Feed the Future Kilimo Tija Activity
STATEMENT OF WORK C.1 INTRODUCTION The Feed the Future Tanzania Kilimo Tija activity is part of the U.S. government's (USG) Global Food Security Strategy (GFSS), which promotes global food security, r... STATEMENT OF WORK C.1 INTRODUCTION The Feed the Future Tanzania Kilimo Tija activity is part of the U.S. government's (USG) Global Food Security Strategy (GFSS), which promotes global food security, resilience, and nutrition. The purpose of this horticulture activity is to sustainably increase economic opportunities in horticulture market systems, especially for youth. This purpose will be achieved by: (a) strengthening horticulture market systems to increase enterprise and employment opportunities; (b) increasing access to commercially provided, climate smart, and productivity-enhancing agricultural technologies; and (c) strengthening the enabling environment for market systems. C.2 BACKGROUND USAID/Tanzania has invested for years in the horticulture sector. Most recently, substantial progress has been made in upgrading farmer productivity and fostering linkages both between farmers and agrodealers and among agrodealers. Government of Tanzania (GOT) extension officers promote climate smart and other improved varieties and other technologies. Collectively, this work has set the stage for intensified commercialization of the sector and addressing the market fragmentation of the horticultural value chain. Strengthened relationships are key to incentivizing investments in improved productivity, aggregation, grading and standards, and innovations in improving the overall competitiveness of the horticulture sector. C.2.1 Tanzania Country Context Tanzania has experienced steady economic growth since transitioning to a market-oriented economy. Over the last five years, Tanzania’s annual gross domestic product has stayed consistently above the Sub-Saharan Africa average, and continued growth is forecast for the next five years. Tanzania’s Development Vision 2025 (TDV 2025), adopted in 2000, provides the long-term vision for the country’s economic and social development. The TDV 2025 outlines three principal objectives: 1. Achieving high quality livelihoods for all Tanzanians. 2. Strengthening good governance and the rule of law. 3. Building a strong and competitive economy. The horticultural sector offers key advantages for contributing to diversified economic opportunities for youth along the value chain. The horticulture market system—encompassing input and output market businesses as well as cross-cutting services that sell to these businesses—can contribute to broad-based, inclusive economic growth inclusive of youth and women that reduces poverty. According to the Tanzania Horticulture Association (TAHA), horticulture is the fastest growing industry within the agricultural sector in Tanzania, recording an annual average growth rate of 11% over the past five years. An estimated 90% of Tanzania’s horticultural production is consumed domestically, while the industry largely depends on smallholder farmers for production even for exports. To illustrate, 70% of the exports of fruits and vegetables rely on farmers with a landholding capacity of less than two hectares. In other words, the commercialization and increased competitiveness of horticulture has the potential to benefit large numbers of the marginalized and rural poor through returns to horticulture commercialization and value addition activities. Given the high proportion of horticultural products consumed domestically, the majority benefit as producers and consumers. C.2.2 Relationship to USG Strategies USAID/Tanzania’s Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS; 2020-2025) calls for deepening and broadening the impacts of investments and economic growth on poverty reduction. The CDCS Development Objective (DO) 2 hypothesis states: If Tanzanians aged 15 to 35 have access to and use quality health and education services, they acquire high-demand skills and establish sources of income and can actively participate and lead efforts in civic life, then they will be empowered, productive, and engaged citizens. DO2 builds on and utilizes the strengths of young Tanzanians, providing them with the health and education services, economic opportunities, and leadership skills they need to further the country’s journey to self-resilience. The Kilimo Tija activity will primarily belong to IR 2.2, but will also contribute to IR1.2 and 2.1 by increasing the availability and consumption of nutritious foods. To contribute to DO3, the activity will build the capacity of local and national governments to make informed decisions that lead to policies and regulations that promote private sector growth. USAID’s youth-focused programming will address the challenges and barriers that young Tanzanians encounter when seeking employment or entrepreneurial opportunities. In addition to skills gaps, these barriers include imperfect information within the labor market, a lack of entry-level jobs, low social capital including lack of mentorship, lack of access to financing, and negative perceptions about hiring youth. USAID will seek private-sector partnerships to encourage opportunities for young people to gain experience in the workforce—one of the first hurdles faced by youth when seeking employment. USAID will continue to invest in mid-level producers to diversify their commodities for domestic and export outlets. USAID will also continue to invest in small, medium, and large businesses to create economic opportunities for youth. C.3 SCOPE OF WORK C.3.1 Purpose and Theory of Change Expanding economic opportunities, especially for youth, in horticulture is predicated on a competitive market system. Economic opportunities for youth will increase as the market grows and becomes more competitive. Competitiveness is achieved not only through increases in agricultural productivity and access to improved technologies, but also through improved linkages to inputs and buyers. Competitiveness is also achieved through a transformation of the organization of the market system and the relationships among system actors. Where lead firms are willing to invest in suppliers (farmers) to get the quality and volume needed to meet the demand of end-market buyers, those with the least resources, i.e., farmers, gain access to the financing and knowledge they need to benefit from improvements in competitiveness. Moreover, the limited cooperation among supply chain actors translates into the reduced capability to control for quality, transmit market information, and innovate in ways that could add value and increase profits and, in other words, upgrade the market system. A competitive market also is inclusive, rewarding actors based on merit and willingness to innovate rather than on patronage and political advantages. Using market facilitation, a market systems approach intervenes at critical points in a system that can leverage broad spillover effects or catalyze and scale innovations. Market systems change aims to empower the private sector and other local system actors to innovate and invest as well as to value ‘doing business’ based on the performance of suppliers rather than based on their social, political, or economic loyalty group. As such, inclusion—including youth— contributes to profitability and competitiveness. Purpose: Increase economic opportunities in horticulture market systems, especially for youth. Intermediate Result 1: Strengthen the organization of horticulture market systems to increase enterprise and employment opportunities Intermediate Result 2: Increase access to commercially provided and productivity-enhancing agricultural technologies Intermediate Result 3: Strengthen the enabling environment for market systems development Theory of Change: IF the horticulture market system is transformed to entail empowerment of women and youth as producers/market actors; more efficient transactions from aggregation; enhanced cooperation and trust between buyers and suppliers; and increased incentives for investment in quality, productivity, and service provision, THEN Tanzanian horticulture will be commercialized, competitive, and inclusive. C.3.2 Geographic coverage The Zone of Influence (ZOI) will include the regions of Morogoro, Iringa, Mbeya, Njombe, and Zanzibar. It will also include key market sheds outside of this ZOI, such as Dar es Salaam, Songwe, and Arusha, all of which have potentially important transport and marketing facilities. Target beneficiaries will include both direct beneficiaries that receive USG assistance, indirect beneficiaries who copy those assisted directly, and businesses which capitalize on opportunities developed by USG investments. Interventions will prioritize inclusion and expanded opportunities for youth involvement. Participants could include private sector actors such as producers, input suppliers, service providers, processors, traders/resellers, buyers, and financial institutions; public sector actors such as the GOT national and local governments, including GOT extensions workers; and civil society, including TAHA as well as other producer and buyer associations. C.3.3 Sub-Objectives and Expected Results The results areas in this activity are integrated. It is expected that there will be interrelated activities and that results in each area will contribute to results in other areas. Intermediate Result 1: Strengthen the horticulture market system to increase enterprise and employment opportunities This sub-purpose will use a market systems approach to increase enterprise and employment opportunities, especially for youth, in the horticulture market system. Expanding opportunities will require a transformation in the organization of the horticulture market system that increases the efficiency and transparency of transactions between actors. It must also address behavior changes that contribute to improved quality, use of grades and standards, post-harvest handling, aggregation, and coordination and collaboration among linked actors. The improved cooperation—especially with farmers, agrodealers, and other entrepreneurs—will accrue from greater transparency, perceptions of fairness, and trust, which in turn enable greater sharing of information, innovation, and a willingness to cooperate to add value. The Contractor shall create opportunities for young women and men by addressing behaviors in the market system that exclude individuals based on cultural, political, or social biases. Changing behaviors to reward economic actors based on their performance is key to making meaningful inroads towards inclusion. The market systems approach implemented by the Contractor shall include private sector strengthening along the entire value chain as well as social and behavior change communication to influence attitudes and perceptions and promote social inclusion of young women and men, and greater dietary diversity. The Contractor shall facilitate change in the broader institutional environment to improve access to information, financial services, insurance, and business services. This will be needed to achieve the objective of improved market system commercialization and competitiveness. Expected Outcomes Strengthened organization of the horticulture market system that enables farmers and entrepreneurs to move into higher-value activities, i.e., to upgrade. Upgrading activities could include expanded use of business development services, grades and standards and improved business skills, post-harvest handling, aggregation, and value addition. Strengthened trust and transparency among market actors, including youth, that contributes to the ability of the market system to upgrade. Improved business skills and strategies of businesses, throughout selected horticultural market systems that will enable them to upgrade. Reduced financial constraints of farmers and entrepreneurs throughout selected horticultural market systems, including the leveraging of value chain finance. Increased participation of young women and men by overcoming forms of collusion, extractive business practices, and systemic biases. Intermediate Result 2: Increase access to commercially provided and productivity-enhancing agricultural technologies The Feed the Future Tanzania Kilimo Tija activity will build on years of work in disseminating productivity-enhancing, nutrition-sensitive technologies, and good agricultural practices. The Contractor will increase the access of youth to productivity-enhancing agricultural technologies and to expanding the consumption of nutritious food to address the underlying causes of malnutrition. In addition to increased yields, consumption, and sales of high-quality fruits and vegetables (nutritious food), the Contractor will promote messaging that encourages income use for better diets, health, and hygiene. The Contractor will encourage adoption of improved technologies that save time and energy, especially for young women. The Contractor will also generate demand for diverse, nutritious foods by increasing consumer knowledge of nutrition. The Contractor will advance past work by facilitating greater collaboration and cooperation between private-sector seed companies, agrodealers, local government extension officers, and horticulture producers, with a particular focus on youth. Investments could include improved seed varieties, climate-smart agriculture, sustainable soil and water management approaches, greenhouses, drip irrigation equipment and multiple-use water systems, and social behavior change interventions. The Contractor must also increase smallholder incentives for improved productivity and quality upgrading, by building on past efforts to combine technical solutions with market opportunities and identify ways to enhance trust and transparency between young producers, seed companies and agrodealers. These types of interventions can drive repeat sales, develop loyal customers, and create trust between market actors. They can also increase productivity, improve quality, increase dietary diversity, and enhance the capacity of the horticulture food systems to adapt to climate change. Expected Outcomes Scaled adoption of profitable, nutrition-sensitive technologies for horticulture. Expanded adoption and copying of improved technologies and practices. Increased trust between buyers, agrodealers, and seed companies leading to more in-kind credit, repeat sales, and customer loyalty. Crowding-in of seed companies and agrodealers into the market system serving smallholder horticulture producers. Increased sales of improved seed and fertilizer increased yields, sales, and consumption of high-quality horticulture crops. Intermediate Result 3: Strengthen the enabling environment for market systems development Improving the enabling environment in the horticulture market system, which will benefit all market actors including youth, will require addressing four sets of constraints: (1) regulation of output markets and trade policy, (2) regulation of input markets, (3) sanitary and phytosanitary control, and (4) the finance system to enable youth to take advantage of economic opportunities. At the local level, the Contractor shall support, coordinate, and establish partnerships with local governments, private sector companies, farmer organizations, and TAHA to improve the enabling environment and address policy bottlenecks to market systems development, e.g., tax levies, grades and standards, and the high cost of transporting produce. Expected Outcomes: Increased number of partnerships between local government, producers, and TAHA dealing with policy and enabling environment issues. Improved environment for private sector investment in the horticulture sector. Increased private sector investment in the horticulture market system. Increased volumes and sales of high-quality horticulture products in domestic, regional and/or international markets. C.3.4 Gender Empowerment Gender parity has increased across sectors, from income-earning opportunities, access to key resources and, to some extent, decision-making power. Still, efforts to fully understand and address gender issues remain insufficient across sectors. Efforts to improve data and learning are essential to create the public demand and support for more inclusive leadership of political, business, and civil society entities. Increased gender parity is essential to generate market-driven practices that mobilize the full potential of the economically under-engaged. Engaging with and empowering disadvantaged populations will serve as a guiding principle for USAID’s activities. This principle will help reduce the economic gender gap as more women acquire the skills, they need to start a business or enter the workforce, particularly for agriculture which engages almost 80 percent of Tanzanian women. Efforts to expand formal economic opportunities will need to be cognizant of and seek to mitigate imbalances among men and women. For example, to increase income and formalize women-owned businesses, enabling them to access affordable training, business development services, and finance. Gender empowerment is a fundamental dimension of this new activity, particularly regarding the inclusion of women in decision making and allocation of agricultural resources and economic gains. Beyond considering women as beneficiaries in various horticulture value chains, it is important to proactively engage women as leaders and decision makers in the sector by: Advocating for policy change that breaks structural barriers preventing women from benefiting fully from the horticulture sector. Seeking to build skills around positive communication and shared decision-making among genders, and within couples and families, for all interventions. Seeking to transform harmful gender relations and norms, through constructive engagement between men, women, and youth. Increasing support for women’s participation in the horticulture sector and reducing women’s workload to balance with family care responsibilities. C.4 GRANTS UNDER CONTRACT Horticultural market systems have experienced substantial transformation in recent years. Nonetheless, they continue to be constrained by an array of issues. The Contractor will establish a grant mechanism to assist producers and entrepreneurs in market system development, to ease system bottlenecks as well as, to improve system-wide learning, innovation, and investment - especially grants which facilitate the inclusion of young women and men. Such grants shall not unduly distort markets and/or create dependencies. Grants shall be flexible and responsive to address anticipated and unanticipated bottlenecks and opportunities for young men and women. The grant mechanism(s) will be important to the learning process related to the development of market systems innovations. For groups who are often excluded from market opportunities, including youth and women, and who lack the resources to enter market-based activities, grants can be used to buy down the risks of acquiring the assets and skills to participate in markets and develop new ag-related businesses. A portion of the grants may be used to implement unexpected activities that were not defined in the annual work plans during a five-year period. This would be in response to urgent requests from the GOT and its institutions, local private sector, and development partners and/or civil society in direct support of the in-scope interventions and the achievement of the contract objectives. While ensuring the effective use of grants will be key, grant management is equally important. Stakeholders must trust in the transparency of the grant-making process and USAID must trust in the effectiveness of the grantees’ financial management systems. C.5 COORDINATION Partnerships and synergies with other relevant USAID and donor activities in the target districts will be critical. The Contractor must coordinate activities with other implementing partners and development partners working in the target geographies across various sectors. The Contractor must participate in coordination platforms, participate in joint work planning exercises, joint quarterly reviews, joint field visits, and share monitoring data with other relevant partners. The contractor must coordinate with other USAID funded activities in the ten (10) districts to identify possible areas of collaboration in the areas of nutrition, family planning, HIV/AIDS, education, horticulture, and efforts towards eliminating tropical neglected diseases, as appropriate. The contractor must include the identified areas of collaboration in the annual work plan. Many development partners, including the World Bank, UNICEF, and DFID, intend to support RUWASA over the next few years. The Contractor, in consultation with the COR, must coordinate their support to complement that being implemented by other USAID activities and other development partners and fill critical gaps. C.6 MONITORING, EVALUATION, AND LEARNING C.6.1 Monitoring and Evaluation Planning The contractor must develop an Activity Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Plan (AMELP), which explicitly aligns with the theory of change, proposed activity strategy, and the work plan. Given the focus of the theory of change on enhanced commercialization, competitiveness and inclusion of the horticulture market system, AMELP shall be designed to capture: (1) change in the underlying dynamics and structure of the market system; (2) change at multiple levels within the horticulture value chains, including buyers, producers, input suppliers, supporting services, and other relevant enterprises, organizations and entities; (3) the relationships and behaviors among market system actors, considering power dynamics, trust, transparency, and the overall responsiveness of the system to shocks, stresses, and changes in end-market demand; and (4) a range of intended and unintended and direct and indirect outcomes. The AMELP will specify indicators, targets, and methodologies that allow the Contractor and USAID/Tanzania to monitor the progress of activities towards achieving expected targets and outcomes, in addition to identifying learning priorities for the activity. While USAID’s evaluation policy calls for evaluative activities that focus on performance and impact, learning should also include activities along the monitoring continuum that can underscore the need for mid-course corrections/adaptations, while improving the results of activity implementation. The Contractor must demonstrate in its proposed AMELP the feedback mechanism for implementing adaptive management based on learning outcomes. Additionally, the proposed AMELP should include procedures for collecting and responding to feedback from beneficiaries and reporting to USAID a summary of beneficiary feedback and how it will be addressed and used to improve activity performance. The AMELP will also allow USAID to gauge the Contractor’s performance and understand any unforeseen changes in the strategy to achieve intended results. In developing the AMELP, the Contractor must draw from, but not be limited to, the indicators highlighted under the specific purpose and sub-purposes sections. The Contractor must, furthermore, propose targets for the mandatory indicators and additional metrics and targets that might uniquely capture the effectiveness, outcomes, and impact of the Feed the Future Tanzania Kilimo Tija activity and its integration with other activities and development objectives. The AMELP must be finalized within 90 days of the first quarter of the activity, while any subsequent changes to this plan will require concurrence and approval from the USAID COR. The Mission intends to undertake a mid-term and end-line performance evaluation of the activity. This will require cooperation and coordination with a third-party evaluator. The AMELP should include information on baseline data collection as well as a brief description of how the contractor will coordinate with the evaluator to participate in these performance evaluations. USAID is also mandated to measure and update various results frameworks including the Microenterprise Results Reporting (MRR) and the Foreign Assistance Coordination and Tracking System (FACTS). Feed the Future Tanzania Kilimo Tija must contribute the required reporting as applicable through USAID systems, such as the Development Information System (DIS). C.6.2 Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA) The Contractor must undertake iterative learning and adaptation, including the use of real-time information and analysis to continuously assess progress and adjust interventions or approaches as necessary. Given the breadth of the needs to be addressed under this activity and the new approaches being tested, the contractor must regularly assess which approaches are effective in a given region or district. Through networking and collaboration, the Contractor must work to build sustained knowledge capture and sharing, across sites, partners, GOT, other donor-funded activities, and with USAID staff. USAID will work in collaboration with the Contractor to review the available evidence, assess selected approaches to achieve the activity and project purpose, analyze assumptions, and adjust planning and implementation of the activity. USAID and the Contractor will function as an integrated, operational team with shared program vision and equal commitment to the success of the program. The CLA strategy is envisioned to help facilitate this collaborative process between USAID and the implementing partner and relevant stakeholders. As part of adapting to changing context, the Contractor may be directed by the CO to respond quickly to within-scope tasks, following shocks or stresses that affect the horticultural sector. The contractor will be expected to adjust its work plan (both tasks and allocation of funding) to accommodate these changes on short notice from the CO (e.g., within 10 days) in response to urgent needs that arise in the sector. Changes will be in technical areas covered by the contract and that contribute to the higher-level objective. C.7 ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE The FTF Tanzania Kilimo Tija Activity as a Horticulture Activity is covered by the Agriculture Sector Programming Initial Environmental Examination (IEE), which was approved on August 23, 2021, and expires on December 31, 2026 (https://ecd.usaid.gov/document.php?doc_id=53473). This IEE covers all the agricultural activities including horticulture related activities that are expected to be implemented under the agriculture sector. The Kilimo Tija Activity has planned to implement several interventions to meet the planned intermediate results (IRs) and sub-intermediate results (sub-IRs). Some of the interventions to be implemented include: Upgrading activities which can include expanded use of business development services, grades and standards and improved business skills, post-harvest handling, aggregation, and value addition. Expanding adoption and copying of improved horticultural technologies and practices. Improving the enabling environment for private sector investment in the horticulture sector. Increasing private sector investment in the horticulture market system. Such activities or interventions have direct or predictable indirect impacts on natural resources or environmental health and safety, and therefore are eligible for negative determination. With this case, a negative determination with condition is recommended for several interventions/ activities under the Kilimo Tija activity which requires consideration of the specific mitigation measures referenced in section 5.3 of the IEE. However, if the Contractor proposes any new activities outside the scope of the approved Regulation 216 environmental documentation, an amendment to the documentation must be prepared for USAID review and approval. Any activities that will be determined to be outside the scope of the approved Regulation 216 environmental documentation shall be halted until an amendment to the documentation is submitted and written approval is received from USAID. Climate Risk Management The climate change risk analysis for this award also relies on the existing Agriculture Sector Programming approved IEE. This IEE indicates that Tanzania is projected to experience numerous changes in climate by mid-century. Therefore, Tanzania’s agricultural infrastructure and services are highly vulnerable to climate change impacts, including: Increases in temperatures, aridity, evapotranspiration, and more frequent and severe droughts could decrease agricultural productivity and crop yields. Increases in severity of flooding and heavy rainfall events could damage crops or disrupt agricultural production practices. Increases in frequency and severity of floods, increase in erosion and sedimentation, and changes to runoff and groundwater recharge may alter existing water supplies, reducing potential water resources for irrigation. This horticulture award is expected to significantly contribute to, or be impacted by, changing climatic conditions considered at a moderate risk. The Contractor is required to implement proposed measures as stipulated in the IEE (climate risk management summary table) to ensure that the Kilimo Tija Activity successfully achieves its expected results.
Data sourced from SAM.gov.
View Official Posting »