Amendment_1_SOL-623-14-000002.pdf

Project Title: Resilience Learning Project

Solicitation #: SOL-623-14-000002

Issuance Date: November 20, 2013 Closing Date/Time for Questions: December 2, 2013, 8 a.m. Nairobi time Registration Deadline for Pre-Bidder’s Conference: November 26, 2013 Pre-Bidder’s Conference: December 3, 2013 Closing Date/Time: January 6, 2014, 8 a.m. Nairobi time

Subject: Request for Proposals (RFP) No. SOL-623-14-000002, The Resilience Learning Project

(AMENDMENT #1)

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is seeking proposals to implement the Resilience Learning Project for USAID/East Africa as described in the attached Request for Proposals (RFP). USAID anticipates the award of one five-year Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity Contract (IDIQ). Task Order 01, with a maximum estimated cost of $10 million, will be issued simultaneously with the award of the IDIQ.

USAID anticipates that the maximum aggregate ordering limitation for contracts resulting from this RFP will be $20 million over the five-year ordering period. The maximum aggregate dollar value of task orders cannot exceed this contract ceiling. There is no guarantee on the number of task orders that the successful contractor will receive or the amount of money beyond the minimum order guarantee set forth in the RFP. USAID has determined that only one IDIQ should be issued since the projected task orders are so integrally related.

This amendment incorporates the questions and answers, provides the list of attendees of the pre-proposal conference, and provides the pre-proposal conference presentation. All revisions are hereby incorporated into the RFP.

Proposals will be accepted from eligible organizations and encourages U.S. small businesses to submit proposals. In support of USAID’s interest in expanding the number and sustainability of development partners, USAID encourages proposals from potential new local partners. USAID discourages the use of exclusive agreements with international or regional/local organizations as this limits USAID’s ability to receive the best services.

Please refer to Section L for information regarding proposal requirements. Offerors should take into account the expected delivery time required by the email transmission method, and they are responsible to ensure that proposals are received at USAID by the due date and time as specified in above. Failure to comply with the submission date will deem any submission unacceptable and it will not be reviewed or evaluated. Faxed proposals are not acceptable, nor will they be reviewed or evaluated.

Section L of the RFP sets forth all instructions for the preparation and submission of required proposal contents, including critical dates/times for submission of questions, proposal submission closing date and time. Section M states the criteria by which proposals will be evaluated. Oral explanations or instructions given before award of the contract will not be binding.

Pre-Proposal Conference: A pre-proposal conference will be held on December 3, 2013 in Nairobi, Kenya.

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PART I - THE SCHEDULE

SECTION B - SUPPLIES OR SERVICES AND PRICE/COSTS

B.1 PURPOSE

B.2 CONTRACT TYPE AND SERVICES

B.3 MINIMUM OBLIGATED AMOUNT

B.4 MAXIMUM CONTRACT CEILING

B.5 FIXED FEE CEILING (Cost Reimbursement Type Only)

B.6 APPROVED MAJOR SUBCONTRACTORS

B.7 IDIQ MANAGEMENT

B.8 INDIRECT COSTS AND ADVANCED UNDERSTANDING ON CEILINGS

SECTION C - DESCRIPTION/SPECIFICATIONS/STATEMENT OF WORK

C.1 PURPOSE

C.2 GOAL AND OBJECTIVES

C.3 BACKGROUND

C.5 DEVELOPMENT HYPOTHESIS

C.6 TECHNICAL APPROACH

C.7 MANAGEMENT AND COORDINATION

C.8 MANAGEMENT OF GRANTS UNDER CONTRACTS

SECTION D - PACKAGING AND MARKING

D.1 AIDAR 752.7009 MARKING (January 1993)

D.2 BRANDING STRATEGY, IMPLEMENTATION PLAN AND MARKING PLAN

SECTION E - INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE

E.1 NOTICE LISTING CONTRACT CLAUSES INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

E.2 INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE

E.3 RESPONSIBLE OFFICIAL

SECTION F - DELIVERIES OR PERFORMANCE

F.1 NOTICE LISTING CONTRACT CLAUSES INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

F.2 PERFORMANCE PERIOD

F.3 PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

F.4 PERFORMANCE MONITORING AND STANDARDS

F.5 REPORTS AND DELIVERABLES OR OUTPUTS

F.6 ORDERING PROCEDURES

F.7 REQUEST FOR TASK ORDER PROPOSAL (RFTOP) & AWARD CONTENT

F.8 TASK ORDER ADMINISTRATION

F.9 KEY PERSONNEL

F.10 AIDAR 752.7005 SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS FOR DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCE

DOCUMENTS (September 2013) (Class Deviation OAA-DEV-13-01c)

SECTION G - CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION DATA

G.1 NOTICE LISTING CONTRACT CLAUSES INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

G.2 CONTRACTING OFFICER

G.3 CONTRACTING OFFICER’S REPRESENTATIVE (COR)

G.4 CONTRACTOR’S PRIMARY POINT OF CONTACT

G.5 PAYING OFFICE

G.6 CONTRACTOR'S PAYMENT ADDRESS

G.7 TECHNICAL DIRECTION/RELATIONSHIP WITH USAID

SECTION H - SPECIAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS

H.1 NOTICE LISTING CONTRACT CLAUSES INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

H.2 AIDAR 752.7007 PERSONNEL COMPENSATION (JULY 2007)

H.3 ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR PERSONNEL COMPENSATION

H.3 AUTHORIZED GEOGRAPHIC CODE

H.4 AIDAR 752.225-70 SOURCE AND NATIONALITY REQUIREMENTS (FEB 2012)(CLASS

DEVIATION NO. OAA-DEV-12-01C)

H.5 752.7004 EMERGENCY LOCATOR INFORMATION (JUL 1997)

H.6 INSURANCE AND SERVICES

H.7 752.228-70 MEDICAL EVACUATION (MEDEVAC) SERVICES (JULY 2007)

H.8 GOVERNMENT FURNISHED FACILITIES OR PROPERTY

H.9 LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS

H.10 ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE

H.11 CONFIDENTIALITY AND OWNERSHIP OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

H.12 AUTHORIZED WORK WEEK

H.13 752.7034 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND DISCLAIMER (DEC 1991)

H.14 752.231‐71 SALARY SUPPLEMENTS FOR HG EMPLOYEES (OCT 1998)

H.15 EXECUTIVE ORDER ON TERRORISM FINANCING

H.16 REPORTING OF FOREIGN TAXES

H.17 USAID DISABILITY POLICY - ACQUISITION (DECEMBER 2004)

H.18 ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST

H.19 CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

H.20 STANDARDS OF CONDUCT -- IMPROPER BUSINESS PRACTICES

H.21 752.7025 APPROVALS (APR 1984)

H.22 752.7032 INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL APPROVAL AND NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

(JAN 1990)

H.23 BUSINESS CLASS TRAVEL

H.24 CONTRACTOR’S USE OF PROJECT VEHICLES AND LIABILITY INSURANCE

REQUIREMENTS FOR PRIVATELY OWNED VEHICLES

H.25 DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION

H.26 GOVERNMENT OF KENYA LABOR MARKET POLICY

H.27 NONDISCRIMINATION (JUN 2012)

H.28 COMPLIANCE WITH THE TRAFFICKING VICTIMS PROTECTION REAUTHORIZATION

ACT

H.29 AIDAR 752.245‐71 TITLE TO AND CARE OF PROPERTY (APR 1984)

H.30 MOBILE BANKING

H.31 GENDER CONSIDERATION

H.32 GRANTS UNDER CONTRACT (GUC)

H.33 SUBCONTRACTING REPORT

PART II - CONTRACT CLAUSES

SECTION I - CONTRACT CLAUSES

I.1 NOTICE LISTING CONTRACT CLAUSES INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

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

I.3 52.227‐23 RIGHTS TO PROPOSAL DATA (TECHNICAL) (JUN 1987)

I.4 52.204-1 APPROVAL OF CONTRACT (DEC 1989)

I.5 52.203‐13 CONTRACTOR CODE OF BUSINESS ETHICS AND CONDUCT (APR 2010)

I.6 52.209-9UPDATES OF PUBLICLY AVAILABLE INFORMATION REGARDING

RESPONSIBILITY MATTERS (JUL 2013)

I.7 52.216-18 ORDERING (OCT 1995)

I.8 52.216-19 ORDER LIMITATIONS (Oct 1995) I.9 52.216-22 INDEFINTE QUANTITY (Oct 1995)

I.10 52.232-99 PROVIDING ACCELERATED PAYMENT TO SMALL BUSINESS -

SUBCONTRACTORS (DEVIATION) (AUG 2012)

I.11 52.232-22 LIMITATION OF FUNDS (APR 1984)

PART II – LIST OF DOCUMENTS, EXHIBITS AND OTHER ATTACHMENTS

SECTION J - LIST OF ATTACHMENTS

SECTION K - REPRESENTATIONS, CERTIFICATIONS AND OTHER

STATEMENTS OF THE OFFEROR

K.1 NOTICE LISTING SOLICITATION PROVISIONS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

K.2 52.204-3 TAXPAYER IDENTIFICATION (OCT 1998)

K.3 52.204-8 ANNUAL REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS (JUL 2013)

K.4 52.209-5 CERTIFICATION REGARDING RESPONSIBILITY MATTERS (APR 2010)

K.5 52.209-7 INFORMATION REGARDING RESPONSIBILITY MATTERS (JUL 2013)

K.6 752.226‐1 DISADVANTAGED ENTERPRISE REPRESENTATION (APR 1991)

K.7 INSURANCE ‐ IMMUNITY FROM TORT LIABILITY

K.8 AGREEMENT ON, OR EXCEPTIONS TO, TERMS AND CONDITIONS

K.9 SIGNATURE

SECTION L – INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS, AND NOTICES TO OFFERORS OR

RESPONDENTS

L.1 NOTICE LISTING SOLICITATION PROVISIONS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

L.2 52.215-1 INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS - COMPETITIVE ACQUISITION (January 2004) L.3 52.233-2 SERVICE OF PROTEST (September 2006)

L.4 GOVERNMENT OBLIGATION

L.5 GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

L.6 DELIVERY INSTRUCTIONS

L.7 FORMAT AND PRESENTATION

L.8 INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE TECHNICAL PROPOSAL

L9 INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE COST/BUSINESS PROPOSAL

L.10 INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PREPARATION OF BRANDING IMPLEMENTATION AND

MARKING PLANS

SECTION M - EVALUATION FACTORS FOR AWARD

M.1 GENERAL INFORMATION

M.2 TECHNICAL EVALUATION CRITERIA

M.3 DETERMINATION OF COMPETITIVE RANGE

M.4 COST/PRICE EVALUATION

M.5 SOURCE SELECTION

M.6 DETERMINATION OF COMPETITIVE RANGE

ATTACHMENT J.1 - TASK ORDER 01

SECTION B – SUPPLIES OR SERVICES AND PRICE/COSTS

B.1 PURPOSE

B.2 CONTRACT TYPE

B.3 BUDGET

B.4 OTHER RFTOP INFORMATION

SECTION C – STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES

C.1 PURPOSE

C.2 GOAL

C.3 BACKGROUND

C.4 OBJECTIVES AND EXPECTED RESULTS

C.5 MINIMUM DELIVERABLES

C.6 MANAGEMENT

C.7 TECHNICAL DIRECTION

C.8 CONTRACTOR OFFICE

C.9 KEY PERSONNEL

SECTION D – PACKAGING AND MARKING

D.1 BRANDING POLICY AND STRAREGY

SECTION E – INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE

E.1 TASK ORDER PERFORMANCE EVALUATION

SECTION F – DELIVERIES OR PERFORMANCE

F.1 INCORPORATION OF IDIQ CLAUSES

F.2 PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

F.3 REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

F.4 DELIVERABLES

F.5 ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE

SECTION G – TASK ORDER ADMINISTRATION DATA

G.1 INCORPORATION OF IDIQ CLAUSES

G.2 CONTRACTING OFFICER

G.3 CONTRACTING OFFICER’S REPRESENTATIVE (COR)

G.4 CONTRACTING OFFICER'S AUTHORITY

G.5 TECHNICAL DIRECTION

SECTION H – SPECIAL TASK ORDER REQUIREMENTS

H.1 INCORPORATION OF IDIQ CLAUSES

H.2 KEY PERSONNEL

H.3 REQUESTS FOR CONSENT TO SUBCONTRACT

H.4 INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL APPROVAL AND NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

SECTION I – CONTRACT CLAUSES

I.1 INCORPORATION OF IDIQ CLAUSES

PART I - THE SCHEDULE

SECTION B - SUPPLIES OR SERVICES AND PRICE/COSTS

B.1 PURPOSE

The purpose of this contract is to provide services that fall within the Scope of Work (SOW) specified in Section C for The Resilience Learning Project. USAID Task Order Contracting Officers (TOCOs) will request the work through the issuance of task orders during the ordering period as specified in Section F of the contract.

B.2 CONTRACT TYPE AND SERVICES

This is an Indefinite Quantity Contract (IDIQ) type contract. The Government will issue task orders that are either Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee (CPFF) (term or completion), Cost-Plus-Award-Fee (CPAF), Cost-Plus-Incentive- Fee (CPIF) or any Firm Fixed-Priced (FFP) type. The Contractor must perform the services set forth in task orders at prices consistent with section B of this contract.

B.3 MINIMUM OBLIGATED AMOUNT

As required by FAR §16.504(a)(1), the minimum amount of services to be ordered under this IDIQ is $100,000. USAID shall be required to order, and the Contractor shall be required to furnish, the minimum amount of services.

B.4 MAXIMUM CONTRACT CEILING

This is a single award Indefinite Quantity Contract (IDIQ) with an overall ceiling price of $20,000,000. The maximum aggregate dollar value of task orders awarded cannot exceed the contract ceiling.

B.5 FIXED FEE CEILING (Cost Reimbursement Type Only)

(a) For each task order issued under this IDIQ, the TOCO and Contractor agree to negotiate a set dollar amount for fixed fee. In negotiating the fixed dollar amount for fee, the TOCO must consider the policies and factors for establishing fee in FAR 15.404-4 as well as any applicable USAID policy on establishing a fixed fee amount. In no event, however, may the amount of fixed fee in any individual task order exceed ___percent [TBD] of the task order’s estimated cost, excluding fee. This fee must not be applied in addition to sub-grant cost fees (if applicable) which has a separate ceiling established below. The fee ceiling applies to the prime contractor and any subcontractors.

NOTE: The ceiling on fixed fee does not apply to Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) Task Orders.

Fees for CPIF or CPAF task order types will be negotiated by the TOCO at the time of task order award

(b) The Total Estimated Cost Plus Fixed Fee for each Task Order must be negotiated in accordance with the terms of this contract.

(c) Fixed Fee Payment. For any Task Order issued under this Contract, at the time of each payment of allowable costs to the contractor, the USAID paying office ordinarily pays the contractor a percentage of fixed fee that directly corresponds to the percentage of allowable costs being paid. Two exceptions to paying fixed fee in this manner apply:

(1) If the TOCO determines that this method results in paying a disproportionately higher ratio of fixed fee than the percentage of work that the contractor has completed, then the TOCO may suspend further payment of any fixed fee until the contractor has made sufficient progress to justify further payment, up to the agreed percentage.

(2) Because the clauses entitled "Allowable Cost and Payment" (FAR 52.216-7) and "Fixed Fee" (FAR 52.216-8) are incorporated into this Contract, the terms and conditions of these clauses apply after total payments of fixed fee reach eighty-five percent (85%) of the total fixed fee.

B.6 APPROVED MAJOR SUBCONTRACTORS

Major subcontractors are those expected to perform at least 20% or a prominent part of the technical effort and approved by the IDIQ CO in accordance with FAR part 52.244-2 and part 44.202-2.

Name TBD

TOCO’s may grant separate subcontract approvals for subcontractors not listed above for task orders in accordance with FAR part 52.244-2 and 44.202-2.

B.7 IDIQ MANAGEMENT

Task Order 01 will fund the management of not only Task Order 01, but all other potential task orders issued under this IDIQ. This does not include the costs for proposal preparation (see Section F.6). USAID has determined that an IDIQ Manager is not necessary.

B.8 INDIRECT COSTS AND ADVANCED UNDERSTANDING ON CEILINGS

Pending establishment of revised provisional or final indirect cost rates, allowable indirect costs shall be reimbursed on the basis of the following negotiated provisional or predetermined rates and the appropriate bases for prime contractors and their major subcontractors (“major subcontractors” are those subcontractors expected to perform at least 20% or a prominent part of the technical effort):

Offeror Fringe Rate

Fringe Ceiling Rate %

Overhead Rate %

Overhead Ceiling Rate%

G&A Rate %

G&A Ceiling Rate %

PRIME

MAJOR

SUBCONTRACTOR(S)

NOTE 1: Insert additional indirect rates as needed for all primes and major subcontractors in the above table.

NOTE 2: If the Conctractor does not have a NICRA, all costs must be direct charged and B.8 is not applicable.

*Special Note: The un-shaded columns in the indirect cost table are the current approved indirect cost rates for the prime and major subcontractor(s).

PRIME

Description Rate Base Type Period

1/ 1/ 1/ 2/ 2/ 2/ 3/ 3/ 3/

1/Base of Application:

Type of Rate:

Period:

Source:

2/Base of Application:

Type of Rate:

Period:

Source:

3/Base of Application:

Type of Rate:

Period:

Source:

MAJOR SUBCONTRACTOR(S)

Description Rate Base Type Period

1/ 1/ 1/ 2/ 2/ 2/ 3/ 3/ 3/

1/Base of Application:

Type of Rate:

Period:

Source:

2/Base of Application:

Type of Rate:

Period:

Source:

3/Base of Application:

Type of Rate:

Period:

Source:

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.

Reimbursement for indirect costs shall be at final negotiated rates, but not in excess of ceiling rates specified above.

The Government shall not be obligated to pay any additional amount on account of indirect costs above the ceiling rates established in the contract. This advance understanding shall not change any monetary ceiling, cost limitation, or obligation established in the contract.

NOTE: For Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) Task Orders, the overhead ceilings serve as the basis for negotiation only.

SECTION C - DESCRIPTION/SPECIFICATIONS/STATEMENT OF WORK

C.1 PURPOSE

USAID/East Africa, in collaboration with governments, stakeholders, and development partners in USAID’s Joint Planning Cell (JPC) for Drought Resilience, is seeking a contractor to develop and manage the Resilience Learning Project. The Resilience Learning Project is a knowledge management and learning activity, and will be a key component of USAID’s expanding drought resilience portfolio in the drylands of the Horn of Africa. The goal of the overall resilience portfolio is increased drought resilience and economic growth in the drylands, at the community, national, and regional levels.

The Resilience Learning Project will be structured as a single award indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) type contract. Task Order 01, to be awarded simultaneously with this IDIQ, will obligate up to $10 million for setting up and managing the administration of the project, as well as implement a set of activities focused on regional and cross-border issues over a period of five years. Additional Task Orders may be awarded for integrally related activities. USAID units that may issue additional task orders include USAID/Kenya, USAID/Ethiopia, the Somalia Office of USAID/East Africa, Food for Peace, Office of U.S.

Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), the Bureau of Food Security, and the Africa Bureau as well as possibly other bilateral missions in the Horn of Africa.

C.2 GOAL AND OBJECTIVES

The goal of the Resilience Learning Project is mutual learning and knowledge management leading to a supportive policy environment and increased impacts of programming on drought resilience and growth.

These objectives must be advanced through five intermediate results:

1) Resilience-enhancing technologies and innovations disseminated;

2) Models for integrating humanitarian and development assistance developed and tested;

3) Collaboration, Learning, and Adaptation (CLA) approach catalyzed;

4) Knowledge management capacity of regional, national, and local institutions strengthened; and

5) Gender issues that are key to resilience and growth incorporated at all levels.

C.3 BACKGROUND

The Horn of Africa faces severe and complex challenges, including recurrent droughts and conflicts. The 2011 food security crisis in the Horn of Africa was a stark reminder that insufficient attention has been given to addressing the root causes of vulnerability in the drylands of the region. Following quickly upon the 2008- 2009 drought, the 2011 drought resulted in alarming spikes in acute malnutrition and the widespread and rapid deterioration of food security. At the same time, decades of underinvestment have left the region’s arid districts highly vulnerable to the challenges of climate change, food insecurity, and conflict.

C.3.1 Commitment to new ways of doing business. At a summit meeting on the drought organized by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the East African Community (EAC) in September 2011 in Nairobi, the member states directed IGAD to be a key focal point in the response to the crisis. They called for the formation of a regional platform, which the IGAD Secretariat in Djibouti has developed as the IGAD Drought Disaster Resilience and Sustainability Initiative (IDDRSI), to coordinate activities of governments, other stakeholders, and development partners. At a follow-up high-level planning meeting in April, 2012, a wide range of national, regional, and international organizations pledged to coordinate both humanitarian and development activities around the common agenda of resilience. The

Global Alliance for Action for Drought Resilience and Growth was established to facilitate coordination to harmonize policies and align support for strategic investments. The World Bank, the African Development Bank, the European Commission, DFID, GIZ, KFW, and other development partners including USAID are putting in place expanded programs for the drylands.

IGAD has helped to coordinate national authorities as they have organized resilience agendas that leverage multiple ministries and programs. Teams in each country were formed to write Country Programming Papers (CPPs) following a common outline that covers the following issues: 1) Natural resource management, 2) Conflict resolution and peace-building, 3) Disaster risk reduction, 4) Livelihoods and basic services support,

5) Market access and trade, and 6) Knowledge management and research. Support to the country teams has been provided by the Technical Consortium for Building Resilience to Drought in the Horn of Africa. This is a project supported by USAID/Washington that is led by the International Livestock and Research Institute (ILRI) on behalf of the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research (CGIAR) system in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Investment Center in Rome. CPPs have been completed for Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Uganda, and Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan. At the regional level, the IDDRSI platform has identified cross-border and regional issues in the CPPs and has consulted with stakeholders to develop a Regional Programming Paper (RPP). Donor groups focused on resilience issues have been formed within existing frameworks at the local, national, and regional levels.

C.3.2 USAID’s Joint Planning Cell (JPC). Internally, USAID initiated a process to better coordinate the planning and implementation of humanitarian and development activities within the Horn of Africa that included the establishment a Joint Planning Cell (JPC) linking the Kenya, Ethiopia, and East Africa Missions as well as the following Bureaus: Africa; Food Security; Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance;

and Policy, Planning and Learning. The JPC was tasked to develop a new strategic approach to foster economic and social resilience in the Horn of Africa, focused on harmonizing investments to fuel longer-term development. The team developed the schema in Figure 1 below to illustrate a strategy for integrating humanitarian and development assistance. USAID’s response to the crisis is carried out as part of the missions’ ongoing Feed the Future strategies working with key African governments, stakeholders, and development partners.

This strategy encompasses a new model for planning, coordination, and integration within USAID that includes joint planning and shared learning among the Kenya, Ethiopia, and East Africa missions as well as:

Planning across economic growth and humanitarian programming units, Regional investments to support and enhance country-level impacts, Joint programming with government and development partners to increase scale, effectiveness and impact, and Applying common programmatic lenses: risk, resilience, governance and growth across all program interventions for increased coherence and impact.

Figure 1: Strategy for Integrating Humanitarian and Development Assistance

The USAID bilateral missions in Ethiopia and Kenya have put in place new projects to move the resilience agenda forward. The Ethiopia mission is building on solid experience linking humanitarian and development assistance through the Productive Safety Nets, Pastoralist Livelihoods, and other programs. The Pastoralists Areas Resilience Improvement through Market Expansion (PRIME) project is designed to reach 250,000 households in three dryland regions. Its nutrition component will scale up “milk matters,” a successful model for extending the periods when milk is available to young children by making fodder available to lactating animals in dry seasons. The Agricultural Growth Program – Livestock Market Development Program is supporting increased competitiveness of livestock value chains. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), in partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and other organizations, has developed an I-Pad application that integrates data from various sources to guide the process of deciding where to drill high-yielding groundwater wells in the Somali region. The mission is contributing to the Livelihood Integration Unit (LIU) to support and build capacity of the national and the regional governments in Afar, Somali and Oromia to build early warning and climate change predication systems, enhancing their capacity to respond to drought crises. The Financial and Business Services Project (FABS) is developing Islamic financial products and services for pastoralists and other clients in the drylands. Other projects are supporting land tenure policy, mitigating and reducing conflicts over natural resources, and developing workforce skills for youth transitioning away from pastoralism. The Ethiopia mission is also developing a knowledge management and learning project with which the Resilience Learning Project is expected to link.

The Kenya mission has awarded two linked projects. Resilience and Growth in the Arid Lands - Improving Resilience (REGAL-IR) is partnering with the government, the World Food Program (WFP), and other agencies in five counties: Turkana, Marsabit, Wajir, Isiolo, and Garissa. It is leveraging activities supported by OFDA. REGAL-IR is employing a community-driven development approach to strengthen mechanisms for conflict management and to build social, economic, and environmental resilience. Focus areas are disaster risk reduction, community management of natural resources, improved market access, diversified livelihood opportunities, and improved nutrition. Resilience and Growth in the Arid Lands - Accelerated Growth (REGAL-AG) is designed to catalyze economic growth in two arid counties, Marsabit and Isiolo, by improving the inclusiveness and competitiveness of the livestock value chain, while furthering diverse livestock-related economic opportunities.

The East Africa regional mission is providing support to the IGAD Secretariat to strengthen its capacity to implement IDDRSI. The support is focused on building human resource capacity, supporting the knowledge management program, and strengthening the broader administrative and financial management systems of the Secretariat. Support is coordinated with that of other donors through IGAD’s Institutional Strengthening Action Plan (ISAP). A grant to the African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) is supporting the development and implementation of Standard Methods and Procedures in Animal Health.

The goal of the project is the implementation of harmonized animal health standards and procedures in the Greater Horn of Africa region, combined with training to build the capacity of the national veterinary services. This will facilitate the movement of live animals and animal products within the region, and also to international markets in the Middle East and beyond.

C.4 PROJECT RATIONALE: MUTUAL LEARNING AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

FOR BUILDING RESILIENCE

To achieve the objectives of these and other programs in the drylands, significant attention must be invested in shared learning and knowledge management. The contractor must work with USAID implementing partners through the JPC and cooperate with IGAD’s IDDRSI platform to engage with wider range of governments, stakeholders, and development partners.

Resilience is defined by USAID as the ability of individuals, households, communities, countries and systems to mitigate, adapt to, and recover from shocks and stresses in a manner that reduces chronic vulnerability and facilitates inclusive growth.1 Building resilience in the drylands of the Horn of Africa requires an approach that leverages critical support to meet humanitarian needs with development investments, to break the cycle of recurrent emergencies that impact ever greater numbers of people at ever greater cost, which diverts resources away from long-term development. The concept of resilience is applied in a wide range of contexts, from psychology to public health to global climate change. This project is focused on drought resilience in the drylands of the Horn of Africa, where pastoralist livestock production is an important part of the land use system.

C.4.1 A Conceptual Shift. Solid evidence-based analysis of the dynamics in the dry lands is an essential first step. Over 60 years of compiled research indicates that in pastoralist areas, middle and better off pastoralists are generally becoming more commercially-oriented and wealthier, while lower middle and poorer pastoralists are seeing their herds dwindle, gradually becoming poorer and moving out of pastoralism into other kinds of livelihoods within their communities, or migrating to cities or even to other countries. Based on this analysis, USAID has adopted a two-pronged approach to drylands programming – assisting successful pastoralists to improve livestock production and sales, and assisting those moving out of pastoralism to make the transition to new livelihoods. Knowledge management is fundamental to informing program design and implementation, as well as policy decisions with major impact on the enabling environment. The outputs of

1 Building Resilience to Recurrent Crisis: USAID Policy and Program Guidance, 2012 the Resilience Learning Project, IDDRSI, and a wide range of related programs will also inform every step of the process, moving from chronic humanitarian crises to resilience and development.

Building resilience requires an approach that leverages ongoing support to meet humanitarian needs while increasing development investments. Both are needed to break out of the vicious cycle of protracted livelihood crises and persistent emergencies in the drylands. On the humanitarian side, this means broadening the perspective of projects for disaster risk reduction (DRR) towards a systems approach to drought cycle management and programming that provides a foundation for development investments. On the development side, it means creating an enabling environment for economic growth that builds the resilience of vulnerable populations, broadening the foundation of households and communities with the resources and capacities to take advantage of wider economic opportunities. It also requires flexible management approaches, such as the ‘crisis modifier,’ which allow development-oriented programs to pivot quickly to support crisis response measures on short notice. This allows project managers to shift into emergency response based on early warning indicators, and to undertake livelihood protection activities such as de-stocking, emergency fodder supply to breeding stock, and appropriate animal health interventions in a timely way in the early stages of a drought.

Building resilience requires multiple dimensions of engagement to improve adaptive capacity and build stable food security over time. Key factors include increasing incomes and access to food, diversifying the foods in the diet and their utilization to improve nutritional quality, securing assets such as land and livestock, deploying social safety nets, and improving access to basic services. Building resilience requires an expanded view of the actors and institutions involved. These include communities, local governments, and civil society organizations, as well as customary institutions involved in the management of rangelands, water, and other natural resources, conflict mitigation, and disaster risk management. Gender must be embedded in resilience programs, given that men and women face different risks and have different options for mitigating, managing, and responding to them. Special attention must be given to working with the private sector: sharing reliable information, promoting innovative mechanisms for managing risk, and building a more predictable regulatory environment to encourage increased investments. Private investments are needed to build the competitiveness of livestock value chains, a major source of incomes and growth in the drylands. The private sector also has a critical role to play in creating jobs for the substantial proportion of the population that is moving out of pastoral livestock production. The aspirations, opportunities, and challenges of youth need to be incorporated into community development planning.

Building resilience requires building on successful adaptive strategies that have been applied over the years by communities and externally funded programs in the dry lands of the Horn of Africa. New investment programs must learn how best to leverage and accelerate existing positive adaptations and dynamics of change. These programs must be careful not to compete with or undermine ongoing good practices. They must learn how to facilitate positive adaptations in new places, and to mitigate dynamics that would benefit only a few to the detriment of the majority.

The contractor must undertake a coordinated learning agenda with rigorous identification of “best practices” to be documented, turned into guidelines, and translated into policy change and implementation at the local, national, and regional levels. The concept of a “best practice” requires dialogue among governments, stakeholders, and development partners with good knowledge of local conditions. The objective is not just to transfer technologies and practices from one place to another, but to promote mutual learning and knowledge management among governments, stakeholders and development partners, leading to appropriate choices in different environments and institutional contexts. A strong evidence base is needed to promote good policies that will facilitate scaling up and increase the impacts of programs on drought resilience and growth.

C.4.2 A Programmatic Shift. The conceptual shift described above needs to be matched by programmatic and operational shifts on the ground that reflect improved and strengthened “ways of doing business”. Models proposed for sequencing, layering, and integrating humanitarian and development assistance in support of a comprehensive resilience and economic growth program need to be applied.

Appropriate methods for combining humanitarian and development resources, actors and projects/activities must be generated and tested as needed.

The programmatic shift must operationalize learning about how to leverage, accelerate and replicate positive adaptations and mitigate negative adaptations. It must include coordination, collaboration and learning between institutions and individuals accustomed to working in separate work streams. The explicit and critical inclusion of private sector actors, civil society and customary institutions increases complexity for coordination and learning, but promises greater impact. As a regional program, the Resilience Learning Project will focus first on regional and cross border issues and will have a mandate to promote cross regional learning by sharing proven best practices both within and between countries. Partnerships will be leveraged to ensure that program activities are translated into benefits that extend to national and community level efforts.

A good example of implementation of this learning approach has been underway in Ethiopia for the last seven years through the Pastoralist Livelihoods Learning and Policy Initiative. Seventeen impact assessments on different program activities were undertaken to inform best practice and to develop guidelines and policies. A major impact was the development and adoption of Emergency Livestock Guidelines by the Ethiopian government. These were based on best practice assessments in many countries (including Kenya) and action research on different types of interventions. Emergency de-stocking – selling livestock early in a drought to preserve their price and leave more fodder and water for remaining animals -- was found to be particularly effective, with a 40:1 benefit cost ratio. Emergency livestock vaccination campaigns, on the other hand, were found to have no impact on livestock mortality, and were dropped in favor of other health interventions including parasite control and de-stocking. These findings have been incorporated into emergency guidelines now in active use by the Ethiopian government and stakeholders.

The success of the Resilience Learning Project will be judged by how it contributes to practical policy and programmatic decisions appropriate to specific contexts at local, national, and regional levels. It must identify activities where it can cooperate with, complement, and add value to ongoing programs of institutions and coordinating bodies including governments, NGOs, the private sector, and regional organizations.

C.5 DEVELOPMENT HYPOTHESIS

The contractor must build upon the following development hypothesis:

Increasing resilience and growth in the Horn of Africa requires (1) intentional, facilitated collaboration across projects, activities, and mechanisms; (2) shared action among stakeholders at community, national and regional levels; and (3) shared learning to collaboratively understand what technologies, innovations, and/or implementation models are effective in increasing resilience and growth.

C.6 TECHNICAL APPROACH

The Resilience Learning Project is comprised of five components, mirroring the five intermediate results in the Results Framework (Figure 2). Components 1 - 4 build upon one another to encourage continuous adjustments to programming the policy framework. Component 5 is focused on gender – which will be integrated throughout the Resilience Learning Project. It is critical that these components are approached not as discrete activity areas, but rather as interlinked parts of an integrated program that leverages synergies and achieves maximum cumulative impact.

Figure 2: Resilience Learning Results Framework

The illustrative examples provided in the following section are meant to aid the offerors in their thinking as they bring their own experiences, insights, and expertise to bear on the approaches they propose. The contractor must undertake a coordinated learning agenda with rigorous identification of best practices to be documented, turned into guidelines, and translated into policy change and implementation at the local, national, and regional levels. A strong evidence base is needed promote good policies that will facilitate scaling up and increase the impacts of programs on drought resilience and growth. Additionally, all lessons learned and evidence gathered through the performance of subsequent task orders must be shared through Task Order 01.

C.6.1: Resilience-enhancing technologies and innovations disseminated. The contractor must identify, evaluate, synthesize, and learn about how best to collaboratively apply existing and new evidence related to technologies or innovations. The contractor must seek out and leverage existing practices and technologies that pastoral communities have devised and that are having positive impacts on resilience. On a demand-driven basis, the contractor must conduct specific analyses, impact assessments, and/or meta-level evaluations to better understand what technologies and/or other innovations are effective in addressing issues identified by implementers on the ground.

The contractor will engage relevant audiences and stakeholders in testing promising technologies and innovations, learn collaboratively with them how best to apply innovations to ongoing field activities, and

IR 1

Resilience‐Enhancing Technologies and

Innovations Disseminated

IR 2

Models for Integrating

Humanitarian and Development Assistance Developed and Tested

IR 3

Collaboration, Learning, and

Adaptation (CLA) Approach Catalyzed

1.1 Existing technologies and best practices

identified and made accessible

1.2 Evidence from comparative assessments

and analyses of technologies and innovations across programs and projects generated

3.1 Monitoring and learning systems of

regional, national, and local institutions facilitated through technical assistance, training, and peer learning

Goal: Increased Drought Resilience and Economic Growth in the Drylands at the Community, National, and Regional Levels

3.2 Best practices based on well‐

documented lessons learned shared widely for scaling up

IR 4:

Knowledge Management Capacity of Regional, National, and Local Institutions Strengthened

2.1 Peer learning networks of selected

organizations working on humanitarian relief and development facilitated

IR 5:

Gender Issues Key to Resilience and Growth Incorporated at All Levels

2.2

Case studies and guidelines to guide policies and program designs distributed

Project Objective: Mutual Learning and Knowledge Management Among Strategic Partners Leads to Supportive Policy Environment and Increased Impacts of Programming on

Drought Resilience and Growth evaluate the application of new technologies and innovations to assess their impact on resilience and growth.

The contractor must design and implement activities that will make technologies and innovations available, and must follow up to facilitate their adaptation and adoption. The following, which is not an exhaustive list, are illustrative activities the contractor may be required to provide:

Identify key areas of interest related to technologies and innovations, collaboratively with the USAID missions and their implementing partners, in order to develop a work plan for this component.

Focus on mechanisms to share technologies and innovations across borders.

Identify promising technologies and interventions that effectively integrate humanitarian and development assistance, and undertake independent impact assessments where needed to determine what is the best practice for a given context.

Identify innovations and technologies that break through gender barriers that currently impede the resilience of households in dryland communities.

Identify innovations that effectively build skills and employment opportunities for youth.

Synthesize existing and ongoing research, identifying relevant information on technologies and innovations for key stakeholders, and translating it into forms that are accessible to key stakeholders.

Develop and implement collaborative learning strategies that actively engage stakeholders at the community, national, and regional levels in testing and applying new technologies and innovations.

Document behavior change at the community level through learning and adaptation processes.

Establish working partnerships with ongoing programs at the community, national, and regional levels to a) provide leadership on nutrition issues in the drylands, and b) deepen the understanding of the differences, roles and synergies between clinical nutrition interventions, public health nutrition initiatives, and agriculture and livelihoods-linked nutrition policies and programs.

Translate research findings into best practice guidelines and policies that can inform project implementation.

C.6.2 Models for integrating humanitarian and development assistance developed and tested. The contractor must identify, evaluate, and foster collaborative learning around new models for leveraging humanitarian interventions for longer-term development. The project will bring together organizations with different objectives and incentives, using whatever leverage is available to encourage joint efforts. The project will assist organizations with various specific objectives along the humanitarian to development continuum to collaborate and coordinate, learn through impact assessments and other methods, and to adapt their activities based on evidence-based learning. The project will apply rigorous evaluation methods to measure the impact and effectiveness of new implementation models, and to generate the evidence needed for effective collaborative learning.

The contractor must draw upon the literature and field experience in the Horn of Africa to develop, test, and document models and activities that facilitate integrated planning and implementation of humanitarian and development assistance. The following, which is not an exhaustive list, are illustrative activities the contractor may be required to provide:

Select proven practices and models from existing humanitarian and development interventions at the community level as well as from ongoing projects, practices, technologies and interventions.

Synthesize existing evaluations and/or conduct meta-evaluations that generate evidence that documents the impact or effectiveness of new and experimental approaches.

Support existing new peer learning and collaborative networks, and help establish new ones where needed.

C.6.3: Collaboration, Learning, and Adaptation (CLA) approach catalyzed. The contractor must facilitate and catalyze Collaboration, Learning and Adaptation (CLA), bringing practitioners together to learn about and apply effective implementation models. Evidence from research and evaluations will be synthesized into best practice guides for implementation, to be discussed, tested and refined based on field experience. The application of the learning cycle will involve researchers, evaluators, knowledge management experts, and development partners. Finally, and most importantly, CLA involves change and adaptation based on learning and evidence. The project will help facilitate a process for change management to ensure widespread adoption of new models and practices.

The contractor must apply the principles of collaboration, learning, and adaptation from the literature and from experience in contexts relevant to resilience. The following, which is not an exhaustive list, are illustrative activities the contractor may be required to provide:

Conduct mapping of who’s doing what where, develop a collaboration plan, and facilitate/catalyze coordination and collaboration.

Undertake impact assessments of programs which could represent best practice.

Provide technical assistance to build capacity in collaborative learning. Many organizations know about traditional knowledge management that captures and disseminates knowledge, but know less about how to create incentives for applying and adopting knowledge that leads to change.

Provide training to governments, stakeholders, and development partners on the Collaboration, Learning, and Adaptation (CLA) approach.

Facilitate peer learning opportunities, and collaborative networks to learn about effective new technologies, innovations, and implementation models.

Promote learning about adaptive management in light of unpredicted changes and shocks.

Participate in regular meetings of governments, stakeholders, and development partners at which lessons learned are shared.

Ensure that the layered M&E systems for individual USAID projects, the JPC initiative, the country

CPPs, the regional RPP, and the Global Alliance support the CLA agenda.

C.6.4: Knowledge management capacity of regional, national, and local institutions strengthened.

The contractor must provide demand-driven technical assistance to regional institutions and strategies, including:

IGAD’s IDDRSI, leading the regional resilience and growth agenda in the Horn of Africa, The African Union – InterAfrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR), the lead regional agency on harmonization of animal health standards and capacity building to encourage expanded trade in livestock and animal products, and

Other regional, national and local institutions to be identified.

In response to specific requests, the Resilience Learning Project must provide technical assistance to support IGAD’s IDDRSI, AU-IBAR, and other regional and national institutions.