Section A:  Offer Instructions

1. Introduction to Offerors: Hinga Wunguke is a USAID program implemented by CNFA in Rwanda. The goal of the Hinga Wunguke Activity is to improve farmer incomes and nutritional outcomes by sustainably increasing agricultural productivity and strengthening domestic consumption and markets for high-value and nutritious agricultural products.

As part of project activities, CNFA requires the services of a Consulting firm to conduct an assessment of the status of terraces (Task 1) and/or irrigation schemes (Task 2) and their associated farmer cooperatives and groups in Hinga Wunguke Zone of Intervention. The consulting firm/team of consultants can submit a proposal for either one task or both tasks. Section B provides full details on the required Scope of Work for each task. The purpose of this solicitation is to solicit proposals from qualified offerors. 

Offerors are responsible for ensuring that their offers are received by CNFA in accordance with the instructions, terms, and conditions described in this Solicitation. Consulting firms and/or individual consultants (either individually or in teams) are eligible for consideration in response to this solicitation. Failure to adhere to the instructions described in this solicitation may lead to the disqualification of an offer from consideration. Please reference the solicitation number in all responses. 

2. Offer Deadline and Protocol: Offers must be received no later than 6 p.m., Kigali time, on 4 September, 2023. All interested and qualified firms should submit an application containing updated CVs of subject matter experts, a two-page write-up on the proposed high-level methodology and relevant experience of the firm for each task, as well as the preferred daily rate, to: ModAg@cnfarwanda.org. Please include “Terraces and Irrigation Schemes Assessment Consultant” and the Task number in the subject line. Only successful applicants will be contacted.  

Offers received after the specified time and date will be considered late and will be considered only at the discretion of CNFA. The cover page of this solicitation summarizes the important dates of the solicitation process. Offerors must strictly follow the deadlines provided in the cover page to be considered for award. 

3. Quotations: Financial proposals in response to this solicitation should be priced on a fixed price basis. The rate must be presented in RWF for local firms/consultants or USD for international firms/consultants and must remain valid for not less than thirty (30) The offeror shall bear all costs associated with the preparation and submission of the quotations up to the final award of the contract. CNFA will in no case be responsible or liable for those costs, regardless of the conduct or outcome of the procurement process.

4. Taxes and VAT: All prices must be presented with details indicating financial proposals without taxes and taxes inclusive (duties, and withholding taxes or VAT, where applicable). The selected offeror is responsible for all taxes in accordance with applicable laws.

5. Evaluation: The award will be made to a responsible offeror(s) whose offer follows the solicitation instructions, meets the eligibility requirements, and is determined via a trade-off analysis to be the best value based on application of the below evaluation criteria. Best value determination will consider both technical and financial proposals, i.e., the best approach and anticipated results in combination with a reasonable cost. Proposed costs must reflect and clearly match the degree of sophistication of the technical approach. The relative importance of each individual criterion is indicated by the number of points in the table below. 

Scoring Criteria: 

Best-offer proposals are requested. It is anticipated that the award will be made solely on the basis of these original proposals. However, CNFA reserves the right to conduct any of the following:

• CNFA may conduct negotiations with and/or request clarifications from any offeror prior to award;
• While preference will be given to offerors who can address the full technical requirements of this solicitation, CNFA may issue a partial award or split the award among various suppliers, if in the best interest of the Hinga Wunguke activity;
• CNFA may cancel this solicitation at any time;
• CNFA may contact the best scored firm for additional clarifications following review of initial offers received.

Please note that if there are deficiencies regarding responsiveness to the requirements of this Solicitation, an offer may be deemed “non-responsive” and thereby disqualified from consideration. CNFA reserves the right to waive immaterial deficiencies at its discretion.

6. Payment and Award: The award will be awarded to the offeror whose quotation represents the best value to the Project. Award will be issued only to the entity which submits an offer in response to this solicitation. CNFA will not issue an award to different offerors, entities, or third-parties other than the selected offeror(s). Any award and payment resulting from this solicitation is anticipated to be in the form of an Independent Consultant Agreement. This award is subject to the Hinga Wunguke’s terms and conditions as stipulated in Annex 3.
7. Offer Format Instructions (Administrative requirements): All offers must be formatted in accordance with the below requirements:

1. Offer in English language only
2. Include the offeror’s name, date, Solicitation number, and page numbers as a header or footer throughout the document.
3. The Official Offer must be in the format provided in Annex 1 (Official Offer Template)
4. Cover letter signed by the offeror (see Annex 2)
5. CV/Resume of subject matter expert(s): Subject matter experts should hold a university degree (Preferred degrees include but are not limited to Soil, Water and Environment Management, Agriculture Sciences, Soil water management, Integrated water resources management, social sciences, Agriculture Economics, Project management, Rural Development and Agribusiness or Business). Fluent Kinyarwanda skills required; good French skills are considered an asset.
6. Registration certificate of the consulting firm
7. Provide three contacts for references from organizations/individuals for which the offeror has successfully performed similar work.
8. The firm should have at least five years of work experience in the design, analysis, monitoring and evaluation of agriculture development projects