SDC call for proposals: Questions and answers (questions sent by Monday 14.05.2018) Call Question Answer 1 I have a question on the 2.6 annex and signing document. I think I found the annex, but where should we sign - are we supposed to use the 'Standard contract: Contribution outside Switzerland' or do we initial each page on the ' conditions for contracts concerning federal contributions for projects' document? If we need to sign the Standard contract, do we need to replace the ESPIRIT text? I do not understand GCB. Could you provide more detail around requirement of a "clear link to policy frameworks at national, regional and global levels"? Is this referring specifically to SDC's strategic frameworks? Are there other specific policy frameworks that SDC has in mind, or is it up to the applicant to propose the policy frameworks to which the project links? Can a local cooperative, registered as a local agribusiness that is looking to improve food value chains encompassing food production, processing, marketing and consumption in Ghana. Might you have pre-formated forms for the submission of proposals? Are there any templates to follow? Applicants, which already receive a programme contribution from the SDC (through the institutional partnerships division), will not be eligible for proposing a project. Is a non-swiss NGO currently implementing projects with SDC funding eligible? I want to know if Latin America and the Caribbean are eligible for this projects. We do not need a signed contract. We only need a signed letter that confirms the acceptance of the relevant standard contract (the contract for Federal contribution and the general conditions for contracts concerning federal contributions for projects for Swiss applicants; and the contract for contribution outside Switzerland for non- Swiss applicants). See above. In this regard, we cannot provide further and additional information. Yes, for the City Region Food System Call for proposals. Yes, for the sustainable water management call for proposals if the cooperative is part of a consortium. : Yes with a focus on LDC, see also answers below. : The project should focus on Africa. In case of multi-country approaches addressing several countries, including a strong inclusion of African countries, Latin America and the Caribbean might be eligible as part of the project. 2 We are not commenting on project ideas. 1 = Question raised for both calls 2 = Question raised in relation to the Sustainable Water Management for Food Security and Nutrition in Agriculture and Food Systems call for proposal
SMW Do you have past successful example applications to share? I understand there is no specific requirement on format/content, but would be good to see some examples. Could you please describe the types of organizations that are eligible for this call? Are applications/proposals with government agency partners viewed favorably? Are you able to direct us to a website showing the past awardees for comparable agriculture or water management projects? If not, would you be willing to detail in the Q&A a few names of successful awardees/implementers? Will you accept a project with an asset transfer activity that targets households that are verifiably in extreme poverty and states of vulnerability? According to the quoted criteria, is Food and Agriculture Organization eligible to submit its proposal as leading organization of a consortium if it s built on on-going project funded by SDC and implemented by FAO? What does the programme contribution through the institutional partnerships division means in this context? Is the proposal needed to be submitted via email address or there is other link for proposal submission? Are there other formats - template to be completed? Page 5, point 2.4. It states SDC will cover a maximum of 50-80% of total project. Do we need to budget the full project, or only the percentage that needs to be covered by SDC? We do not have examples to share. Any consortium, including different stakeholder groups, such as the private sector, civil society, farmers organizations, water user associations, local and national governments, research organizations, extension services and intergovernmental organizations, with experience in the above mentioned fields and able to demonstrate the capacity to develop and implement projects of similar volume and complexity may participate. No preference, see above. In this regard, we cannot provide further and additional information. We are not commenting on project ideas. See Questions and Answers (01.05.2018, 16.00). The proposals have to be submitted by 11 June 08:00 CET latest to the following email address: gpfscallforproposals@eda.admin.ch with the subject: Sustainable Water Management. For the documents to be submitted, see 3.1 (Call for proposals Sustainable Water Management for Food Security and Nutrition in Agriculture and Food Systems ). There are no specific templates or formats requested. The presented budget shall include the full cost of the project and not only the SDC contribution. The budget shall show all cost and all sources of finance. Please confirm that SDS cannot cover 100% of funds for the first phase. SDC s contribution will cover a maximum of 50% - 80% of the total cost of the project.
Is co-investment required, as it is in criteria C5 on page 8, but is not mentioned elsewhere in the water document? Is this co-investment for Phase 1, or for Phase 1 AND 2? Can we leverage of existing projects to develop extension activities that create new knowledge and interventions in countries where we already have other projects with partners? In your call for proposal it is written that the project should focus on Africa. Does that mean that a project submitted for Nepal would be automatically rejected? Do you accept the individual proposal? In my case I am a PhD student and my research proposal align with the theme and objective of the project. As SDC will cover a maximum of 50% - 80% of the total cost of the project cofinancing is needed (see 2.4 and 3.1). This applies for the 1 st and also for a possible 2 nd phase. We are not commenting on project ideas. The project should focus on Africa. In case of multi-country approaches addressing several countries, including a strong inclusion of African countries, Nepal might be eligible as part of the project. Any consortium, including different stakeholder groups may participate in the call. Exclusive research projects will not be considered. If successful, what are the reporting requirements for the project? The detailed reporting requirements will be addressed in the contract. Some information can be found in the relevant standard contract. Is it mandatory for the application to be submitted by two+ stakeholders or may a single organization apply if the have a proven track record of being able to execute at scale and if they work hand-in-hand with other organizations? Any consortium can apply. A single organization is not eligible. If we submit a regional proposal, will the overall budget be up to CHF 1.5M per year per country for 4 years or is that the total per proposal? CHF 1.5 Mio per year is the total maximum SDC will finance. Does SDC want us to work with private sector partners? Public Private Development Partnerships and multi-stakeholder approaches are highly welcome. Does SDC agree with inclusion of displacement-affected communities besides resident populations? In your answers to questions (sent by 24.4.) you write: A signed letter of agreement from all consortium partners is requested. Given that you allow only 1 specific annex (Acceptance GCB) where, when and in which form should this signed letter be submitted? We are not commenting on project ideas. The requested documentation includes a cover letter with signatures. This cover letter should include the agreement from the consortium partners.
Does the Swiss Development Corp have priority countries in Sub-Saharan countries for this procurement and/or are there Sub-Saharan companies that are ineligible? Is there any preference for Swiss partners in the co-financing of proposed projects? If so, How would this preference be evaluated? Annex 2 in Section 6, is titled, "Contract template for contribution outside Switzerland". This would suggest that there would be no advantage, and perhaps a disadvantage of including Swiss organizations as co-financing partners, whether private or foundations. Is this the case? Section 2.4 of the call for proposals indicates that SDC may cover between 20%- 50% of full project costs. Of the remaining costs to be covered from other stakeholders, is there guidance on the percentage of stakeholder contributions that can be made in-kind versus in cash? Section 6 of the Call for Proposals, lists a set of annexes (see below) but does not provide copies or links to these documents. Please provide links to the current template and conditions documents. There is no guidance on the percentage of in-kind contributions. In-kind contributions are in principle accepted. They have to be well documented and realistically valued. These documents can be found on the webpage: https://www.shareweb.ch/site/agriculture-and-food-security Are there any additional details available which set out the evaluation criteria and scoring regimes (i.e. percentage weighting to different aspects of the proposals) to be used in your review of proposals? Specifically it would be useful to know the criteria used to evaluate the lead partner's credentials. Are there any limits in terms of whether partners can appear in more than one proposal? Will there be any preference for work focused on SDC's priority countries? Please specify what is required in terms of Confirmation of co-financing and share of co-financing'? Will a letter of intent be acceptable? Funding: In the framework of this call, SDC might choose up to two proposals for funding. SDC s contribution will indicatively range between CHF 500 000 CHF 1 500 000 per year and project, with a total maximum of 1.5 Mio. per year.
Please confirm whether a proposal requesting CHF 1 000 000 per year contribution from SDC (total CHF 4 000 000 over 4 years) would be eligible? Technical proposal: description of personal resources? Please confirm what is meant by description of personal resources? It is a bit confusing whether it refers to financial contribution by the consortium partners to the project? Or personnel available within the applying consortium to execute the project? Does the technical proposal page limit also include a logframe as in previous SDC proposals logframes have been annexed? Or is this only applicable at full proposal stage? Qualification and expertise of human resources engaged in the project. No logframe required at this stage. I have a clarification on Who can apply? Any consortium, including different stakeholder groups, such as the private sector, civil society, farmers organizations, water user associations, local and national governments, research organizations, extension services and intergovernmental organizations, with experience in the above mentioned fields and able to demonstrate the capacity to develop and implement projects of similar volume and complexity may participate. Does a consortium need to be seen as an official consortium or is a partnership accepted? We would be an international organisation, partnering with a local NGO. Is this acceptable? Any consortium with the requested experience and capacity may participate. We would like to know whether in-kind co-financing is acceptable or not. Your advice will be greatly appreciated. Since it is difficult for us to find co-financing partners in this short period of time and we would like to be better prepared for SDC Calls for Proposals the next time, I d like to ask you kindly, if SDC offers a course about best practices in writing proposals for SDC. In principle yes. However, in-kind contributions have to be well documented and realistically valued. Kindly please, avail to us the details of the contract templates (item 6-1, 2, 3). Also provide acceptance GCB (Item 3.1) in the Annexes. See above. Regarding other contributions amounting to 20-50% of the budget total, can we include in-kind contributions of time, and can we also include moneys coming from other complementary projects contributing to the project goals? In principle yes. However, in-kind contributions have to be well documented and realistically valued. Co-financing can be covered by other non-sdc funded projects/programmes.
3 What should be the start on the budget for the City region food systems program? Also, it says the City region food systems guidelines, 'The amount for the first phase shall range between 3.2 and 4.4 Mio CHF'. Must the 1st year be within this range? Latest 1.4.2019 For the first 4 years (the first phase) shall range between 3.2 and 4.4 Mio CHF. Is there a list of SDC priority countries that can be seen? Please look at www.sdc.admin.ch, countries. Are countries within SDC Bilateral Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid equally eligible for a project? Can governments and stakeholders involved in institution be the main direct beneficiaries of the project? Can policies, strategies and multi-stakeholder governance mechanisms be considered as innovations and concrete outcomes of the project? In terms of co-financing, the sources and amount of direct co-financing for the last 2 years should be clearly identified and quantified at the moment of the submission of the proposal (11 June) or can be determined at the stage of full project formulation if the proposal is approved? Direct impact on poor people should be tangible within the project duration or can be a long-term impact beyond project duration? Can the project scale up results and approaches of previous relative projects on city region food system? Yes all countries. Having clear indication and strategy will be positively assessed. Should be tangible during the project duration and have a long term impact. How are defined small and middle-sized towns (market towns)? We are not giving additional information than the one provided in the call for proposals. Is Ethiopia an eligible country? A consortium Ethiopia-Germany is eligible? Germany is not a LDC. Are Sri Lanka, Philippines, and Pacific countries eligible countries? 3 = Question raised in relation to the City Region Food System call for proposal
Can innovations be social innovations, or do they have to be technology innovations? Yes innovations are not limited to technical or technology improvement, they also can be social, political, as well as approaches etc. Can the first two years be 100% funded by SDC? No, a form of co-financing is requested but for the first 2 years, it can be in kind only. Can the proposal leverage from existing projects already being implemented by existing partnerships? The project we hand in is part of a larger programme. In case of funding, would it be sufficient for you to submit annual programme audits which include the submitted project? Or do you require separate audits? We cannot give a precise response at this stage. In principle, SDC is preferring to receive the overall project audit of the project (no separate audit per each donor). What is the planned starting period for handed in projects? A preparation period up to max 6 months to prepare the full project proposal is foreseen. In one Q&A you said that one has to have signed letters of agreement from all consortium partners. Do signed letters of agreement from all consortium partners have to be submitted per 11 June, or will this be requested later on? Are only LDCs eligible or is it possible to hand in a regional project including both: LDC and developing (but non-ldc) countries? Yes if a partner is involved in the proposal from the beginning, he should sign the letter of agreement. Of course, depending on the project, additional partner could come on board during its implementation. Yes it is possible to have a mix of countries, LCD and non LCD. Who needs to sign the cover letter? Only the Lead applicant? Yes if a separate letter of agreement from all consortium partners is added. The cover letter can also contain this information and so has to be signed by all consortium partners. Who needs to sign the Annex: Acceptance of the general conditions of Business (see 2.6)? Only the Lead applicant? Who needs to be presented in the document Presentation of the applicant and contact partner that needs to be submitted? Only the lead applicant? What is meant by "contact partner"? In the general conditions related to the Call it says in divers paragraphs that one has to have an account in Switzerland and that accounting principles as per Swiss GAAP FER are applicable. If a non-swiss (but European) organization is the Lead applicant, will such conditions be adapted within the particular contract (e.g. account in the country of the Lead applicant and in countries of implementation; application of international / comparable norms of accounting)? All partners. SDC will sign a contract with the lead applicant who will be legally responsible for the project. This institution will be the contact partner for SDC. The other partners of the consortium should also be presented. The general conditions, according to the call, are relevant for contracts concerning federal contributions for projects and therefore are relevant for Swiss applicants. For non-swiss applicants the contract for contribution outside Switzerland is the relevant document.
On your website one can find 2 types of standard contract. Which one would apply for the City region food systems call for a non-swiss (but European) organization? We are a Regional Program of a CGIAR CRP. Are we as such eligible for application? In Q & A from 08.05.2018, one question referred to how to define small and middle-sized towns (market towns). The answer referred to some additional paper that was attached to the call. Where to find that additional paper? Alternatively, could you name the criteria? Do we need to, or are we allowed to, already define the outline of a 2nd phase? If so, with or without budget? (this question was put and answered only for the call). Can we identify the private potential company without consortia during application but in implementation period? Is that eligible? The clearance is we will apply by NGO not together with Private Company at first in application but we will identify good business partnership with public company as implementing partners not co-applicants. The call focuses on small and mid-sized towns. Could SDC specify what is meant with small and mid-sized, because in our experience the qualifications of small and medium sized is a relative one and context specific, and cannot be related to population size for example. When evaluating the financial offer, you include cofunding: How will you measure this (X proposals submitted)? The contract for contribution outside Switzerland. Yes In the call for proposal, there is the link to find this paper. We are not giving additional information than the one provided in the call for proposals. No need but if you asses that presenting an outline of a second phase would add important information then it is up to the applicant to decide. Yes, it is possible. We are not giving additional information than the one provided in the call for proposals. Explanation on scoring is given in the CfP document. Again, when evaluating the financial offer, you use the C/B ratio (not just the cost): How will you measure the benefit speaking about food / nutrition? If not monetarising benefit (which is difficult for nutrition) how will you put cost in relation to benefit? (potentially two different unities)? Regarding "Relevance of project innovation, possible impact and probability of success", this evaluation criterion is quite broad: - especially impact and probability might be in contradiction (high risk with high potential impact and vice versa): Any priority (impact vs. probability)? Explanation on scoring is given in the CfP document.
- Are you prioritising relevance for development (reducing urban poor's malnutrition, proposing inclusive production systems) or relevance for innovation (replicability, scaling up potential, etc.)? Both. Do you prefer multi-thematic / broad to specific / sectoral proposals? No preference. Are Swiss NGOs or Consultancy companies eligible if part of a consortium? Are EU NGOs or consultancy companies eligible? Are Swiss NGOs or consultancy companies eligible to be the main project proposer? By local institutions, do you mean institutions of the LDC countries? Does the 20-50% of co-funding include the in-kind contribution of the first 2 years? Does the 20-50% of co-funding contribute to the total project budget? Are criteria such as turnover, quality control system of the entities submitting an offer taken into account for the selection process? Are only LDC countries eligible or LDC and neighbouring countries to achieve impacts at regional level are also accepted? Ye.s Yes if not receiving programme contribution from the institutional partnership division. It is in addition to SDC budget. At regional level, non LDC countries are also eligible. Kindly share with us a package of application guidelines. All information is publish on the website. We are a social enterprise working in 5 West African Countries. Can we propose activities that will take place in all 5 countries? Whilst our group office is considering a proposal cover some or all of our countries, one of our country offices is also considering a proposal on its own. Clarify if it is OK for different country offices of the same company to submit different proposals Similarly, can one company submit two different proposals? The concept of city region food systems is interesting, but we will need more information about what delineates a City Region geographically. Is it Yes at the end only one proposal will be selected. All relevant information is given in the call for proposal document.
about all areas that produce food and feed a particular city, or a combination of cities? Where two cities interdepend on each other in terms of food supply, can both cities be treated as one city region, or they will be two separate city regions? In an earlier Q&A, regarding the definition of small and middle-sized towns (market towns), the answer referred to the additional paper, which is attached to the call please could you direct us to this paper, we did not see it. Can you give a definition of size by population range? We are not commenting on project ideas. There is no precise definition. Which countries do you consider among the LDC countries? See UN list. Are middle-income countries such as Colombia, Peru, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Tunisia, etc. eligible? Are there specific requirements regarding lead and associated partners: annual turnover, expertise staff, past experiences in thematic area? Which countries are considered LDC, according to which list Can a financial/in-kind contribution from another SDC-funded project be considered as co- financing? Can we propose as lead partner and at the same time as associated partner for this call? What do you consider as in-kind contribution? Non remunerated staff time is considered as in-kind contribution or direct co-funding? Would a participating organization be eligible to join multiple consortia for the same proposal? Would you kindly provide further explanation on the co-funding component of this proposal? - Should we include an estimate of our anticipated share of co-funding and also in-kind contribution in this proposal? Yes but the focus should be on LDC. UN. If not the same proposal yes. All non-monetary budget contribution to the project. In-kind contribution.
- Would allocated budget from our own resources in an existing program that is included in the proposal be considered co-funding? Is there a reference definition and size (in terms of population) for small and middle-sized towns considered in this call?