Over the last five years, USAID/Cambodia’s HARVEST program was the flagship program supporting the development of fisheries, horticulture, and rice. USAID/Cambodia’s future portfolio will continue to work in those three sectors, but through multiple programs. The Program will focus the horticulture value chain, which could include both fruits and vegetables. It is expected that all Cambodia

1 Some MFIs and informal lenders will accept land with traditional or ‘soft titles’ for collateral.

2 Ovesen et al 2012, Fintrac 2013 programs, whether they are focused on agriculture, natural resource management, or climate change, will work together to take advantage of each other’s experiences, field presence, networks, and relationships with communities and government to help each other realize individual program outcomes.

USAID/Cambodia’s current Feed the Future and Global Climate Change portfolio supports the following activities in the ZOI:

1. NOURISH: The NOURISH Program is an integrated nutrition and water, sanitation and hygiene program. This five-year program aims to reduce anemia in women and children and the proportion of children who are stunted. The program objectives directly support the RGC’s commitments to address the nutrition and stunting challenge. NOURISH activities utilize an integrated approach through four complementary strategic objectives focusing on the “first 1,000 days” -- from the start of woman’s pregnancy through her child’s second birthday when child’s brain and body develop rapidly. The program also works to improve community delivery platforms to support improved nutrition; create demand for health, WASH and agriculture practices, services and products; expand supply of agriculture and WASH products using the private sector; and enhance capacity of government and civil society in integrated nutrition. This program is implemented by Save the Children in Siem Reap, Pursat, and Battambang. It will end June 2019.

2. The Rice Field Fisheries Enhancement Project (RFFEP): This is a five-year project designed to enhance practices in sustainable rice field fisheries management in provinces around Tonle Sap Lake.

This activity complements the Fisheries Administration’s Strategic Planning Framework 2009-2019.

The Framework aims to increase the fish supplied from rice fields to 500,000 tons by 2019 by providing at least 1,200 communes with a sustainable and effective fish refuge. RFFEP will implement activities to help meet this target, decrease malnutrition, and improve the ecological management of fish refuge ponds. The second phase of this project will be implemented by WorldFish during the period of May 2016-May 2021 throughout the ZOI.

3. Feed the Future Innovation Labs: USAID supports a variety of activities in partnership with U.S.

Universities, the Royal University of Agriculture, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries. These activities focus on developing and testing innovative solutions in the area of agriculture in the following sectors:

a. Climate Resilient Rice Seed Development

b. Integrated Pest Management in Rice and Vegetable

c. Aquaculture

d. Livestock

e. Nutrition

f. Sustainable Intensification

g. Mechanization

h. Scaling Up of Quality Vegetable Seed

All of the FtF Innovation Lab activities are implemented in the ZOI through local partners and many have had a long standing presence in the communities. While these activities are relatively small in scale they are an effective supply of new technologies and an essential partner for improving stakeholder capacity. The innovation labs listed above as well as other activities and projects that may start during the life of the program are intended to provide technologies that could be scaled up especially through private sector partnerships.

In addition to the existing programs noted above, USAID/Cambodia intends to increase access to finance through USAID’s Development Credit Authority (DCA) program. USAID/Cambodia has successfully implemented a DCA with a total loan amount of $2.7 million targeting the FtF ZOI. The new DCA program will take the lessons learned and build on the success of the previous DCA to leverage more private capital into the ZOI to catalyze investment into the commercial horticulture sector. However, given that the MFI sector is well developed in Cambodia, it is expected that partnerships should be pursued with appropriate lending institutions to increase access to finance.

USAID has other on-going and planned programs that are managed from the Regional Development Mission for Asia as well as various departments based out of USAID’s headquarters in Washington, DC.

These programs include, but are not limited to, reducing regulatory barriers to trade, facilitating technology sharing across ASEAN, enhancing vocational education opportunities, and improving and encouraging the use climate smart agricultural practices. The Program is expected to coordinate with any relevant programs and leverage other USAID-funded interventions as appropriate.

C.6 PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this Program is to accelerate the growth of the commercial horticulture sector in the ZOI.

The Program will build off of the work that USAID, other donor projects, and the RGC have recently undertaken in food security and agriculture to incentivize on- and off-farm market actors to increase the use of appropriate technologies, coordination efforts, investment, and private sector engagement (including the provision of technical assistance) along the value chain. The Program is anticipated to concentrate on removing obstacles to market access for commercial horticulture crops in order to create job opportunities and increase rural on- and off-farm incomes. This new Program is expected to strengthen Cambodia’s commercial horticulture value chain so that farmers and other entrepreneurs are better equipped, not only to increase production, but to effectively compete in the market. As stated earlier, the primary focus of the new program is on strengthening the value chain from a commercial perspective.

The shift in focus from production to supporting all/any actors along the entire value chain does not necessarily mean that the new program may no longer provide assistance to the poor, landless, or smallholder farmer. Rather, USAID/Cambodia is using this Statement of Objectives (SOO) identify best approach to meet the objectives laid out in this SOO and those of the RGC in the most sustainable and efficient way, given the constraints described above. Similarly, USAID/Cambodia does not list specific horticultural crops or products to be included in this new program, but consider both fruits and vegetables as horticulture crops. Given the emphasis on private-sector led growth and as well as sustainability and resilience, USAID/Cambodia does not expect this program to invest significant resources providing assistance at the household-level; rather, this program will strengthen and partner with entities that are designed and established to improve household incomes through better access to information, inputs, and services along the entire commercial horticulture value chain.

To that end, this Program will be evaluated on key outcome indicators that demonstrate the impact of the Program’s performance. To make reasonable targets on the key indicators, it is imperative there is strong understanding of the on-the-ground opportunities and challenges. The details of these indicators can be found on these links: Feed the Future Indicator Handbook and Global Climate Change Indicator Handbook.

USAID/Cambodia has identified three primary areas of intervention for this Program that are expected to contribute to achieving the key outcome indicators listed below as well as directly contribute to USAID/Cambodia’s broader Development Objective of strengthening the resilient pathways out of poverty.

This Program is only one component of USAID/Cambodia’s FtF Initiative portfolio. The Program will foster a private sector-led, demand-driven horticultural value chain sector sourced within the ZOI that is able to sustainably and efficiently compete in the market thereby accelerating economic growth.

Achievement of the Program’s purpose will be measured using this indicator:

1. Value of incremental sales (collected at farm-level) attributed to FTF implementation (4.5.2-23).

This indicator will collect both volume (in metric tons) and value (in US dollars) of purchases from small-holder direct beneficiaries of targeted commodities for its calculation. Increases in incremental sales will indicate the extent to which farmers are benefitting from increased market linkages. FTF implementation in this instance refers to the Feed the Future Cambodia Horticulture program.

The sub-purposes of USAID/Cambodia’s Food Security and Environment Results Framework include:

SUB-PURPOSE 1: Improved Capacities for Market Participation

USAID/Cambodia has concluded through our analyses that improved market participation is and will be critical in strengthening the commercial horticulture value chain. USAID/Cambodia has initially identified three key areas of intervention: 1) Financial and business skills improved; 2) access to and use of market and climatic information increased; and 3) financial opportunities increased.

The standard indicators to measure the performance under this sub-purpose are:

2. Number of for-profit private enterprises, producers organizations, water users associations, women’s groups, trade and business associations and community-based organizations (CBOs) that applied new technologies or management practices with USG assistance (4.5.2-42). The target groups of this indicator are private enterprises, producer organizations, trade and business associations, social enterprises and women’s or other groups assisted by the program for the purpose of the horticulture value chain development. This indicator intends to measure the improved capacities of key actors along the value chain who have improved their business skills, access to information, and financial opportunities.

3. Number of people using climate information or implementing risk-reducing actions to improve resilience to climate change as supported by USG assistance (EG.11-6). Climate information is important in the identification, assessment, and management of climate risks to improve resilience. Climate information includes, but not limited to, anticipated increase in temperature, drought, flood, storm, and pests.

4. Number of firms (excluding farms) or civil society organizations (CSOs) engaged in agriculture and food security-related manufacturing and services now operating more profitably (at or above cost) because of USG assistance (4.5.2-43). Profitability of applicable firms and financial self-sufficiency of civil society organizations (CSOs) is a marker of viability. Although profitability or self-sufficiency measured during the period the USG is providing assistance does not demonstrate all aspects of a whether a business or a CSO will remain sustainably successful after withdrawal of USG assistance, it is an important measure of its capacity to function effectively. A CSO may include Community Based Organizations, producer organizations, or NGOs if they engage in for-profit agricultural activity.

SUB-PURPOSE 2: Improved Market Linkages

Globally, USAID’s general approach to building market linkages in the agriculture sector has been to build partnerships with the private sector to mitigate identified market constraints and exploit opportunities to ultimately benefit smallholder farmers. This approach in other countries has been successful in building and strengthening sustainable market linkages.

USAID/Cambodia’s value chain assessment indicated that there is very little innovation across the various domestic agricultural value chains and a lot of opportunity for growth in this area. This observation was also echoed in USAID/Cambodia’s partnerships assessment, where many private sector impact investors or social entrepreneurs are looking to gain first-mover advantage in the Cambodian agriculture sector through the use of sound approaches to capitalize on areas of Cambodia’s comparative advantage.

USAID/Cambodia is seeking to unleash this potential by removing the bottlenecks for such investment into the sector.

USAID/Cambodia has identified three outputs to improve market linkages: 1) linkages between value chain actors created; 2) develop market incentives for private sector engagement and investment developed; and 3) market chain coordination improved. USAID has made assumptions that the identified key intervention areas are where USAID/Cambodia resources could have the greatest impact on improving market linkages.

The standard indicators to measure the performance under this sub-purpose are:

5. Number of full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs created with USG assistance (4.5-2). Full-time equivalent jobs are defined as any farm or non-farm jobs created by the program and will last longer than one month (more than 20 days, excluding weekend) per year. Jobs should be converted to full-time equivalents (FTE). One FTE equals 260 days (excluding weekends) or 12 months. Thus, a job that lasts four months should be counted as 1/3 FTE and a job that lasts for 130 days (excluding weekends) should be counted as 1/2 FTE. Number of hours worked per day or per week is not restricted as work hours may vary greatly.

6. Value of new private sector investment in the agriculture sector or food chain leverage by FTF implementation (4.5.2-39). Investment is defined as any use of private sector resources intended to increase future production output or income, to improve the sustainable use of agriculture-related natural resources, and to improve water or land management. This outcome indicator measures the increased capacity of private sector actors along the agricultural value chain to provide additional products and services to a broader set of clients.

SUB-PURPOSE 3: Improved Governance and Enabling Environment

USAID/Cambodia has identified the importance of improving the governance and enabling environment as one of the key areas of intervention to realistically and sustainably achieve the first two objectives.

Shortfalls in the governance and enabling environment space can seriously compromise the performance of virtually all aspects of agricultural value chain activities, from climate change adaptation, natural resource management, input markets, on- and off-farm activities, postharvest handling, processing, warehousing, and marketing. In addition, poor implementation and interpretation of existing policies poses a different challenge to agricultural development. USAID/Cambodia anticipates that the Program will place as much emphasis on identifying and developing opportunities as it does on constraints analysis and policy enhancement. Logically, enabling environment constraints would be identified to determine where the opportunities are and how to capitalize on them and which will then lead to an assessment of policy and enabling environment constraints. USAID/Cambodia recognizes the importance of strengthening the advocacy and policy analysis capacity of business associations, in particular, and the private sector, in general.

The approach will adequately reflects Cambodia’s geo-political reality and the specific approach to meeting the sub-purposes and indicators listed above and below must recognize the status of the commercial horticulture sector, and the cross-cutting issues noted below, and the various USAID and RGC policies and strategies described at length in numerous documents available in open source.

The standard indicators to measure the performance under this sub-purpose are:

7. Numbers of Policies/Regulations/Administrative Procedures in each of the following stages of development as a result of USG assistance in each case: Stage 1: Analyzed; Stage 2: Drafted and presented for public/stakeholder consultation; Stage 3: Presented for legislation/decree; Stage 4:

Passed/approved; Stage 5: Passed for which implementation has begun (S) 4.5.1(24). These policies/regulations/procedures include in the areas of institutional architecture, enabling environment for private sector investment, trade, inputs, land and natural resource management, climate change adaptation, and nutrition.

C.7 CROSS CUTTING ISSUES

USAID prioritizes women and youth participation in all of our programs. Engaging women and youth will be particularly important for this program given the high rates of migration out of rural areas. This has resulted in increased numbers of women working in and being the primary decision-maker in agricultural activities. Engaging youth has the potential to revitalize the agriculture sector and decrease migration out of rural areas. This program is expected to decrease the push factors out of rural areas by creating competitive economic opportunities.

Climate change could potentially be the biggest threat to Cambodian agriculture. As the most vulnerable country in Southeast Asia to the negative impacts of climate change, building market, institutional and household resiliency means building the capacity of these entities to mitigate the potential negative impacts of climate change. Increased variability of weather patterns and pests leading to lower productivity are examples of various effects that should be addressed at all stages of the value chain and not just on the farm.

This Program is expected to mainstream climate change resilience and adaptation in its activities as stipulated in USAID’s policy on Climate Smart Agriculture.

In addition, USAID recognizes the importance of the public sector in private sector investments. The Program must coordinate closely with relevant Royal Government of Cambodia entities at the national, provincial, and district levels to ensure that there is government support to remove bottlenecks in private sector investment into the sector and that that the value chain actors, from farmers to whole sale retailers are getting the support they need from government entities.

Coordination and outreach between government, private sector, and civil society organizations working in the FTF ZOI, commercial horticulture, and agriculture in general will be critical to making this Program cost efficient and effective. The program is expected to leverage existing knowledge, activities, and networks to avoid duplication of efforts. Currently, USAID alone has a number of activities in the region at smaller scales and this program should use the existing vegetable production networks, former beneficiaries, and research in the FTF ZOI for a rapid start up. While the main beneficiaries will be focused on the FTF ZOI, the four provinces surrounding the Tonle Sap Lake, the program will also leverage private actors based out of other provinces, but are or interested in providing goods and services and/or have market linkages to the actors in the FTF ZOI.

Collaborating, Learning and Adapting. The Contractor must incorporate collaborative learning and adaptive management (CLA) as part of its management approach. CLA will coordinate with all relevant Feed the Future and other activities using ongoing monitoring and evaluative activities that inform learning, understanding adoption processes and subsequent adaptive management based on that learning. For this activity, it is critical to ensure the Feed the Future investments are working synergistically to have greater results.

C.8 PROGRAM TARGETS

# Target Description Annual Targets*

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 1 Value of incremental sales (collected at farm-level) attributed to FTF implementation (4.5.2-23) 2 Number of for-profit private enterprises, producers organizations, water users associations, women’s groups, trade and business associations and community-based organizations (CBOs) that applied new technologies or management practices with USG assistance (4.5.2-42)

3 Number of people using climate information or implementing risk-reducing actions to improve resilience to climate change as supported by USG assistance (EG.11-6)

4 Number of firms (excluding farms) or civil society organizations (CSOs) engaged in agriculture and food security-related manufacturing and services now operating more profitably (at or above cost) because of USG assistance (4.5.2-43)

5 Number of full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs created with USG assistance (4.5-2)

6 Value of new private sector investment in the agriculture sector or food chain leverage by FTF implementation (4.5.2-39)

7 Numbers of Policies/Regulations/Administrative Procedures in each of the following stages of development as a result of USG assistance in each case: Stage 1: Analyzed; Stage 2: Drafted and presented for public/stakeholder consultation;

Stage 3: Presented for legislation/decree; Stage 4:

Passed/approved; Stage 5: Passed for which implementation has begun (S) 4.5.1(24)

* To be proposed by the Offeror and inserted into the chart.

C.9 STATEMENT OF WORK

[to be inserted at award from the winning proposal]

END OF SECTION C

SECTION D—PACKAGING AND MARKING

D.1 AIDAR 752.7009 MARKING (JAN 1993)

(a) It is USAID policy that USAID-financed commodities and shipping containers, and project construction sites and other project locations be suitably marked with the USAID emblem.

Shipping containers are also to be marked with the last five digits of the USAID financing document number. As a general rule, marking is not required for raw materials shipped in bulk (such as coal, grain, etc.), or for semi-finished products which are not packaged.

(b) Specific guidance on marking requirements should be obtained prior to procurement of commodities to be shipped, and as early as possible for project construction sites and other project locations. This guidance will be provided through the cognizant technical office indicated on the cover page of this contract, or by the Mission Director in the Cooperating Country to which commodities are being shipped, or in which the project site is located.

(c) Authority to waive marking requirements is vested with the Regional Assistant Administrators, and with Mission Directors.

(d) A copy of any specific marking instructions or waivers from marking requirements is to be sent to the Contracting Officer; the original should be retained by the Contractor.

D.2 BRANDING POLICY

The contractor must comply with the requirements of the USAID “Graphic Standards Manual” available at http://www/usaid.gov/branding, and ADS 320, or any successor branding policy.

D.3 BRANDING STRATEGY

Per ADS 320.3.2.1, the Branding Strategy for this contract is as follows:

The activity name: “Feed the Future Cambodia Horticulture” is the title of this activity. There will be no acronym of this title.

How the materials and communications will be positioned: In all cases, this Feed the Future activity will be presented as supported by the U.S. Government. All deliverables and products, including publications, videos, webpages, and other communication materials required in this activity must comply with the “Feed the Future Graphic and Naming Standards Manual” (http://feedthefuture.gov/lp/feed-future-branding).

The desired level of visibility: This will be a high-profile activity given the strong interest in Feed the Future by USAID, the Department of State, The White House, and the Government of Cambodia. The Branding Implementation Plan and Marking Plan will cover the life of the activity and will reflect the high level of visibility expected for this activity. In addition, the contractor will submit detailed communications plans as part of the initial and all subsequent annual work plans, detailing the tools, activities and budget it will use to ensure maximum visibility of this Feed the Future activity.

Other organizations to be acknowledged: Specific events that are supported by USAID together with other partners may require co-branding following the Feed the Future branding policy.

D.4 BRANDING IMPLEMENTATION PLAN (BIP) AND MARKING PLAN (MP)

The approved Branding Implementation Plan and Marking Plan dated __________ [to be inserted at award] is incorporated as a material part of this contract as Attachment J.1.

END OF SECTION D

SECTION E—INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE

E.1 NOTICE LISTING CONTRACT CLAUSES INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

The following contract clauses pertinent to this section are hereby incorporated by reference (by Citation Number, Title, and Date) in accordance with the clause at FAR 52.252-2 CLAUSES INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE in Section I of this contract. See FAR 52.252-2 for an internet address (if specified) for electronic access to the full text of a clause.

NUMBER TITLE DATE

FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION

(48 CFR Chapter 1)

52.246-5 INSPECTION OF SERVICES--COST- APR 1984

REIMBURSEMENT

E.2 INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE

USAID inspection and acceptance of services, reports and other required deliverables or outputs shall take place at USAID in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, or at any other location where the services are performed and reports and deliverables or outputs are produced or submitted. The Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) listed in Section G has been delegated authority to inspect and accept all services, reports and required deliverables or outputs.

END OF SECTION E

SECTION F—DELIVERIES OR PERFORMANCE

F.1 NOTICE LISTING CONTRACT CLAUSES INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

The following contract clauses pertinent to this section are hereby incorporated by reference (by Citation Number, Title, and Date) in accordance with the clause at FAR 52.252-2 CLAUSES INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE" in Section I of this contract.