RFA-ROP- CHAMP

Transcription

1 ANNOUNCEMENT: Extension of Deadline for Submission for Request for Application Number RFA-ROP- CHAMP Operation of CHAMP New Delhi and Mumbai Trade Offices India has extended to August 20, 2017 instead of August 13, For RFA related questions the deadline is extended to August 15, 2017 instead of July 31, 2017 and can be addressed to For submission guidelines, scope of work and other information you can refer the attached RFA and there is no changes to the original RFA and only Key dates are updated.

2 Request for Application RFA-ROP-CHAMP RFA No. RFA-ROP-CHAMP Issuance Date July 25, 2017 Re-advertised August 09, 2017 To Title Funder Issuing Office & Physical Address for Submission of Applications Local Firms/Organizations working in the export and facilitation of high value horticulture crops. Operation of CHAMP New Delhi and Mumbai Trade Offices - India Commercial Horticulture, Agriculture and Marketing Program (CHAMP) implemented by Roots of Peace (ROP) United States Agency for International Development (USAID) 306- A One sealed envelope labeled only with RFA-ROP-CHAMP Inside the envelope, two sealed and stamped envelopes (one for technical application and one for cost application). Technical application shall include the additional documents on own format. Addresses 1 - For CHAMP Kabul office: MAIL Pamir Building (ground floor), Kart-e-sakhi Kabul 2 For CHAMP Herat Office - Inside of Agriculture Directorate 3 For CHAMP Mazar Office - Inside of Agriculture Directorate 4 For CHAMP Kandahar Office - OPD (10) Aino Mina (Street 3 House Number 874) Soft Copy address: Submission for Questions Deadline for submission Point of Contact Anticipated Award Type NO APPLICATION THROUGH WILL BE ACCEPETED Questions must be submitted via only to: champprocurement@rootsofpeace.org August 15, 2017, 2 PM. August 20, 2017 before 2.00 PM Kabul Time champprocurement@rootsofpeace.org Sub-agreement

3 I. Program Background The Commercial Horticulture and Agricultural Marketing Program (CHAMP) started in 2010 to reduce poverty among rural Afghan farmers by helping them shift from relatively low-value subsistence crops, such as wheat and corn, to high-value perennial crops such as fruits and vegetables. CHAMP has worked in half of the provinces of Afghanistan, establishing fruit orchards, providing training in best agricultural practices, building storage facilities such as cool rooms and raisin drying facilities, and helping grape farmers convert from traditional groundbased vineyards to higher output trellis systems Under its current extension of the Cooperative Agreement from , CHAMP is providing focused attention to supply chain, marketing, and export promotion of Afghan fresh and dry fruits nuts, and vegetables to international markets. CHAMP continues to provide support to traders and the trade offices established in New Delhi, India and Dubai, UAE to promote Afghan agricultural products and boost their export from Afghanistan. CHAMP has expanded the focus from the previous six high-value crops and included all high-value horticultural crops suitable for export. CHAMP is helping Afghan traders and agribusinesses export up to 15,000 metric tons (MT) of high-value crops annually to wholesale markets and supermarkets in the region by focusing on two major components: 1) Supply Chain Improvement 2) Export Market Development to strengthen commercial horticultural exports from Afghanistan. To facilitate trade facilitation services and export promotion, CHAMP is working with participating traders, relevant government and nongovernmental institutions, and other donor projects to provide assistance with trade credit, food safety and quality certification and compliance with international market standards and to improve cold storage and packing houses. CHAMP also enhances the capacity of local packaging manufacturers and freight and logistics facilitators to promote agricultural trade from Afghanistan. Total project funding now stands at $61,294,444. The program promotes export-led growth by focusing on the specific requirements of retail buyers and implementing the Global Food Safety Initiative to Afghan traders. These traders will in turn transmit these increased quality standards to Afghan farmers, encouraging the farmers to produce higher quality crops and thereby increasing income and yield. By escalating high-value Afghan horticultural exports, the program will drive transformative changes in the agricultural sector in terms of completeness and economic development, especially in the field of processing and packing, with a view to becoming self-sustaining beyond the life of the project. The CHAMP trade offices in New Delhi and Dubai are instrumental in supporting the goals of the program extension. II. New Delhi and Mumbai Trade Offices Background In order to support export development efforts of Afghan traders to more promising market destinations, CHAMP has established two trade offices in India and UAE. The New Delhi and Mumbai trade offices will provide services to traders in the areas of market information, deal making, trade fair participation, customs clearance assistance, product distribution and others. These services facilitate market linkages for Afghan traders with buyers in this burgeoning market for fresh and dried fruits, nuts and vegetables, specifically for CHAMP target crops. Of 2

4 continued importance is that these services will not only lead to immediate product sales, but that they will continue and grow in a sustainable manner over time - well after the completion of CHAMP in December, The trade offices will work closely with Indian buyers, Afghan exporters and the Governments of India and Afghanistan. Note: New Delhi will be the main trade office but Mumbai will only have one staff as representative. III. Introduction to RFA Purpose of the RFA The purpose of these Request for Application (RFA) is to inform and help guide the bidding process for finding an organization, who with the sponsorship of CHAMP, will operate the India Trade Office beginning in September of this year. Interested parties (or Respondents ) can be for profit or not-for profit, non-governmental organizations. Subsequently, Respondents can be commercial firms, consulting organizations or specialized non-governmental organization working in this sector. The successful Respondent will formalize a Sub-Agreement with CHAMP to implement the Scope of Work (SOW) described in the pages that follow for a one year period, September 1, August 31, 2018, which will be renewable up through the end project, based on the operators performance. Respondents should have experience in the export of Afghan fresh and dried fruit products to New Delhi, India and/or capabilities in import operations of these products into this market. The core services is to promote and establish sustainable commercial linkages between Afghan Traders and Indian buyers in all CHAMP target crops i.e. fresh and dried fruits, nuts, vegetables, spices and medicinal herbs As part of their proposals, Respondents must describe their access to operating facilities (office space) in New Delhi/Mumbai or ability to quickly establish these, and have the capabilities to operate in this country (having the necessary licensing arrangements) for purposes of achieving the objectives described in the SOW. 2. Composition of the RFA The Request for Application are organized into four sections, A) Responding to TOR- Technical Proposal, B) Responding to RFA- Cost Proposal, C) Evaluation Criteria, and D) Evaluation of Proposals and Award Procedures The first section, Responding to RFA- Technical Proposal, will describe the information that will be required to evaluate the Respondent s Organizational capabilities, including its institutional resources, experience in the technical area of interest, capabilities to operate in the Indian market, as well as the quality of its management. It also contains the specific Scope of Work for implementing specific work assignments and operating the trade offices, as well as guidance on formulating a Work Plan for responding to the SOW. The second section, Responding to RFA- Cost Proposal provides a budget template and instructions on completing the cost information for this proposal. 3

5 The third section, Evaluation Criteria, provides a breakdown on how proposals will be evaluated amongst the different technical and cost components described in these RFA. Finally, the fourth section, Evaluation of Proposals and Award Procedures, provides a description of how the process will move from the evaluation stage to the negotiation of an award under these RFA. A. Responding to RFA - Technical Respondents should provide the requested information as described below for each technical category 1. Organization Capabilities a) Organizational Background Respondents are to provide documentation that summarizes their organization s background, including information on type of organization, principal activities. where and when established, ownership structure, management, financial details including latest balance sheet, etc. Respondents must substantiate information by submitting articles of incorporation, and relevant import/export licenses that allows them to work in Afghan-Indian trade matters. b) Management and key personnel Resumes of key management staff for the organization should be provided. Respondents must also provide key staff resumes that would be dedicated to the operation of the Trade Offices. c) Experience in related technical areas Respondents must provide a summary of their experience for the past five years in the technical areas under consideration, i.e. demonstrating capabilities in trade capacity building and/or trade facilitation for Afghan fresh and dried fruit products to the Indian market or other similar markets -ideally in Central Asia and comparable in size and scope. For this purpose, Respondents are to submit the following table: Table: Experience in Related Technical Areas Date (s) Product/Service Brief Description of activity Value of transactions/ services ($) If project, name of donor agency d) References List Evaluation will be based principally on reference checks and the track record, reputation, achievements of the organization. List six donors or partner companies leaders (three companies from Afghanistan and three companies from India) that can provide references for your company s ability to successfully carry out similar activity in the past. Briefly describe your relationship to the 4

6 reference and the nature and duration of your work together. Be sure to provide complete information, including a point of contact, with telephone and address. 2. Scope of Work, Technical Approach, Work Plan and Monitoring and Evaluation a) Scope of Work (SOW) The specific activities to be undertaken and results to be achieved are provided below under Trade offices (Respondent) Responsibilities. CHAMP responsibilities are also specified but for reference only, to give Respondents a greater appreciation of the implementation context and support that they would receive in implementation. Trade Office (Respondent) Responsibilities - Minimum Activities to be undertaken and results to be achieved: 1. Conduct market assessments of CHAMP target crops in Delhi/Mumbai and other high value markets throughout India. Identify opportunities, market capacity, potential buyers interested in Afghan products, identify potential products and much more. 2. Propose the direct import of and import facilitation of XXX MT of different Afghan produce. 3. Propose a specific (XXX) number of long term business relationship established. 4. Facilitate the operations of Afghan exporters in terms of payments, shipment documents, customs clearance, transportation and other facilities in India. Also, keep track all shipment documents. 5. Organize meetings of Afghan-Indian traders to establish long term business relationships. 6. Expand the reach of Afghan traders to other principal cities of India. 7. Facilitate and identify international events and exhibitions for Afghan fruit in India. 8. Promote CHAMP value chain produce in India besides Delhi and Mumbai. 9. Provide required market information regarding packaging, sorting, grading and any other essential information to CHAMP and Afghan traders in order to meet standards and market demand in Indian fruit markets. 10. Collect and report market information once a week to CHAMP. Also, be able to provide historical market information on pricing and sales regarding products of interest to enhance commercial opportunities for Afghan traders. 11. Provide bi-annual updates in Kabul to Afghan traders, CHAMP and other stakeholders to present performance and results achieved by Trade offices operations (presentation to be delivered by one key manager only, for travel and budgeting purposes). 12. Collection of orders from whole sale market agents and super markets before arriving the harvest season in Afghanistan and explore this opportunity with Afghan exporters through presentation to them with market specifications. 13. Import or facilitate CHAMP target crops and assure their distribution to supermarkets, wholesalers and direct importers and keep track all shipment documents. RESPONDENTS MUST PROPOSE A MINIMUM VALUE IN METRIC TONS (MTSs) OF PRODUCT THAT THEY WILL IMPORT OR FACILITATE DURING THE PERFORMANCE PERIOD. 5

7 14. Coordinate activities with the Commercial Office of the Embassies of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in India. 15. Provide Monthly, Quarterly and Annual performance reports for the office to CHAMP management. 16. Submit necessary documentation that substantiates that all expenditures were made to solely support the above referenced deliverables, and in full compliance with USAID regulations. CHAMP Responsibilities: 1. Funding the operations of the Trade offices as per the attached budget sheet. 2. Monitor activities of the Trade offices according to the specified deliverables and action plan. 3. Facilitate linkages between Trade offices and Afghan exporters to increase the volume of business deals generated by the Trade offices. 4. Facilitate required support from government entities, if needed. 5. Train and build capacity of Afghan exporters with specific post-harvest management for their exports to the Indian market. 6. Identify and collaborate with transportation companies in order to increase exports to India. 7. The business deals consummated between Afghan exporters and Indian buyers will be the sole responsibility of the Trade offices. CHAMP will not be responsible for any profit/loss incurred for these operations and not be part of any dispute resolutions. a) Technical Approach- Respondents will prepare a section titled Technical Approach, in which they will briefly describe how they intend to realize the principal objectives that are described in the SOW. In particular, Respondent must articulate their strategic approach for ensuring that the services and linkages that are established under the subagreement will endure, i.e. are made sustainable for Afghan exporters. b) Work Plan- Respondents are to present a work plan that describes how they intend to fully execute the activities and achieve the objective contained in the SOW. The Work Plan will consist of two parts. 1) Narrative that explains each proposed activity, and 2) a schedule/gant Chart that specifies when activities will be undertaken. It should be clear in the proposed schedule, when operations will be fully operative and when deliverables will be met. Respondents can propose the same activities contained in the SOW, but are encouraged to further refine or amplify these to better align with objectives. Respondents are also encouraged to present additional activities if they are pertinent to achieving the SOW s goals or objectives. HOWEVER, RESPONDENTS MUST PROPOSE A MINIMUM VALUE IN METRIC TONS (MTs) OF PRODUCT THAT THEY WILL IMPORT OR FACILITATE DURING THE PERFORMANCE PERIOD. c) Monitoring and Evaluation Plan - Explains how the respondents will determine to what degree project objectives have been achieved and how expected impacts will be qualitatively and/or quantitatively measured. Indicate who is in charge of the M&E. 6

8 B. Responding to RFA - Cost Respondents should propose pertinent cost information associated with implementing New Delhi and Mumbai Trade offices operations for one year as specified above. 1) Counterpart contributions In formulating cost proposals Respondents must propose counterpart contributions, with a minimum level set at 20 % of all activity costs. CHAMP understands that this level of contribution will be possible as Respondents will be able to generate revenue from this activity to defray their counterpart contribution costs. Further, the proposed budget must reflect cost realism and clearly be supportive of the stated objectives. 2) Budget template For purposes of formulating cost proposals, Respondents should refer to Annex I, which contains a budget template specifically for this purpose. 3) Adherence to USAID rules and regulations Payment and reimbursement of costs under this sub-agreement will be in accordance with USAID regulations. C. Evaluation Criteria Respondents proposals will be evaluated according to an assessment of their competency in addressing the RFA s major components with the corresponding maximum scores as per below: Evaluation Criteria Organizational Capacity Company organogram and key functions well explained - 15pts Company Key Staff CV 05pts Company relevant Experience In exportation - 10pts in similar activity 10pts Relevant staff skills for the proposed project 05pts Approach and Proposed Activities Approach/Methodology 05pts Work Plan 20pts Monitoring & evaluation 05pts Budget realism cost-effectiveness Maximum Score TOTAL 100 7

9 A lower budget will typically receive a higher score, as long as it is accompanied with the minimum counterpart contribution requested in Section B.1 above, is realistic and appropriate for program support. D. Evaluation of Proposals and Award Procedures Proposals will be evaluated by a formal Evaluation Committee. Proposals that do not provide all of the requested materials will not be evaluated. Further, Respondents that do not attain a minimum combined score of 40 out a total of 80 points for the first three components, 1) Organizational Capacity, including key personnel, and 2) Experience and 3) Approach and proposed activities, will not be further evaluated. The Evaluation Committee will offer the award based on highest score received during the evaluation process. The Committee reserves the right to contact the two highest Respondents if their proposals are competitive (are responsive and economically feasible) and if their respective scores are extremely close in numerical value (e.g. within about 10 %) to request their Best and Final Offers for awarding purposes. E - General Instructions 1. Applicants wishing to respond to this RFA must submit applications, in English, in accordance with the instructions. Applicants are required to review all instructions and specifications contained in this RFA. Failure to do so will be at the applicant s risk. 2. Applications are due no later than Sunday August 20 th, 2017 at 2:00 PM, to be submitted to: 1 - For CHAMP Kabul office: MAIL Pamir Building (ground floor), Kart-e-sakhi Kabul 2 For CHAMP Herat Office - Inside of Agriculture Directorate 3 For CHAMP Mazar Office - Inside of Agriculture Directorate 4 For CHAMP Kandahar Office - OPD (10) Aino Mina (Street 3 House Number 874) Always label the envelope with the RFA-ROP-CHAMP Questions may be submitted to champprocurement@rootsofpeace.org. The Application must be delivered in hard copies in sealed envelope (Technical application in one envelope and the cost application in another). Late applications will be rejected except under extraordinary circumstances at ROP s discretion. NO APPLICATION THROUGH WILL BE ACCEPETED 3. Issuance of this RFA in no way obligates ROP to award a sub-agreement. Applicant will not be reimbursed for any costs associated with the preparation or submission of their application. ROP shall in no case be responsible for liable for these costs. Each applicant is responsible for reading and complying with the terms and conditions of this RFA. Requests for clarification or additional information must be submitted in writing via or in writing to the Issuing Office as specified in the Synopsis champprocurement@rootsofpeace.org. No questions will be answered by phone. 8

10 ANNEX I Illustrative Budget for Trade offices (All items and figures are for purposes of example only) 12 - Month Proposed Budget 12- Month Proposed Counterpart Contribution (to be financed by CHAMP under this bid) (to be financed by Respondent) Costs Unit # of units Unit rate (in USD) Costs (in USD) Unit # of units Unit rate (in USD) Costs (in USD) 1. Human Resources 1.1 Salaries (gross salaries including social security charges and other related costs, local staff) Technical EXAMPLE- Marketing Manager Per month Per month EXAMPLE- Marketing Assistant Per month Per month Etc. Per month Per month Administrative/ support staff Per month Per month Salaries (gross salaries including social security charges) Subtotal Human Resources Travel

11 2.1. Domestic travel 2.2 Per diems for missions/travel Domestic) Seminar/conference participation Subtotal Travel Equipment and supplies 3.1 Furniture, computer equipment Subtotal Equipment and supplies Local office 4.1 Business license registration VAT & Paid Up Capital Provision Provision Office rent Per month Per month Storage rent & auction space Provision Per month Consumables - office supplies Per month Per month Other services (tel/fax, electricity/heating, etc) Per month Per month Subtotal Local office Other costs, services 5.1 Financial services (bank guarantee, transfer cost etc.) Per month Per month Marketing & Promotion Practices Provision Provision Exhibition Facilitation Provision Provision Subtotal Other costs, services Grand total