M M_Q A_Document.pdf

Attachment 14

SOL-621-15-000035

Questions Answers

Can USAID kindly make available TAPP recent quarterly and annual reports? We are unable to locate them on the DEC.

See Attachment #9

Section C, Page 29: We are wondering why USAID states in the RFP that Njombe region is not in the FTF Zone of Influence?

Njombe region was created in March 2012. It now includes districts that were within the previous ZOI (Iringa region) as well as some that were not. Can USAID kindly clarify if the offeror should propose activities in Njombe?

This activity will work in Mbeya, Iringa, Morogoro, Dodoma, Manyara, and on Zanzibar. Njombe is not part of this effort at this time.

Section L.2.B Oral Presentations, page 133: Will USAID be willing to evaluate Notes embedded in a PowerPoint Presentation slide deck? Or is only the visual portion of the PowerPoint slide to be evaluated?

Only the visual portion will be evaluated. Notes must not be included in slides presented to the government.

Section L.2 Acquisition Schedule, page 132: Are bidders required to present in both Washington D.C. and Tanzania? If not, how should bidders indicate their preference for a given location?

Offerors are only required to bid in one location. US and Non-Tanzanian Organizations must present in Washington, DC.

Section L.3, page 133 states that “the offeror should allow a minimum of 20 minutes for a question and answer period that may cover the entire proposal.” Can USAID clarify if questions may also cover the written technical proposal (i.e., Key Personnel & Staffing Plan), or if questions will be restricted to the content of the technical approach and management plan included in the oral presentation?

Content of questions will be restricted to the oral presentation

Section M: Should all evaluation criteria be addressed in the oral presentation or are some evaluation criteria reserved for the written technical approach (i.e., the Key Personnel & Staffing Plan)?

Section L.4(b) Written Technical Proposal will not be evaluated during the oral presentation.

Section L.5(b) requires that at least 10% of the proposed budget must be dedicated to monitoring and evaluation. How does USAID require this 10% target to be shown in the budget? Is the M&E budget in addition to the summary and sub-purpose budgets?

Between 7-10% of total TEC value must be dedicated to M&E.

Section L.5(b), pages 141-142 display budget tables for 5 years.

However, the cover letter and Section F.2, page 71 state that the period of performance is only 4 years. Please confirm the correct number of years for this program.

The correct period of performance is for four (4) years. The budget outline was provided as a template.

Section L.5(b), pages 142-143: USAID states “Other direct costs that can be directly attributed to a specific Sub-purpose must be included in the Sub-purpose budget line item. Those other direct costs that cannot be directly attributed to a specific Sub-purpose must be in the Other Direct Costs budget line item.” Should labor costs that cannot be directly attributed to a specific Sub-purpose also be listed separately? For example, the administrative staff will support all activities of the project and therefore will not be directly attributed to a specific Sub-purpose.

Technical labor costs must be proportionately spread across relevant sub-purposes. Direct charge administrative labor costs must be captured as other direct costs.

What is the anticipated start date for Tanzania Mboga na Matunda?

Bidders should be prepared to mobilize immediately after the final signing of the contract. The anticipated start date is February/March 2016.

Will any property, such as furniture, equipment or vehicles be made available from another project?

See Attachment #15

Could USAID make available the most current Tanzania FSN Payscale?

See Attachment #13

Section L.2.B, page 133: Could USAID please clarify whether the presentation projector ratio size is regular PowerPoint format or widescreen (16:9) ratio?

Offerors should use the factory default aspect ratio of 4:3 in preparing their slides.

Section C.3.10.1, p.57 indicates that “As part of the bidding process, the contractor must submit a draft Monitoring and Evaluation Plan (MEP), which clearly and explicitly aligns with the theory of change, proposed activity strategy, and draft first-year work plan. The activity’s MEP will specify indicators, targets, and methodologies that allow the Contractor and USAID/Tanzania to monitor the progress of activities towards achieving expected outcomes and targets related to activity objectives and accountability.”

If all indicators and targets are required (as well as the brief narrative for each indicator described on page 57 including data collection method, data reliability and timeliness, and indicator validity), would USAID consider allowing offerors to include a summary of the draft MEP in the oral presentation and present the full draft MEP (with indicators and targets) as an annex to the written technical proposal?

A full draft MEP is not required as per L.4 (a) Monitoring and Evaluation Plan (MEP) and Knowledge and Learning Plan. As stated in Section L, a summary of of the MEP must be presented.

Section C.3.10.2, p. 58: Table 3: IR 2.2 Higher-level Indicators lists one of the indicators as “number of rural households benefiting directly from USG interventions,” and specifies that 36,000 of the 40,000 households should be considered women/youth. Based on FTF guidelines, the rural household indicator should be disaggregated by “gendered household type”, the options of which are “Male no Female”, “Female no Male”, “Male and Female”, and “Child no Adult,” which apply to the age structure of the entire household, not one individual or another. In other words, if there is an adult male, adult female, and child in the household, that would be considered a “Male and Female” household, regardless of who the “head of household” is. Based on our data, more than 90% of households in Tanzania are “Male and Female” households. Therefore, it is unclear how offerors can disaggregate the household indicator based on Male/Female/Youth, as all three could be present in the household. Would USAID consider placing its goal of 90% women/youth on training participants or some other indicator of individual people rather than households?

Within the target-level indicators, the contractor will need to measure the "number of rural households benefiting directly from USG interventions", as this is an important Standard FTF indicator. However, to avoid confusion, the target will stay at 40,000 households, but the 36,000 (of which will be women and youth), will be removed for this indicator and adjusted in the solicitation. These beneficiary households can be male and female headed households. Please see question #16 on further clarification of targeted indicator for measuring individual women and youth participation.

To clarify 60% of the beneficaries must be women and 30% must be youth. These numbers may overlap and are not meant to be combined.

Section C.3.10.2, p. 58, and Section L.4 (a), p.136: In Section C, Table 3: IR 2.2 Higher-level Indicators states that 36,000 (or 90%) of the total target beneficiaries should be women/youth.

Later, the technical instructions state that the project should “reach and/or assist 60 percent women and 30 percent youth.”

Given that some beneficiaries will be both women and youth, if a project were to assist 60% women and 30% youth but half of the youth were female, the project would achieve the target in Section L but miss the target in Section C. Can USAID please clarify the targets?

Women and youth are the primary beneficiaries of this activity, with women constituting 60% and youth 30% of total beneficiaries. These targeted populations will be captured specifically via the indicator (in table 4) "Number of direct project beneficiaries, the percentage of which are women, as well as capturing the percentage which are youth that will be added in the solicitation. It is understood that there will be overlap between women and youth as some youth will, in fact, be young women.

Section L.3, p. 134: The instructions for oral presentations note that the offeror will have access to an overhead projector and screen/television. Can USAID provide additional information on the dimensions of both overhead projector and size of screen/television?

USAID will provide equipment (projector or TV screen) along with any other required hardware to project the submitted PowerPoints. Offerors should use the factory default aspect ratio of 4:3 in preparing their slides.

Section H. 12(b), p.87: According to Section H, “the maximum prevailing compensation will be the same as the maximum salary under the Mission Local Compensation Plan.” Will USAID release the Mission’s latest Local Compensation Plan to ensure that offerors’ proposed salaries are in line with USAID’s?

See response to question # 12

Section L.4.C, p.135: The list of items contained in the oral presentation includes “Executive Summary (2 pages).” Could USAID please confirm that the Executive Summary covers two PowerPoint slides rather than two document pages?

Confirmed, 2 PowerPoint Slides.

Section L.2, p.132: The Acquisition Schedule indicates a timeframe for oral presentations in both Tanzania and DC. Will offerors be expected to give presentations in both locations, or be allowed to select one location? If both presentations are necessary, is it required that all presenters be the same in both locations?

See response to Question # 3

Section L.4.C, p.135: Is it permitted for offerors to submit PowerPoint presentations with information contained in the “Notes” section of slides? If so, how will these factor into evaluation of oral presentations?

See response to Question # 4

Section L.3, p. 133: The instructions for Oral presentations under Presentation media references that the “use of visual aids is at the offeror’s discretion.” Can USAID clarify and/or give examples of acceptable visual aids?

As stated "The use of visual aids is at the offeror’s discretion." That includes data/graphical respresentation with the exception of models or samples which will not be permitted.

Section L.4.C, p.135: The list of annexes to the written technical proposal includes “CVs of Key Personnel and key STTA.” Can USAID clarify what defines an STTA as “key?” Is the offeror also required to submit a cadre of STTA CVs?

The solicitation will be revised to remove requirement for CVs for key STTAs however Offerors may provide up to a 2 page annex in lieu of CVs for key STTAs. This annex must indicate key STTA positions and tasks. Key STTAs are defined as assignments for critical elements of the activity with a duration of at least three (3) months.

Section L.3.B, p.133: The instructions for oral presentations note that the offeror may use up to five presenters, one of whom must be among the proposed key personnel. Is it necessary to include these presenters’ names or any other information about them with the PowerPoint slides submitted on September 9?

Names will be required prior to the presentation for access purposes.

Section L.4.C, p. 135: The list of annexes to the written technical proposal indicates that both (3) References to key personnel and (4) Past Performance Information (3 pages maximum) should be submitted on dates before the rest of the proposal. Should these two annexes re-submitted with the written proposal on September 9 as well? Additionally, can USAID clarify whether or not this annex for Past Performance is a narrative deliverable and separate from the Past Performance Reports (PPRs) submitted earlier.

No resubmittal is required. The PPRs and the past performance information are the same.

Section L.3, p.133: The Delivery Instructions say that “offerors may also send an Adobe Acrobat portable document format (.pdf).” Does this indicate that if PDFs are included, they should be in addition to MS Word format, or are PDFs an acceptable substitute for MS Word?

PDFs are an acceptable subsitute for MS Word for the written technical proposal. However, to avoid technical issues offerors are required to submit, at least, one version of their oral presentation in powerpoint format

Section L.4 (b), p.139-140: The requirements for key personnel references include “name of company that work was performed for,” “duration of employment by the nominee,” and “name of immediate supervisor.” Does this indicate that the only permissible references are those where the personnel in question was directly employed, as opposed to (for example) a reference from a government body or other partner organization with whom the person collaborated on a PPP?

No, other references may be supplied, but past performance history should include the name and contact information of the candidate's immediate supervisor.

Section L.4.C, p.135: Will USAID permit offerors to include letters of commitment and/or support from partner organizations or resource groups as an annex to the written technical proposal?

Letters of commitment must not be provided for local partners. The successful offeror must be able to work with any potential local partner.

Section L.5 (b), p.141-142: The summary budget and budget-by-sub-purpose table templates included in Section L contain five years. Can USAID please confirm that offerors should only propose a budget covering four years?

Yes, confirmed

Section L.5 (b), p.142: The line-item breakdown of the budget on page 142 includes a line for Subcontracts, but no line for Grants Under Contract. Should this be considered a “subawards” line item to also include GUCs, or should grants be included in a separate line item?

A plug figure of $5 Million for Grants under Contract will be added to the RFP.

Section L.5 (b), p.143: According to the cost instructions, “international travel must be identified separately and broken down by destination, number of trips, and number of travelers.”

Does this include travel from expatriate STTAs to Tanzania or does it refer only to travel outside of Tanzania by long-term personnel?

This refers to all international travel requirements

Attachment 8, p.186: Attachment 8 of the RFP indicates that COLA for expatriates in Tanzania is 20% per index depending on family size. The US State Department allowances website indicates that COLA is 15% as of August 9, 2015. Could USAID please clarify?

Offerors must use the Department of State COLA rate as of August 19, 2015 It should be noted that this figure is updated frequently and may be adjusted post award by the Department of State.

Amendment 1: L.4 INSTRUCTIONS FOR ORAL

PRESENTATIONS AND WRITTEN TECHNICAL PROPOSALS -

Paragraph C – Annex (4) Past Performance Information: Delete "three pages maximum" and insert "six pages maximum" in lieu thereof. Compared to pg. 140 under Section L.4(c) 1, there appears to be a contradiction.

• Could USAID kindly clarify that the six page limit mentioned applies to an individual past performance reference?

• Thus, a prime contractor will be allowed up to four PPRs to be submitted (total of 24 pages) and for each of the major sub-contractor a maximum of two PPRs (total 12 pages) could be submitted?

The limit for past performance references is six pages as stated. Please note that the Government will also gather information from PPIRS and other sources.

RFP page 140: “1. List in an annex to the technical proposal up to four of the most recent (in the last 3 years) and relevant contracts for efforts similar to the work in the subject proposal for the offeror and up to two for each major subcontractor. The most relevant indicators of performance are contracts of similar scope, size, and geographic context. and/or other performance management activities.”

• Please confirm that awards other than contracts, such as cooperative agreements, can also be used to demonstrate past performance.

Confirmed, Grants and Cooperative Agreements information may be used to demostrate past performance.

It is unclear whether all applicants will be asked to give an oral presentation. · Will USAID shortlist applicants to present the oral presentation or will all who apply be asked to provide the oral presentation?

All Offerors that submit technical proposals that meet the requirements as outlined in the RFP will be invited to present.

Page 10: “USAID will integrate management of the policy and value chain activities (focused on maize, rice, and horticulture) in order to craft a policy agenda in collaboration with the Government of Tanzania (GOT) and with input from the private sector, including smallholders.” · Could USAID provide some clarity on what is envisaged in regard to policy and how it will work with the value chain activities under Mboga na Matunda?

The contractor must work with the new policy follow-on implementer, which is currently in design process. As a key FTF implementer, the Mboga na Matunda activity is expected to collablorate and link interventions around policy gaps, opportunities and any proposed agenda(s)

Page 13: Regarding the citation of TAFSIP and “The SAGCOT promotes “clusters” of profitable agricultural farming and services businesses, with major benefits for smallholder farmers and local communities.” · Could USAID provide an update on the status of the SAGCOT Catalytic Fund and whether that mechanism is expected to be operational in the near term and perhaps have a link with Mboga na Matunda?

SAGCOT Catalytic Fund will not be operational in the short term.

USAID generically refers to a number of successes from TAPP that should be carried forward on the Mboga na Matunda activity.

• In order to ensure equal access and awareness to TAPP’s myriad successes, will USAID provide specific TAPP M&E assessments and final reports?

See question #1

Page 32: “The Contractor must further scale impacts by integrating, coordinating with and collaboratively learning with investments in: (1) R&D, including those of the GOT, AVRDC, CIP and the Horticulture Innovation Lab, the Integrated Pest Management Lab, and the Lab for Food Processing and Post- Harvest Handling. MBOGA NA MATUNDA activities of the Contractor must focus on collaborative opportunities, especially where they are responsive to the needs of the private sector; (2) infrastructure, including roads, ports and airfreight; (3) nutrition;

and (4) access to financial services, including those for vulnerable populations.”

• Could USAID kindly clarify whether there is an expectation that the Contractor build in investments in the above or simply learn/link with ongoing investments done by USAID and others?

The expectation is both: key activity investments in terms of grants and optimizing opportunities to leverage collaboration with on-going investments (such as infrastructure potentials)

Page 33: Currently the newly formed Njombe region is not part of the FTF ZOI. Are there any plans to modify the FTF ZOI to include Njombe?

Njombe is not in the FTF ZOI.

In various places in the RFP references are made to “Grants Under Contract”, which seem to limit who can receive sub-grants, e.g. NGOs (local and international) but also seem to indicate private sector, research institutions and government entities, etc.

may be viable recipients. Please clarify who would not be eligible for sub-grants.

Non-governmental organizations (non-profits or for-profits) and partner government entities may receive a GUC per ADS 302

The RFP reference the need to focus on policy issues in general and specifically. For example, on page 54, the RFP states “However, there are serious policy constraints to expanding the number of fertilizer blends that will need to be addressed.”

• Given the ongoing USAID SERA program focused on policy reform, is it expected for this program to provide support or lead the policy reform efforts?

• Will USAID extend or recomplete the current SERA policy program?

The activity must work in collabration with any potential policy contract. A decision has not yet been made on the SERA follow-on.

Given that the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Program (MELP) has not been awarded, how does the Mission view the relationship between Mboga Matunda and MELP throughout the life of the project?

See the SOW on the activity relationship with the MELP. The MELP should be awarded to optimize Mboga na Matunda start up; as such, the MELP can provide targeted technical assistance in various pieces of M&E via the duration of Mboga na Matunda.

Section L.5(b) indicates that “At least 10% of the proposed budget must be dedicated to monitoring and evaluation”.

However, M&E is not a specific budgetary category. Please clarify how USAID would like to see the M&E costs presented.

See above, question #7

Are USAID-funded programs exempt from VAT in Tanzania? Yes, however VAT must claimed as a refund for a local purchases.

Could USAID please provide a government property list to ensure offeror parity in procurement budgeting?

Please see question 11

Could USAID please provide an exchange rate for all offerors to use for US dollars to Tanzanian Shillings?

2100 TSH to 1 US Dollar

Is a six-day work week approved for short-term technical assignments?

Yes

Could USAID please provide the most updated Local Compensation Plan for Tanzania?

See question #12

Page 186, Attachment 8 – Could USAID confirm that COLA for Tanzania is currently 15% per index depending on family size?

Please see question 32

Page 185, Attachment 8 – What is the pre-set amount or percentage of annual basic salary that the U.S. embassy pays to its FSN employees for the Miscellaneous Benefit Allowance?

See question #12

Page 141, L.5 (b) – Could USAID please confirm what costs are allowable as part of the 10% plug for M&E related activities?

Such clarification would help ensure that Offerors are operating from similar assumptions so they can be evaluated fairly.

Please question #7

Page 141, L.5 (b) – Is this a CLIN based budget? Please consider allowing offerors to prorate cross-cutting activities and management costs across the three main sub-purposes to allow for consistency across offerors in the budgeting of sub-purposes.

This is not a CLIN based budget. Please question #9

Page 78, H.1 – Could USAID indicate the size of the Grants Under Contract pool?

Please see answer to question #30

Page 141, L.5 (b) – There is no budget line item for Grants Under Contract in the provided summary budget. Can USAID please indicate where this should be included? Also, can USAID please confirm that GUC will only appear in the Sub-purpose 3 detailed budget?

Please see answer to question #30.

Page 141, L.5 (b) – Could USAID please provide definitions for the budget line items included in the summary budget template?

Definitions are self explanatory. There are no unique terms.

Page 141, L.5 (b) – USAID has provided a summary budget template and a budget by sub-purpose template for five years rather than four. Please confirm the period of performance for this program is four years.

Please see question #29

Would USAID consider Offerors using animation in presentations, and if so, would the actual presentation override the hard copy presentation?

Only what appears on the hard copy of the slides will be evaluated. Embedded animation will not be evaluated.

Page 134, L.4 (B) – Would USAID allow a smaller font in text boxes, tables, and graphics in the written technical proposal?

Fonts in text boxes, tables, and other graphics may be smaller than the body text but must be readable in print copies.

Page 134, L.4 (B) states that the written technical proposal must be “12 characters per inch.” Can USAID confirm the font and size it is referencing by stating 12 characters per inch.

For the written technical proposal 12 point font is acceptable. Any Font type is acceptable.

Page 143, L.5 states “the Offeror must justify the proposed salaries based on market reference data and position responsibilities”. Please confirm that the Offeror must justify proposed salaries only if they are outside of the standard USAID-authorized increase and/or corporate policies.

As stated proposed salaries must be justified with market reference data and position responsibilites.

Pages 139-140, L.4 – note that references must include “name of immediate supervisor”. In order to provide USAID with a full understanding of the candidate’s skills and disposition, please confirm that Offerors should include both supervisors and non-supervisors as professional references.

References may include both supervisors and non-supervisors.

Page 137, L.4(a) Monitoring and Evaluation Plan – Can USAID confirm that a third party contractor will conduct a baseline assessment before the start of Mboga Na Matunda to help establish baselines for the indicators that span all FTF programming? Could USAID specify the role the Offeror is expected to contribute to evaluations or assessments to help Offerors determine the resources needed?

A third party contractor will not conduct the baseline;

The Mboga na Matunda implementer in activity start-up, with technical assistance from the mission monitoring and evaluation implementer, must perform the baselines for activity-level indicators.

This will be the case as well with respect to initial assessments of gender, youth, etc.

Page 183, Attachment 7 – Past Performance Information: Please confirm that offerors are meant to complete Part 1 of this template, and that USAID/Tanzania will reach out to offerors’ CORs for them to complete Part II of the form.

Confirmed

Page 140, L.4(c) Offeror Past Performance Information – Please clarify how the information requested as an annex to the technical proposal, which has a six-page limit, differs from the past performance information submitted to USAID using Attachment 7.

Please see question #33

Page 140, L.4(b) Management Plan and Institutional Capacity, (1) Key Personnel and Staffing Plan – USAID requests that the six-page written technical proposal include narrative on up to five key personnel; a staffing plan with roles, responsibilities, and minimum qualifications; and an organizational chart. Would USAID consider allowing the staffing plan to be included as an annex? A comprehensive staffing plan would take up at least half of this page allotment.

No, the page limit will not be increased however offerors may submit a two page annex for Key STTA positions.

Page 137 L.4 (a) Technical Approach, 6. Ensure Collaboration and coordination: Offerors are requested to discuss collaboration in two sections of the PPT, first in point 6 on page 137 and the second time on page 138 in the final bullet under L.4(b) Management Plan and

Offerors must adequately describe their coordination and collaborartion planning throughout the proposal.

Institutional Capacity, (1) Management Plan. In which section should offerors present their approach to collaboration and coordination, the technical section or the management plan?

Offerors must adequately describe their coordination and collaboration planning throughout the proposal.

Page 133 (B) Oral Presentations (4) Presentation Media – USAID writes that the number of slides must not exceed 35 slides. Does this limit exclude divider slides and a cover slide?

Cover slide and dividers are not included in the 35 slide limit.

Page 133 (1) Electronically – USAID says that offers may also send an Adobe Acrobat portable document format (.pdf) for electronic submission. May the Power Point Presentation be submitted as a PDF or should it be submitted as a .PPT file?

Files should be compatible with Microsoft Office 2010 operating in a windows environment, PowerPoint slides should be submtted in thier original format (.ppt).

Page 133 (1) Electronically – USAID says that offers may also send an Adobe Acrobat portable document format (.pdf) for electronic submission. Please confirm that the written technical proposal may be submitted in PDF only, and that a Word version of the written technical proposal is not required in addition to the

PDF.

Please see question #26

Page 133 (B) Oral Presentation (1) Time Limit – Please confirm that the 90-minute time limit includes the 20 minutes reserved for questions and answers.

The presentation time limit is 90 minutes, this includes at least 20 minutes for Q&A.

Page 10, C.1 – USAID indicates that 60% of program beneficiaries should be women and 30% should be youth. Can USAID confirm that female youth are to be counted as both women and youth, i.e. counted towards both percentages?

Please see question #15 & #16

Page 23 – USAID writes that MBOGA NA MATUNDA will scale the successes of TAPP to increase outreach to larger numbers of direct beneficiaries. There are limited deliverables available in the Development Experience Clearinghouse from the TAPP program.

Could USAID please provide project reports, assessments, and any other relevant TAPP documents ahead of the proposal deadline so that all Offerors have equal access to these resources?

Please see question #1.

75 Can USAID confirm the expected start date for the program? Please see answer to question #10

Page 132, L.2 Acquisition Schedule – USAID lists dates for oral presentations in both Washington, DC, and Tanzania. It is our assumption that offerors select one location at which to present.

Is this assumption correct? If yes, how should offerors convey this preference to USAID?

Please see answer to question #4

Could USAID clarify whether an internal or external mid term evaluation was conducted for the current TAPP program, and if so, please make available the evaluation document to all bidders?

Please see question #1

The budget templates in Section B.4 (page 7) and Section L.5(b) (page 142) of the RFP do not include a line item for grants under contract, although Sub-Purpose 3.8.3 in Section C references a Grants Under Contract component (pages 47-48). For budgeting purposes, would USAID please provide a plug figure for Grants Under Contract?

Please see answer to question #30

Section C, Sub-Purpose 3.8.3 (page 48) of the RFP states that “grants also could be used for GOT Agriculture Institutions to better address and harness private sector-driven research; as well, targeted grants could facilitate operational research to learn about how to effectively expand nutritional outcomes.” Given the possibility of awarding non in-kind grants to government of Tanzania organizations, could USAID please comment on whether a project appraisal document or a determinations and findings document will be provided per ADS 302.3.4.13?

The procedure outlined in ADS 302.3.4.13 will be followed prior to any potential GUC with host Government organization

Section F.3 (page 71) of the RFP notes that the Grants Under Contract Manual will be due within 30 days. Could USAID confirm that this is 30 days from contract signature? If so, would USAID consider extending this deadline to within 60 days of contract signature to ensure that the Grants Under Contract Manual complements the activities in the work plan?

Ok, the due date has been extended to 60 days

Section F.6 (page 73) lists chief of party requirements including “demonstrated expertise and 5 years of chief-of-party experience in managing large (at least $10 million), complex horticultural and/or agricultural development programs with a private sector/value chain development focus, preferably within an African context.” Would USAID be willing to consider candidates with at least 5 years of significant experience in a combination of senior-level leadership roles – such as chief of party and/or deputy chief of party – as a substitute for the requirement of 5 years of chief of party experience? By accepting a broader range of leadership experience, offerors will be able to consider a larger pool of candidates with the talent, skills, energy, commitment, and availability to effectively serve USAID on this important program.

The solicitation has been revised to accept at least 7 years of Senior Level leadership experience.

Section L.3(B) (page 133) states that oral presentations must not exceed 90 minutes and that the offeror should allow a minimum of 20 minutes for a question and answer (Q&A) period. Could USAID please clarify whether or not the 20 minutes of Q&A is included in the overall 90 minute oral presentation limit, or whether these 20 minutes will be in addition to the 90 minute limit for the oral presentation?

See response to Question #72

Would USAID please clarify whether offerors should plan to deliver their oral presentations twice, once in Washington, D.C., and once in Tanzania, or if it is the offeror’s choice where the presentation takes place?

See response to Question #4

Would USAID kindly provide examples of “visual aids” referenced as acceptable presentation media in Section L.3(B)(4) of the RFP (page 133)? For example, would a handout of the organizational chart and/or other graphics contained in the PowerPoint slide deck be acceptable?

See response to Question #22

Would USAID please confirm that the 35 slide limit for the PowerPoint presentation refers to the PowerPoint slides themselves, and that offerors should not submit additional content on the notes pages of the PowerPoint deck? If offerors are expected to provide content on the PowerPoint notes pages, could USAID please state an acceptable font and font size for the notes page content?

See response to Question #3

Section L.3(B)(1) (page 133) of the RFP states that “during the presentation, the Source Selection members may interrupt the offeror to ask questions (to request clarification on oral presentation points, the repetition of inaudible words or statement, or the explanation of terms that are known to them) or otherwise engage the offeror in any dialogue.” To ensure that offerors have equal opportunity to address all evaluation criteria in the allotted time, we respectfully request that the presentation be allowed to proceed uninterrupted for the prescribed time limit.

If acceptable, we would suggest that during the set time limit for questions and answers, no limit is placed on the number of questions asked.

Interuptions will be allowed only to request clarification on oral presentation points, the repetition of inaudible words or statement, or the explanation of terms that are unclear to the TEC.

Section L.5(c) of the RFP (page 143) states that “for long-term personnel, including key personnel, the offeror must justify the proposed salaries based on market reference data and position responsibilities.” Could USAID please confirm that, as long as proposed salaries are based on established salary histories per the candidate’s biographical data form, additional justification does not need to be provided?

As stated "the offeror must justify the proposed salaries based on market reference data and position responsibilities.”

Attachment 8 (pages 185-186) of the RFP provides a list of benefits and allowances that are authorized by the U.S. Embassy for its USPSC and FSN employees. Would USAID please confirm that offerors may follow their own established policies regarding benefits and allowances for host-country personnel?

Please see 48 CFR 752.7007 - Personnel compensation

Section L.5(b) of the RFP (page 141) states that “at least 10 percent of the proposed budget must be dedicated to monitoring and evaluation.” Can USAID confirm that this 10 percent is inclusive of indirect costs? Can USAID confirm whether this 10 percent is also inclusive of costs associated with implementation of the Knowledge and Learning Plan?

The budget submitted should include all elements as outlined. The 7-10% for monitoring and evaluation includes cost associated with the knowledge and learning plan.

Can USAID kindly share the most recent Local Compensation Plan for Tanzania?

Please question #18

According to Section L of the RFP on page 135, the annexes include a Branding and Marking Plan, CVs of Key Personnel and key STTA, references for key personnel, and past performance information. Are we to assume USAID is not requiring Letters of Commitment from key personnel?

Letters of commitment may be provided as part of the business/cost proposal.

On Page 28, C.3.4 Geographic, Population, and Commodity Focus, USAID refers to the target zone Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT), which includes Manyara, Dodoma and Morogoro, and the southern highland regions of Iringa and Mbeya. Will USAID please confirm that Manyara is included as part of the SAGCOT corridor, and is a target zone for this project?

Please see response to question 2.

Page 71, F3 Reports and Deliverables, refers to monthly reports and one success story per month as required deliverables.

However, page 72 refers to quarterly reports (not mentioned in the deliverables table) and four monthly success stories. Can USAID please clarify the frequency of reports and the quantity of success stories desired, as well as the due date, after contract award, of initial success stories?

Section has been revised to reflect the two success stories per month and require quarterly reports

On Page 71, USAID mentions a Gender and Youth Plan. Will USAID please confirm its intention to receive one integrated Gender, Youth, and Sustainability plan?

Offerors must budget for the preperation on a gender and youth plan and a sustainabilty plan.

During performance, the COR may determine that this can be provided in one comprehensive document

Can USAID please confirm that the Cooperation and Coordination plan should be included in the management plan?

Can USAID elaborate on the elements they would like included in the Cooperation and Collaboration Plan?

A proper managment plan includes a methodology for coordinating and cooperating with other activites, donors, the host coutnry government and the private sector. As such, the offeror must clearly address the issue.

Can USAID elaborate on what constitutes “key STTA” identified on Page 135, Annexes?

Please see question #23

For the Technical Approach oral presentation, would USAID accept a first year work plan and MELP as hyperlinked documents in the PowerPoint Presentation, or should high level components be summarized in PowerPoint slides?

Hyperlink documents within the PowerPoint Presentation are not acceptable. The presentation of these implements in the powerpoint as at the offerors discretion.

The instructions in Section L.4(b)(1), Key Personnel and Staffing Plan (p. 139) indicate that "Long-term personnel are expected to have the requisite skill set to implement the innovative approach called for in the Statement of Work, achieve sustanable results, and coordinate and cooperate with complementary FTF and development partners and GOT activities." The second bullet in the evaluation criteriafor Management and Staffing Approach (Section M.3., p. 148) indicates that offerors will be evaluated on "The extent to which the proposed personnel demonstrate the professional experience, past performance and academic qualifications, in similar activities in a developing country context, required to achieve the purposes and objectives described in the statement of work." Can USAID please confirm that the "long-term personnel" and "proposed personnel" in the two sections referenced above are referring to Key Personnel only?

"Long-term personnel" and "proposed personnel" include key personnel and other long-term and proposed personnel on the activity.