SECTION 1 – LETTER OF INVITATION TO SUBMIT TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL PROPOSALS

Nairobi, 6/11/2019

Re: Livestock Body Condition Assessment in Puntland, Somalia

Dear Madam/Sir:

1. Veterinaries without Borders Germany (“VSF-G”) has received financing from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (“IFAD”) for Food Security and Sustainability in Fragile Situations (FSSFS) Project and intends to apply a portion of the proceeds of this grant to eligible payments under this contract, for which this Request for Proposal is issued.
2. VSF-G invites you to submit technical and financial proposals in accordance with the documents attached to this letter and the annexed Terms of References (TOR). The Client intends to hire a consulting firm or a no-profit organization (the “Consultant”) to provide consulting services on “Livestock Body Condition Assessment” for the FSSFS Project in Puntland, Somalia.
3. The Consultant may sub-contract selected activities provided that said services do will not exceed 20% of the total consultancy work.
4. A firm will be selected under Selection Based on the Consultants’ Qualifications (CQS) method in accordance with the procedures set out in the IFAD Procurement Handbook which are provided on the IFAD website[1].
5. Submission Procedure: Please submit your Technical and Financial Proposal using the forms provided for this purpose within this Request for Proposals (RFP). Your proposal should comprise one (1) original and one (1) copy of both the technical and financial proposals to the address provided below.
6. The Technical and Financial proposals shall be submitted no later than 5.00 pm EAT of 6/12/2019 to the address below:

VSF-G Regional Office in Nairobi

Piedmont Plaza, Ngong Road

Attn: Maurice Kiboye – VSFG Country Director

Or alternatively to the following email address:

Email: recruitment@vsfg.org

Yours sincerely,

Lynette Sikulu

Human Resource Manager

SECTION 2 – INFORMATION TO THE CONSULTANTS (ITC)

1. Introduction
2. Client for the assignment:

VSF-G – Veterinaries without Borders Germany – Kenya and Somalia

Nairobi, Kenya, Piedmont Plaza, Ngong Road

P.O. Box 25653-00603, Nairobi

Tel/Fax: +254 (0)203873676/3870378.

1. Title of the Consultancy:

Livestock Body Condition Assessment in Puntland, Somalia

1. RFP Reference Number:

FSSFS-VSFG01

1. The Request for Proposals (RFP) for this assignment is open to invited legally constituted consultancy firms or no-profit organizations only.
2. Objectives and description of the assignment are detailed in the Terms of Reference (TOR) attached to this RFP.

6. The client requests both Technical and Financial proposals

1. The method of selection is: Selection Based on the Consultants’ Qualifications (CQS) method.
2. The estimated duration for the assignment is 13 months. Expected commencement date is December 2019.
3. The client will select a firm/no profit organization among those invited to submit proposals, in accordance with the method of selection and criteria detailed in this RFP document.
4. The consultants are invited to submit a Technical Proposal and a Financial Proposal in the standard forms provided within this RFP.
5. The consultants must familiarize themselves with local conditions and take them into account in preparing their proposals.
6. Please note that the costs of preparing the proposal and of negotiating the Contract, including any visit to the Client are not reimbursable as a direct cost of the assignment; and client is not bound to accept any of the proposals submitted.
7. There is no price charged for the preparation of these tender documents.
8. The deadline for submission of the Technical and Financial proposals is: 5.00 pm EAT of 6/12/2019.
9. Clarification and Amendment of RFP Documents
10. Consultants may request for clarification on this RFP including the TOR. Request for clarifications should be sent via e-mail to the address recruitment@vsfg.org no later than 5.00pm EAT of 20/11/2019. VSFG will provide responses to all the invited applicants and to all clarification requests by 5.00pm EAT of 25/11/2019.
11. At any time before the submission of proposals, the Client may for any reason, whether at his own initiative or in response to a clarification requested by an invited firm, amend the RFP. Any amendment shall be issued in writing through addenda. Addenda shall be sent by email to all invited consultants and will be binding on them. The Client may at his discretion extend the deadline for the submission of proposals.
12. Preparation of Technical Proposal
13. The Consultants Technical and Financial proposal shall be written in English language.
14. In preparing the Technical Proposal, consultants are expected to examine the documents constituting this RFP in detail. Material deficiencies in providing the information requested may result in rejection of a proposal.
15. The Technical Proposal shall include the following sections using the attached Standard Submission Form (ANNEX 2):

· A Summary of the Consultancy

· Objectives and Expected Results of the Consultancy (max 2 pages)

· Methodology (max. 5 pages)

· Description of Proposed Activities (max 10 pages)

· Deliverables (max 1 page)

· Work plan

· Additional and Complimentary Activities 2021/2022

· Staff assigned to the action

1. Any information not reported in the required format will not be considered in the evaluation.
2. The Technical Proposal shall not include any financial information. A technical proposal containing financial proposal/costs shall be declared non-responsive and rejected.
3. Supporting document to be attached to the Technical Proposal
4. Each applicant must attach to the Technical Proposal a valid certificate of registration/incorporation in the respective country.
5. Failure to attach a valid registration/incorporation certificate will result in the rejection of the application.
6. Preparation of Financial Proposal
7. Consultants shall express the price of their services in United States Dollar (USD).
8. In preparing the Financial Proposal, consultants are expected to take into account the requirements and conditions outlined in the RFP documents.
9. The Financial Proposal should be compiled using the attached Standard Submission Forms (ANNEX 3). Any information not reported in the required format will not be considered in the evaluation.
10. It lists all costs associated with the assignment including; (a) remuneration for staff; (b) equipment and services, (c) activities costs; (d) administrative costs and taxes
11. The administrative costs can’t be higher than 10% of the total costs of the consultancy
12. The Financial proposal must be all inclusive of all the costs envisioned by the Consultant.
13. The Proposal must remain valid for 60 days after the submission date. During this period, the consultant is expected to keep available, at his own cost, the professional staff proposed for the assignment. The Client will make his best effort to complete negotiations within this period. If the Client wishes to extend the validity period of the proposals, the consultants shall agree to the extension.
14. Submission and Receipt of Proposals
15. The original proposals (Technical Proposal and Financial Proposal) shall be prepared in word or excel format. It shall contain no interlineations or overwriting, except as necessary to correct errors made by the firm itself. Any such corrections must be initialed by the persons or person authorized to sign the proposals.
16. For each proposal, the consultants shall prepare one (1) original copy of both the Technical and Financial proposals.
17. The original of the Technical Proposal shall be placed in a sealed envelope clearly marked “TECHNICAL PROPOSAL,” and the original and all copies of the Financial Proposal in a sealed envelope clearly marked “FINANCIAL PROPOSAL” and warning: “DO NOT OPEN WITH THE TECHNICAL PROPOSAL”.
18. Both envelopes shall be placed into an outer envelope and sealed. This outer envelope shall bear: (a) the Submission Address, (b) the Tender Name, (c) the RFP Reference Number, and (d) The Applicant Name.
19. For proposals submitted electronically to email address recruitment@vsfg.org , the following will be the procedure:

· The consultant will write two separate emails

a) 1^st email attaching the PDF format of technical proposal with a file name clearly identifying it as a technical proposal while the subject line will bear the following “RFP number – Technical Proposal.”

b) 2^nd email attaching the PDF format of financial proposal with a file name clearly identifying it as a financial proposal while the subject line will bear the following “RFP number – Financial Proposal.”

· The first email received by the client will be considered final.

1. The completed Technical and Financial Proposals must be delivered at the submission address or by email on or before the time and date stated in the invitation letter. Any proposal received after the closing time and date for submission of proposals shall be rejected.
2. Evaluation of Technical Proposal
3. An evaluation committee appointed by VSF-G shall evaluate the proposals on the basis of their responsiveness to the Terms of Reference, applying the evaluation criteria as follows

Criteria

Technical Evaluation Score

1. Applicant Experience and Capacity as per the submitted EOI

1.1 General Experience (10 points)

1.2 Specific Experience (20 points)

30 points

1. Technical Proposal

2.1 Relevance of the proposed activities and methodologies (30 points),

2.2 Proposed staff assigned to the action (30 points)

60 points

1. Description of Additional and Complimentary Activities for the following years

10 points

TOTAL

100 points

Minimum score for qualification

70 points

1. The methodology and the description of activities must respond specifically to each of the items in the detailed Terms of Reference (ToR) indicating how the consultant will go about each. The individual time inputs of staff must correspond to the sequence of activities in the work plan and the individual activities must be arranged in logical sequence to result in the desired outputs. Points will be earned on the basis of the fit of the proposed methodology and work plan with the desired inputs, processes and outputs expected from the assignment
2. The Technical Proposal will carry a weight of 70% in the total evaluation score (70% Technical Proposal and 30% Financial Proposal).
3. Each responsive proposal will be given a Technical Score (TS) as shown in the template above. A proposal shall be rejected at this stage if it does not respond to important aspects of the Terms of Reference or if it fails to achieve the minimum technical score (70 points).
4. CVs of proposed professional staff are requested to be attached and must indicate the relationship they have with the consultancy firm i.e. whether employees or non-employees. CVs of both employees and non-employees must be certified between the date of this invitation to tender and proposal submission deadline and indicate the availability for the assignment with the consultancy firm.
5. Evaluation of Financial Proposal
6. After Technical Proposal evaluation, the Client shall open and evaluate the financial proposals for consultants that met the minimum qualifying mark in the technical evaluation (70 points).
7. The proposals that did not meet the minimum qualifying mark will be considered non-responsive and will not be considered further.
8. The evaluation committee will determine whether the financial proposals are complete (i.e. whether the consultant has costed all the items of the corresponding Technical Proposal and correct any computational errors. The cost of any unpriced items shall be assumed to be included in other costs in the proposal. In all cases, the total price of the Financial Proposal as submitted shall prevail.
9. The financial proposal will carry a weight of 30% in the final evaluation score.
10. The formula for determining the Financial Score (Sf) shall be as follows:

FS = 100 X FM/F

Where, FS is the Financial Score, FM is the Lowest Priced financial proposal, and F is the Price of the Proposal under consideration. Proposals will be ranked according to their combined Technical (TS) and Financial (FS) scores using the weights scores: S=(TS0.7) + (FS0.3). The firm achieving the highest combined technical and financial score will be invited for negotiations.

1. The Evaluation Committee shall evaluate the tender within 30 days from the date of opening the Technical and Financial Proposal.
2. This is a fixed sum contract and no variation of prices shall be allowed during the contract execution.
3. Negotiations
4. Negotiations will be held at the same address as provided. The aim is to reach agreement on all points and sign a contract.
5. Negotiations will include a discussion of the Technical Proposal, the proposed methodology (work plan), staffing and any suggestions made by the firm to improve the Terms of Reference. The Client and firm will then work out final Terms of Reference, staffing and bar charts indicating activities, staff periods in the field and in the head office, staff-months, logistics and reporting. The agreed work plan and final Terms of Reference will then be incorporated in the “Description of Services” and form part of the Contract. Special attention will be paid to getting the most the firm can offer within the available budget and to clearly defining the inputs required from the Client to ensure satisfactory implementation of the assignment.
6. Having selected the firm on the basis of, among other things, an evaluation of proposed key professional staff, the Client expects to negotiate a contract on the basis of the experts named in the proposal. Before contract negotiations, the Client will require assurances that the experts will be actually available. The Client will not consider substitutions during contract negotiations unless both parties agree that undue delay in the selection process makes such substitution unavoidable or that such changes are critical to meet the objectives of the assignment. If this is not the case and if it is established that key staff were offered in the proposal without confirming their availability, the firm may be disqualified.
7. The negotiations will conclude with a review of the draft form of the Contract. To complete negotiations the Client and the selected firm will initial the agreed Contract. If negotiations fail, the Client will invite the firm whose proposal received the second highest score to negotiate a contract.
8. The procuring entity shall appoint a team for the purpose of the negotiations.
9. Award of Contract
10. The Contract will be awarded following negotiations. After negotiations are completed, the Client will promptly notify other consultants on the shortlist that they were unsuccessful.
11. The selected firm is expected to commence the assignment 7 days after signing the contract
12. The client may at any time terminate procurement proceedings before contract award and shall not be liable to any person for the termination.
13. To qualify for contract awards, the tenderer shall have the following:

· Necessary qualifications, capability experience, services, equipment and facilities to provide what is being procured

· Legal capacity to enter into a contract for procurement

· Shall not be insolvent, in receivership, bankrupt or in the process of being wound up and is not the subject of legal proceedings relating to the foregoing

· Shall not be debarred from participating in public procurement

1. Confidentiality

Information relating to evaluation of proposals and recommendations concerning awards shall not be disclosed to the consultants who submitted the proposals or to other persons not officially concerned with the process, until the winning firm has been notified that it has been awarded the Contract.

1. Corrupt or fraudulent practices
2. The procuring entity requires that the consultants observe the highest standards of ethics during the selection and award of the consultancy contract and also during the performance of the assignment. The tenderer may be required to sign a declaration that he has not and will not be involved in corrupt or fraudulent practices.
3. The procuring entity will reject a proposal for award if it determines that the consultant recommended for award has engaged in corrupt or fraudulent practices in competing for the contract in question.
4. Further a consultant who is found to have indulged in corrupt or fraudulent practices risks being barred from participating in future procurement with the client.

ANNEX 1

Terms of Reference

for

“Livestock Body Condition Assessment in Puntland, Somalia”

IFAD and AICS funded Project:

Food Security and Sustainability in Fragile Situations

Terms of Reference (ToR) for the consultancy on “Livestock Body Condition Assessment” in Puntland, Somalia

Project name:

Food Security and Sustainability in Fragile Situations (FSSFS)

Title of the consultancy:

Livestock Body Condition Assessment in Puntland, Somalia

Locations of the consultancy:

Puntland State of Somalia, Nugal and Bari regions

Duration of the consultancy:

13 months

Background

Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Germany (VSF-G) is an international Non-Governmental Organization, providing humanitarian aid and development assistance to pastoralists and vulnerable communities in areas where livestock is of importance. Its support is in animal health, livestock related agriculture, marketing, food safety, drought responses and mitigation, capacity development of communities and governmental institutions, peace and conflict management with the ultimate aim of food security and strengthened livelihoods of livestock dependent communities.

The European Committee for Training and Agriculture (CEFA) is an International Italian Non-Governmental Organization established in 1972 and active in 10 Countries in Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe. CEFA’s medium- and long-term interventions in agricultural, environmental and Human Rights sector are focused on the sustainable development of the communities, achieved by involving local counterparts and by promoting the active participation of the beneficiaries.

Overview of the FSSFS project

The overall goal of the project is to sustainably improve food security, nutrition and livelihoods and to build resilience among vulnerable households and their communities. The development objective is to increase targeted households’ income through improved agricultural production, mainly focusing on the palm dates value chain, and livestock productivity.

The following outcomes are expected:

1. Irrigation Infrastructures are constructed/rehabilitated as well as properly managed, and climate-smart technologies are adopted (in both Yemen and Somalia).
2. The production of selected crops is increased (both quality and quantity), and processing and marketing of palm dates in Somalia and vegetables in Yemen is sustainably improved.
3. Rangeland and small ruminant productivity in project areas of Puntland is increased.

The project consists of the activities grouped under tree components as described below:

Component A: IRRIGATION AND CLIMATE-SMART TECHNOLOGIES DEVELOPMENT

· Support to the sustainable management of the irrigation infrastructures.

· Construction and Rehabilitation of irrigation infrastructures.

· Application of climate smart technologies for irrigation infrastructures.

Component B: SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE AND LIVESTOCK DEVELOPMENT

B1: SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE DEVELOPMENT

· Training farmers on sustainable agriculture practices and techniques, with a specific focus on the palm dates value chain.

· Support in developing a private sector led supply of inputs.

· Value chain capacity building for private sector traders, businessmen and producers.

· Establishment of a date processing unit.

B2: SUSTAINABLE LIVESTOCK DEVELOPMENT

· Value chain capacity building for private sector traders, businessmen and producers

· Introduction and adoption of a ‘Holistic Natural Resources Management’ (HNRM) approach for sustainable management of rangelands

· Increase small ruminant productivity through genetic improvement and feed technology.

· Capacity building for public (Veterinary Officers) and private (CAHWs – Community Animal Health Workers) and public veterinary service providers on disease control.

· Deployment of a methodology for Livestock Body Condition Scoring and Assessment

Component C: CAPITALIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

· Promote and strengthen collaboration with agricultural extension service providers and local authorities through short courses, workshops and provision of critical research inputs

· Capitalization of Knowledge and Documentation of Best Practices

Objectives of the consultancy

The overall objective of the consultancy is to strengthen the capacity of the Ministry of Livestock of the Puntland State of Somalia to monitor the status of the livestock in the country, through the deployment of a r rapid and quantitative Livestock Body Condition Scoring methodology as well as the improvement of the system of data collection and analysis

The specific objectives of the study are:

1) to produce a clear map of the stakeholders involved in the livestock health and nutrition assessment, identifying the officers that are most suitable to participate in the proposed activities.

2) to strengthen data collection and analysis of livestock body condition

3) to strengthen the dissemination of data on livestock body condition to national and international stakeholders.

Duration and Timeline

The duration of the contract is 13 months, beginning from December 2019 to December 2020. The foreseen contract will cover the inception period, in order to establish the process of involvement of the local authorities and stakeholders and for the first stage of the deployment of the methodology. The selected service provider shall be provided with further contracts up to the end of the project upon timely achievement of high-quality deliverables and confirmation of funds from the donor.

Description of the Proposed Activities

The proposed activities to be implemented are as follows:

1) Mapping and selection of stakeholders.

Desk review on current body condition scoring methodologies and strategies adopted in Somalia, as well as any relevant available data on Somali livestock. Furthermore, the service provider is expected to map out the livestock officers operating in Puntland, whether working with the Ministry of Livestock, with Non-Governmental Organizations or working as CAHWs. Once the mapping is completed, the service provider is requested to work in collaboration with the Ministry of Livestock to select the best officers to participate in the training on the livestock body condition scoring methodology.

2) Capacity building of the selected officers on the Body Condition Score Methodology.

The service provider is requested to carry out capacity building of the selected officers on an appropriate Livestock Body Condition Scoring methodology. This is expected to include both theoretical and practical sessions and to be conducted in the project area, if the security situation allows it.

3) Facilitation and supervision of assessments on Livestock Body Condition and forage availability.

The service provider is expected to work in collaboration with the Ministry of Livestock in order to plan and supervise the implementation of the Livestock Body Condition Assessment carried out under this contract. If the security situation allows it, a member of the service provider should participate in the assessment to ensure its quality.

4) Analysis of data gathered during the assessment and preparation of assessment reports.

The service provider shall also support the assessment by facilitating the data analysis and report writing for the assessments conducted under the FSFFS project.

The service provider shall present a template of the report and discuss it with the local government. Wherever possible, local government feedback should be incorporated into the template, increasing local ownership of the process. For the first assessment, the provider will carry out the data analysis and report writing, while during the next stage of the consultancy (2021), the provider shall also deliver training on these activities to the ministry of Livestock, so that it has the specific knowledge required to conduct these activities in the future.

5) Digital Server adaptation and management.

As well as allowing collection of high quality, objective quantitative data relating to Livestock Body Condition, the proposed methodology has to be linked to an online server, in order to allow the storage of and immediate access to all data collected. It is recommended that both server and data collection tool allow for a certain degree of modification, in order to accommodate possible request from the Government of Puntland or from the Federal Government of Somalia.

6) Support the Ministry of Livestock in establishing/strengthening the structure to collect and analyze data on livestock body condition.

The service provider shall work together with the Ministry in order to strengthen the existing structure for data collection and analysis or to create a specific structure in case this is not existing or working at the moment of implementation. Furthermore, the service provider has to establish a proper link between the Puntland Government and relevant international organizations (i.e. FAO, FSNAU and WFP) in order to ensure the sharing of the collected information and avoid duplications.

Methodology

The service provider has to provide details of the intended livestock body condition scoring methodology and its deployment. It is required to provide the technical details of its proposed methodology, including:

· the scoring methodology and associated rationale,

· the type of data that can be collected, with an example of possible data analysis output,

· A plan of how the assessment, analysis and report should be conducted during the project, and

· A plan of how to ensure the sustainability of activity beyond the life of the project.

The service provider is also required to provide information of previous utilization of the methodology by the provider of other entities, if any. It is also recommended to provide any information on international recognition of the methodology and/or any document referring to it.

The service provider shall make a presentation on the proposed methodology to the project partners and to the Ministry of Livestock of the state of Puntland and Ministry of Livestock of the Federal Government of Somalia. The provider, where feasible, shall incorporate the feedback received.

Expected Deliverables

The expected deliverables to be provided under the initial contract are as follows:

• Deliverable 1: 1 Mapping and Beneficiary Selection report submitted by the end of the contract.
• *Deliverable 2**:* 40 beneficiaries trained on Livestock Body Condition Scoring methodology by end of the contract; 1 training report submitted by the end of the contract;
• Deliverable 3: 1 Livestock Body Condition Scoring assessment carried out by end of contract; 1 Livestock Body Condition Scoring assessment report produced by end of contract; 1 set of feedback compiled the livestock body condition scoring tool and related server;
• Deliverable 4: 1 Final Report submitted by the end of the contract

All reports should be submitted in Microsoft Word format, in UK English [amend as appropriate]. All text should be unformatted. Graphs or other graphical devices should be editable (i.e. not pictures). All references must be cited according to convention, and detailed in a bibliography, using the Harvard system as set out in the UNESCO Style Manual. All verbatim quotations must appear in quotation marks and must not be of excessive length. All data collected under the consultancy must be submitted with the deliverables, in a widely recognized format such as Microsoft Excel.

Everything submitted to VSF-G and CEFA must be the original work of the consultants. Any plagiarism in any form, or any other breach of intellectual property rights, will automatically disqualify the consultant from receiving any further payments under the contract by VSF-G, and VSF-G will see