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Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems RFA

Q&A Webinar

RFA-OAA-15-000012

Speakers:Lindsay Parish, Elizabeth Manning, Carole Levin

USAID Bureau for Food SecurityKelly Miskowski

USAID Office of Acquisition and AssistanceFacilitator:

Julie MacCarteeUSAID Bureau for Food SecurityMarch 17, 2015

Title XII Legislation

Title XII of the International Development and Food Assistance Act of 1975 authorized USAID to engage U.S. land-grant and other eligible universities to address the needs of developing nations while also contributing to U.S. food security and agricultural development through Collaborative Research Support Programs (CRSPs).

In 2000, Title XII was reauthorized, enabling the continuation of these programs as one of several types of U.S. university research efforts helping “to achieve the mutual goals among nations of ensuring food security, human health, agricultural growth, trade expansion, and the wise and sustainable use of natural resources”.

In 2013 the CRSPs were renamed Feed the Future Innovation Labs.

Land-grant universities (Morrill Act of 1862 and 1890)

Sea-grant colleges (National Sea Grant College and Program Act of 1966)

Native American land-grant institutions (as authorized by Congress in 1994)

Other U.S. colleges and universities which: • have demonstrable capacity in teaching, research and extension activities in the agricultural sciences; and • can contribute effectively to the attainment of the objective of

Sec. 296 (d) of Title XII.

Eligibility

24 Feed the Future Innovation Labs

Adapting Livestock Systems to Climate Change (Ends April 2015)

Genomics to Improve Poultry

Applied Wheat Genomics Grain Legumes

Aquaculture & Fisheries Horticulture

Assets & Market Access Integrated Pest Management

Climate Resilient Beans Nutrition

Climate Resilient Chickpea Peanut Productivity & Mycotoxin Control

Climate Resilient Cowpea Reduction of Post-Harvest Loss

Climate Resilient Millet Rift Valley Fever Control in Agriculture

Climate Resilient Sorghum Small-Scale IrrigationClimate Resilient Wheat Sorghum & Millet

Food Processing & Post-Harvest Handling Soybean Value Chain Research

Food Security Policy Sustainable Intensification

The Feed the Future Innovation Labs are an integral part of the Food Security Innovation Center, established to implement the Feed the Future Research Strategy. There are seven FSIC program areas:

1) Program for Research on Climate Resilient Cereals

2) Program for Research on Legume Productivity

3) Program for Advanced Approaches to Combat Pests and Diseases

4) Program for Research on Nutritious and Safe Foods

Livestock Systems Innovation Lab

5) Program for Markets and Policy Research and Support

6) Program for Sustainable Intensification

7) Program for Human and Institutional Capacity Development

Food Security Innovation Center

USAID intends to award a Leader with Associates Award (LWA) Cooperative Agreement to the responsible applicant whose application, conforming to this RFA, offers the greatest value in furthering the goals of the program described in Section I of this RFA.

A cooperative agreement is distinguished from a grant by virtue of USAID having substantial involvement (beyond that which is permitted under a grant) in the implementation of the program.

The USAID Agreement Officer’s Representative (AOR), and any other potential donor, will be substantially involved in the implementation of the core program described in Section I of this RFA under the Leader Award with the intended purpose to assist the recipient in achieving the supported program objectives. 

Award Type

Substantial involvement will be limited to:

• Review and approval of Annual Implementation Plans (Work-Plans) for the Leader Award by USAID and other potential donors,

• Approval of Specified Key Personnel,• Approval of the Recipient’s overall Performance Management Plan

(PMP) for the Leader Award,• Collaborative involvement in selection of members of the Technical

Advisory Committee,• Concurrence on the recipients of sub-awards,• Concurrence on the substantive provisions of sub-awards and

contracts for research and capacity development activities, and• Review and approval of Program Descriptions for proposed

Associate Awards and buy-Ins.

Cooperative Agreement Substantial Involvement

After the Leader Award is made, USAID Missions, Bureaus and Offices can fund specific activities with:

Associate Awards – These are separate awards for activities that fall within the approved programmatic scope the Leader Award but are not specifically defined in the technical program description.

Buy-ins - These are for activities already defined in the technical program of the Leader Award. The Leader is amended to add the buy-in funding and the resources can be used, for example, to increase the scale of existing activities.

There is no guarantee of funding from Associate Awards and/or buy-ins.

Associate Awards/Buy-ins

Funding Levels

USAID FundingEstimated life-of-project budget up to $49 million, calculated as follows:Leader Award = $19 million• Year One = $2.5 million• Years Two, Three, Four, Five = $4.125 million each yearAssociate Awards = up to $20 millionBuy-ins = up to $10 million

Other Potential Donor Funding $10 million

The Livestock Systems Innovation Lab will conduct research on livestock systems and address key issues related to livestock value chains, disease management, animal source foods, and enabling policies that drive sustainable local and national agricultural productivity and combat food insecurity and undernutrition. 

Four Areas of Inquiry:• Future Livestock Systems• Animal Source Foods Production and Marketing Systems• Livestock Disease Management and Food Safety• Enabling Policies for Livestock

Areas of Inquiry

Evaluation Criterion

Technical Approach Total 70Background and Context 5Geographic Focus 5Areas of Inquiry- Future Livestock Systems (8 points)- Animal Source Foods Production and Marketing Systems (12 points)- Livestock Disease Management and Food Safety (12 points)- Enabling Policies for Livestock (8 points)

40

Human and Institutional Capacity Development 10Role of Gender 5Human Health and Nutrition 5

Management Approach Total 30

Management Plan 15Staffing Plan 5Knowledge-Sharing and Learning, Open Data 5Monitoring, Evaluation and Impact Assessment 5

Applications will be evaluated in accordance with the criteria set forth in Section V.B. The technical application may not exceed 30 pages, excluding table of contents, attachments, annexes, and appendices. A page in the technical application that contains a table, chart, graph, etc. will be counted as a page within the page limitation. Information which exceeds the page limitations will not be furnished to the USAID technical evaluation committee.

USAID hopes to evaluate applications and make an award without discussions with applicants. Therefore, the applicant's initial application should contain the applicant's best terms.

Award Evaluation

Written questions concerning this RFA must be received no later than March 31, 2015 at 1:00 pm, Washington, DC time. Questions must be in writing and should be e-mailed only to the e-mail address specified in Section VII of the RFA: kmiskowski@usaid.gov.

Please note that all questions, without attribution to the organization, and answers will be posted online at www.grants.gov as an amendment to this RFA. Sensitive or proprietary information should not be included in the questions.

Written Questions