USAID_GHANA MSR RFI.pdf

Activity Name: Market Systems and Resilience Activity

Date of Issuance: September 3, 2020

Responses Due: September 17, 2020

Email Responses To: rbertholon@usaid.gov with a copy to Keffiom@usaid.gov and ragojosiah@usaid.gov

The Economic Growth Office of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Ghana (USAID/Ghana) is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) in order to obtain feedback from industry. This is NOT a Request for Proposal (RFP), and is NOT to be construed as a commitment by the U.S. Government to issue an RFP, or ultimately an award, or to pay for any information voluntarily submitted as a result of this request.

The issuance of this RFI is an opportunity for USAID/Ghana to obtain responses from industry to the below listed questions. See Attachment 1 - Draft Statement of Objectives (SOO), which serves as the basis for the questions.

Questions for the Request for Information (RFI)

General Procurement Questions:

1) Please confirm whether or not (yes or no or partially) you believe your entity can satisfy the

Agency’s requirements outlined in the SOO, in accordance with FAR 10.001(A). Please also indicate whether your business is classified as a Small Business or Other Than Small Business

(Large Business) in the “Reps and Certs” section of SAM.gov.

2) USAID/Ghana is using a Statement of Objectives (SOO) requirements document format in order to provide the maximum flexibility to each offeror to propose an innovative approach via a

Performance Work Statement (PWS), which is a statement of work for performance-based acquisitions that describes the required results in clear, specific, and objective terms with measurable outcomes. As such, it is requested that you share with USAID/Ghana any ambiguity or areas in the SOO that require further amplification or clarification by USAID in order for your organization to respond to a solicitation with a PWS. Note that USAID intends to clarify the required format for the PWS in Section L of the Solicitation.

3) USAID/Ghana intends to request a Small Business Subcontracting Plan as part of the solicitation, in adherence to FAR 19.702. It would be expected that the Prime Contractor submit the Individual

Subcontract Report (ISR), and the Summary Subcontract Report (SSR) using the Electronic

Subcontracting Reporting System (eSRS) (http://www.esrs.gov), per FAR 19.704(a)(10)(iv). Please share any concerns you have with subcontracting to small businesses.

Technical Questions:

4) The COVID-19 pandemic as well as potential climate and economic shocks may render it difficult for some of the work envisioned in this SOO to be accomplished. How will the Contractor address these challenges?

mailto:rbertholon@usaid.gov mailto:Keffiom@usaid.gov mailto:ragojosiah@usaid.gov

5) How can a behavior-led approach be brought to bear in order to achieve the proposed activity results?

6) Does the SOO ensure that adequate female and youth empowerment and participation will be addressed in proposals? If not, how can this be strengthened in the SOO?

7) How can nutrition-sensitive interventions be integrated into this SOO?

General Instructions:

USAID welcomes industry to respond to the RFI. All responses (comments, questions, suggestions, and enhancements) to this RFI are due to the email address above by the date listed above. Responders may provide responses through the email message platform, or through attachments to email in Microsoft

Word compatible format or Adobe Acrobat formats. Please number pages consecutively beginning with

Page 1 and limit your submission to no more than three (3) pages (not including cover page) using no less than 12-point font, single-spaced with one inch margins on the electronic equivalent of 8.5 x 11 inch paper.

USAID posts its competitive business opportunities for acquisitions on www.betaSAM.gov, in adherence to FAR Part 10.002(b)(2)(iii). It is the potential Offeror’s responsibility to monitor these sites for announcements of new opportunities. Please note that responding to this RFI will not give any advantage to any organization or individual in any subsequent competition. Responses may be used by USAID without restriction or limitation, therefore proprietary information should not be sent. Responses to this

RFI will not be returned and respondents will not be notified of the result of the review. If an RFP is issued, it will be announced on www.betaSAM.gov at a later date, and all interested parties must respond to that

RFP separately from any response to this RFI. This RFI does not restrict the Government’s approach on a future RFP.

USAID appreciates any feedback provided. Thank you for your time and interest in USAID’s activities.

Sincerely, Keisha L. Effiom

Director, Regional Acquisition and Assistance Office http://www.fbo.gov/ http://www.fbo.gov/

ATTACHMENT J.1

STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES FOR THE MARKET SYSTEMS AND RESILIENCE

ACTIVITY

PURPOSE

The purpose of the Market Systems and Resilience (MSR) Activity is to increase inclusive agriculture-led economic growth in northern Ghana through competitive, stronger, and more resilient markets.

PERFORMANCE PERIOD AND COST

The performance period for the MSR Activity is five years at a total estimated cost (TEC) of

$37,813,086.

TARGET AREA, CROPS, AND POPULATION

The target area for the MSR Activity is the Feed the Future (FtF) Ghana Zone of Influence (ZOI)

[see Annex 1], which has high levels of stunting and poverty, low levels of women’s empowerment, high potential for agricultural growth, low access to water resources, and has opportunities for leveraging other USAID, government of Ghana, private sector and donor investments. The ZOI covers 17 districts in the Northern, Upper East, and Upper West regions of northern Ghana, as follows:

● Northern Region: Gushiegu, Karaga, Mion, Sagnerigu, Nanton, Yendi Municipal

● North East Region: East Mamprusi, Mamprugu Moagduri

● Upper East Region: Bawku Municipal, Bawku West, Garu, Tempane

● Upper West Region: Daffiama Bussie Issa, Nadowli-Kaleo, Sissala East, Sissala West, Wa East

The target crops for the MSR Activity are staple crops, such as maize, soybean, groundnut, and cowpea, and high-value export-oriented crops, such as horticulture, shea, and other tree crops.

These crops are included in the FtF Ghana Food Security Strategy (GFSS) Country Plan and are important for income generation, nutrition, soil management, risk mitigation, and womens’ and youth empowerment.

The target population of the MSR Activity is market actors in the ZOI, especially smallholder farmers (SHFs), women, youth, and other marginalized groups who tend to be excluded from local markets. Market actors from outside the ZOI can participate to drive improvements in the

ZOI.

BACKGROUND

PROBLEM STATEMENT

A considerable gap persists between northern and southern Ghana in poverty rates, incomes, nutrition, and child well-being. Despite an overall reduction in Ghana’s poverty rate from 52 percent to 28 percent over the past 10 years, northern Ghana has poverty rates nearly twice that of southern Ghana1. The World Bank reports that while the number of the poor decreased by 2.5 million in southern Ghana, it increased by nearly 1 million in northern Ghana2.

The primary agricultural sector accounts for 22% of Ghana’s GDP and employs more than half the labor force. The broader agri-food system, covering agribusiness; transport of agricultural goods; agro-processing; and the catering, restaurant and hotel industries, generated 38.2% of

GDP and 54.8% of employment in 2017. During 2013-2017, the agri-food system GDP grew annually at 2.6% and employment in the agri-food system grew annually at 1.7%, reaching $20.8 billion and 6.1 million workers in 20173. Yet, smallholder production dominates in northern

Ghana. About 80 percent of agriculture in Ghana is produced by smallholder farmers growing food for consumption and cash crops on an average of 1.2 hectares. Infrastructure, processing, storage, and marketing facilities are rudimentary; and droughts, erosion of arable land, and floods have contributed to low agricultural productivity and weak market access.

Ghana’s market systems have weak regulations and standards, inadequate coordination among market actors; inadequate private sector engagement in input distribution networks; lack of product diversity; insufficient market size; and limited financial services for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Ghana’s market size, especially that in the ZOI, is insufficient to attract large investments that benefit from economies of scale, except for export-oriented products. While the growing urban middle class increasingly demands high-quality processed foods4, consumption among the urban poor is shifting to cheap convenience foods (Dixon, et al., 2007). Dietary shifts among consumers present an opportunity to expand and modernize

Ghanaian food industries. Yet, food needs are met increasingly through imports (Rakotoarisoa,

et. al., 2012). Food imports in Ghana tripled (GH¢ 1.5–4.5 bn) from 2009 to 2013(GSS 2014) and currently comprise between 8 and 14% of primary agricultural products and 47% of processed food products (Arndt and Hartley, 2017). Ghana cannot meet local demand and compete in global markets unless it improves agricultural market systems critical to its journey to self-reliance.

1 USAID, 2014

2 Ibid 3 Thurlow, James. Measuring Changes in Ghana’s Agri-food System. Report to USAID/BFS. 2019.

4 Tschirley, et. al., 2015

RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER ACTIVITIES

Strategic Alignment between Ghana and USAID Strategies

The MSR Activity aligns with Ghana’s 2018-2021 Medium-term National Development Policy framework vision of “A transformed Northern Savannah Ecological Zone (NSEZ); a place of opportunity and free from poverty.” The MSR Activity contributes to President Nana Akufo-

Addo’s vision to move “Ghana Beyond Aid,” a national transformation agenda comprising a compact of a Wealthy, Inclusive, Sustainable, Empowered, and Resilient (WISER) Ghana. The

MSR Activity should align with the Government of Ghana Investing for Food and Jobs initiatives, including:

● Planting for Food and Jobs

● Rearing for Food and Jobs

● 1 District 1 Factory (1D1F); among others

USAID defines self-reliance as the capacity to plan, finance, and implement solutions to local development challenges, and the commitment to see these solutions through effectively, inclusively, and with accountability. MSR supports USAID’s strategy of the Journey to Self-

Reliance and aligns with the below USG and USAID strategies and policies:

● Global Food Security Strategy

● Local Systems: A Framework for Supporting Sustained Development

● Private Sector Engagement Policy

● Youth in Development Policy

● Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy

● Getting Employment to Work for Self Reliance: A USAID Framework for Programming

● USAID's Digital Strategy (2020-2024)

USAID/Ghana Activities

The Contractor must apply USAID/Ghana’s behavior change approach to the activity, as described in the new Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) [see Annex 2: How

MSR aligns with the CDCS]. With this approach, USAID/Ghana will move from traditional donor-driven interventions to allowing key stakeholders to define and solve problems. The MSR

Activity is aligned with the CDCS under Development Objective (DO) 1 - Broad-based economic growth accelerated and sustained; and Development Objective (DO) 3 - Sustainable development accelerated in northern Ghana. These DOs encompass businesses expanding by improving the quality and diversity of their goods and services, adopting services that improve the functionality of market systems, and creating an enabling environment for market actors to invest more in goods and services. The Contractor must implement the MSR Activity in partnership with stakeholders so interventions target beneficiaries to adopt practices for sustained change.

https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1867/USG-Global-Food-Security-Strategy-2016.pdf https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1870/LocalSystemsFramework.pdf https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1865/usaid_psepolicy_final.pdf https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1870/Youth_in_Development_Policy_0.pdf https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1865/GenderEqualityPolicy_0.pdf https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1865/EF-FINAL-2019-11-12.pdf https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/15396/USAID_Digital_Strategy.pdf

MSR is the flagship activity under GFSS (see Ghana Country Plan). The Contractor’s proposed approach must be aligned with the GFSS and USAID activities.

Prior Activities: The MSR Activity builds on USAID’s investments in market systems. The

Agricultural Development and Value Chain Enhancement I and II activities improved the livelihoods of 113,000 SHFs and boosted the productivity of rice, maize, and soy value chains.

The Ghana Feed the Future Agriculture Policy Support Project opened private sector investment in irrigation infrastructure and high-quality seed supply. The Financing Ghana Agriculture

Project facilitated access to finance in the agriculture sector. The Agriculture Technology

Transfer Project significantly transformed the country's seed sector through increased availability of certified seeds and other agricultural technologies to sustain productivity for farmers.

USAID/Ghana’s public-private partnership with Sahel Grains Limited created linkages with

SHFs and improved their production and post-harvest handling practices. The FtF Ghana

Agriculture and Natural Resource activity built USAID’s resilience strategy with the goal of addressing environmental, agricultural, governance and natural resource management challenges using natural and non-traditional agriculture products. USAID/Ghana supported the Savannah

Agriculture Research Institute to improve capacity for agricultural research in northern Ghana and to develop and disseminate agricultural technologies to farmers.

Current Activities: The Contractor must align with USAID’s Private Sector Engagement Policy to build the capacity of markets to be more efficient and sustainable in the provision and consumption of goods and services. The Contractor must contribute to implementing USAID initiatives that promote investments in market-driven reforms.

The Contractor must coordinate and partner with the following USAID/Ghana activities but not limited to:

● The Partnership for Inclusive Agricultural Transformation in Africa

● USAID/Ghana Trade and Investment Activity

● USAID West Africa Trade and Investment Hub

● Mobilizing Finance for Agriculture Activity

● Northern Ghana Governance Activity

● Resilience in Northern Ghana

● Fisheries Activity

● Health Systems Strengthening

● Power Africa (for productive uses of electricity)

● Prosper Africa

● Feed the Future Innovation Labs

Other USG and Donor Coordination

Despite donor interest in market system development, a number of notable activities recently ended, or will soon end. The U.K. Department for International Development’s Market https://www.feedthefuture.gov/resource/global-food-security-strategy-gfss-ghana-country-plan/

Development Programme for Northern Ghana (MADE) is improving livelihoods and incomes for the poor in northern Ghana. MADE contributed to agribusiness enterprises developing robust market systems for inputs, services, and products. The International Fund for Agricultural

Development’s Rural Enterprises Programme (REP) is improving the target population's access to business development services, appropriate technology and skills, and financial services. REP is creating an enabling institutional, regulatory and policy environment for the growth of rural micro and small enterprises. GIZ’s Market Oriented Agriculture Programme promoted income-generating business models for competitive agricultural value chains and improved the ability of value chain actors to compete in national, regional, and international markets. The Alliance for a

Green Revolution in Africa aims to leverage resources of partners to catalyze and sustain an inclusive agricultural transformation in Africa and increase capacity of smallholder farming households and agricultural systems to better prepare for and adapt to shocks and stresses.

Canada continues to support Ghana’s agricultural system by providing direct budgetary support to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, including for the Research-Extension Linkages

Committees — a concept developed in the Ghana Grains Development Project.

CONTRACT OBJECTIVES

The Contractor must apply a market systems development approach to achieve the objectives outlined below. The Contractor must identify and minimize the root causes of market failures, and create incentives for actors to invest in developing and sustaining productive relationships for the efficient and resilient delivery of goods and services. These incentives are particularly important to encourage behavior change among individuals, communities, and institutions to transition from subsistence to commercial agriculture.

DESCRIPTION OF OBJECTIVES

Objective 1: Increase commercialization and profitability of agriculture markets

Agriculture in northern Ghana is largely subsistence farming, without fundamental business practices to create market opportunities. The Contractor must develop and implement a strategy that encourages market actors to adopt improved agronomic practices, and increase the access to and use of inputs, mechanization, irrigation and other water management strategies, extension services, and business information; and to connect them to market systems. The strategy must address the root causes of low profitability, market failures, and gender inequalities to promote gender-based reforms in agriculture markets; facilitate market actors to invest in commercialization; integrate science, technology, innovation and partnership to increase crop and product diversification; improve post-harvest handling and processing and food safety practices; increase product value to meet standards for domestic and international end-markets; and decrease environmental risk and vulnerability to shocks. The strategy must include considerations for building capacities to support market systems resilience to protect the gains made towards commercialization and profitability.

https://www.marketlinks.org/post/market-systems-resilience-measurement-resources

Objective 2: Increase institutional capacity of market actors

The principal market actors are SHFs, MSMEs, regional and district agriculture units, civil society organizations, agriculture research institutes, and universities. Partnerships among these actors are piecemeal and not sustained. Low levels of transparency, trust, and information exchange lead to poor service delivery and create barriers for the poor, women, youth, and ethnic minorities to participate in markets. The Contractor must collaborate with market actors and excluded groups to strengthen and increase the consistency of business performance and relationships; to attract investment to improve quality and diversity of goods and services; to increase transfer of agricultural innovations to SHFs; to improve agronomic, vocational, technical, and business skills; to promote business development services as a means of increasing market opportunities; and to create incentives for women and youth to enter agricultural markets.

This institutional capacity must also consider the roles of the market actors in contributing to resilience that support risk mitigation and management prior to shocks and positive coping and adaptation after shocks (i.e. weather, institutional, conflict, etc.) occur.

Objective 3: Improve market access and quality of business services

Market actors have limited access to financial services, market and weather information, extension/advisory services, and logistical services. Women and youth disproportionately face impediments in accessing finance due to high collateral requirements and prevailing gender norms. The Contractor must facilitate application of innovative technologies to improve market information flows; to disseminate research and development outputs; to strengthen and expand inclusive finance mechanisms (e.g., VSLAs and digital banking) that reach women, youth and other marginalized groups; to facilitate market actors to increase the supply of and the demand for improved business services; and to increase market entry of women and youth.

The Contractor must build on outgrower business models and buyer-sponsored outgrower schemes when leveraging the capabilities of business services. These models have increased sales and revenues for SHFs; increased their access to and utilization of inputs and services;

established long-term relationships among SHFs, buyers, aggregators, processors, MSMEs, and agro input companies; and opened new end-markets and pulled in smaller actors as suppliers, among them women and youth. The Contractor must integrate considerations as to how types of market access and business services can enhance market systems resilience capacities.

Objective 4: Improve the enabling environment for local market actors

Communities, firms, organizations, and government agencies lack commitment and enforcement capacity to regulate markets. The Contractor must engage the government, market actors, and civil society to develop and advocate for policies that improve functioning of markets with respect to risk reduction and management, business performance, and opportunities for market growth and continuity in the face of shocks and stresses. The Contractor must strengthen institutions to increase the compliance and enforcement of formal and informal market regulations on sanitary, phytosanitary, food safety, and seed quality standards.

RESULTS AND INDICATORS

The Contractor must measure and track indicators for each objective. The Contractor must track and report on standard indicators in the Standard Foreign Assistance economic growth indicator reference sheets and the Feed the Future Indicator Handbook. The Contractor may develop custom indicators and review indicators included in reports of previous USAID agricultural activities found on the Development Experience Clearinghouse. The Contractor must develop final baselines and targets in consultation with USAID and must indicate proposed baselines and targets, where available or appropriate. In addition, the Contractor is required to include standardized indicators from the GFSS (put sample indicators in attachment J.X in annex).

GRANTS UNDER CONTRACTS

Grants may be included in the Performance Work Statement and considered under this contract. However, no grants can be issued until the Head of the Contracting Activity (HCA) at

USAID/Ghana approves grants, as stipulated in ADS 302.3.4.13. In addition, all requirements of ADS 302.3.5.6, including the usage of agency policy and requirements, the ability of USAID to terminate grant activities, and USAID involvement in establishing selection criteria and the selection of recipients must be followed.

[END OF STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES]

Questions for the Request for Information (RFI)

Overall Questions:

Questions for the Request for Information (RFI)

General Procurement Questions:

1. Please confirm whether or not (yes or no or partially) you believe your entity can satisfy the Agency’s requirements outlined in the SOO, in accordance with FAR 10.001(A).

Please also indicate whether your business is classified as a Small Business or Other

Than Small Business (Large Business) in the “Reps and Certs” section of SAM.gov.

2. USAID/Ghana is using a Statement of Objectives (SOO) requirements document format in order to provide the maximum flexibility to each offeror to propose an innovative https://usaidlearninglab.org/library/standard-foreign-assistance-indicators https://www.agrilinks.org/post/feed-future-indicator-handbook https://dec.usaid.gov/dec/content/search.aspx approach via a Performance Work Statement (PWS), which is a statement of work for performance-based acquisitions that describes the required results in clear, specific, and objective terms with measurable outcomes. As such, it is requested that you share with

USAID/Ghana any ambiguity or areas in the SOO that require further amplification or clarification by USAID in order for your organization to respond to a solicitation with a

PWS. Note that USAID intends to clarify the required format for the PWS in Section L of the Solicitation.

3. USAID/Ghana intends to request a Small Business Subcontracting Plan as part of the solicitation, in adherence to FAR 19.702. It would be expected that the Prime Contractor submit the Individual Subcontract Report (ISR), and the Summary Subcontract Report

(SSR) using the Electronic Subcontracting Reporting System (eSRS)

(http://www.esrs.gov), per FAR 19.704(a)(10)(iv). Please share any concerns you have with subcontracting to small businesses.

Technical Questions:

1. How can nutrition-sensitive interventions be integrated into this SOO?

2. How can a behavior-led approach be brought to bear in order to achieve the proposed activity results?

3. Does the SOO ensure that adequate female and youth empowerment and participation will be addressed in proposals? If not, how can this be strengthened in the SOO?

4. The COVID-19 pandemic as well as potential climate and economic shocks may render it difficult for some of the work envisioned in this SOO to be accomplished. How will the

Contractor address these challenges?

ANNEX

Annex 1: Ghana Food Security Project Zone of Influence

* Note: At the time this map was created, Garu-Tempane in the Upper East Region was shown as one district, however it will be split into Garu and Tempane Districts, both in the Zone of Influence. In the Northern Region, Savelugu-Nanton will also be split, however only Nanton District is included in the Zone of Influence.

Northern Region North East Upper East Region Upper West Region

Gushiegu East Mamprusi Bawku Municipal Daffiama Bussie Issa

Karaga Mamprugu Moagduri Bawku West Nadowli-Kaleo

Mion Garu Sissala East

Nanton Tempane Sissala West

Sagnerigu Wa East

Yendi Municipal

Annex 2: MSR aligns to the CDCS Results Framework

CDCS MSR Activity

CDCS Goal:

A more self-reliant Ghana offering a productive, healthy life to all its citizens

Purpose:

Strengthen market systems that will result in greater efficiency, productivity, and investment in goods and services that drive agriculture-led economic growth, ultimately increase incomes for households in

Northern Ghana.

CDCS DO 1:

Broad-based economic growth accelerated and sustained

Illustrative aligned behaviors:

IR 1.1: Government strengthens the enabling environment for equitable, sustainable growth:

1.1.3 Business associations and other civil

society organizations promote an improved business enabling environment

IR 1.2 Businesses expand through efficient, productive practices

1.2.1: Businesses use financing to grow

1.2.2: Businesses use business development services to grow

1.2.3: Businesses attract greater investment from domestic and foreign sources

1.2.4: Businesses improve the quality and diversity of their goods and services.

CDCS DO 3:

Sustainable development accelerated in northern Ghana

IR 1.3: Healthy, skilled citizens contribute to economic growth

1.3.3: Workforce acquires marketable work skills

IR 3.1: Government improves equitable delivery of quality services in health, education and agriculture

3.1.3 Private sector invests in low-cost

quality services

IR 3.2: Private sector increases investment

3.2.1: Government improves incentives to stimulate private sector investment

3.2.3: Market actors strengthen market systems to meet demand

IR 3.3: Citizens adopt improved practices to advance their well-being and resilience

3.3.2: Farmers link to profitable market systems