Africa Lead II West Africa Regional Office
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Africa Lead II West Africa Regional Office Annual Program Statement
The Feed the Future: Building Capacity for African Agricultural Transformation (Africa Lead II) is a five year program, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI) The goal of the program is to build and expand on the foundation laid by Africa Lead, the predecessor program which successfully contributed to increasing the participation of a diverse but inter-linked set of Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) stakeholders in improving African food security policy. The signature activity under the Africa Lead program was the Champions for Change transformative leadership and change management training. It used African trainers and technical and experiential training methods that were contextualized and customized to the African context and were grounded in the single focus of food security. Africa LEAD II builds upon this foundation, while also moving into supporting the policy enabling environment and increasing support to non-state actors (NSAs) to take on a greater role. The training and technical assistance provided by Africa Lead II will lead to the critical mass required for achievement of greater food security across the continent. Africa Lead II capitalizes on the single most important legacy of the current program, namely an expanded and growing network of highly motivated Champions for Change, trained in change management techniques for improving food security. The program works with the private sector, civil society, regional associations, universities and technical institutions, and others to increase the capacity of key public and private training institutions to provide technical and organizational leadership training and support. While building on experience from Africa Lead, Africa Lead II focuses on supporting policy improvements and on more systematically integrating DAI’s support for human capacity with its assistance for institutional development. In addition to being able to draw on technical assistance and programmatic funding for implementation support, Africa Lead II has a grant facility with which it enlists support from non-governmental organizations and the private sector to help achieve these ambitious goals. The Africa Lead II grant initiative can provide assistance through in-kind awards or through direct financial support on a reimbursable or cash-advance basis. Africa Lead II may not award any grant that exceeds $50,000 USD or for a period that extends beyond the estimated completion date of base period of the Africa Lead Program (September 30th, 2018). DAI will award and administer grant funds to be used strategically across all Africa Lead II components. Program grants will be used to support systematic capacity building of African institutions, both governmental actors and NSAs. Grants are used to achieve discrete results, driven by the needs of the program, the importance of building local capacity, and the goal of effective African partner participation in the development and deployment of Africa Lead II deliverables. We will provide grants for capacity building through funded training, and for administrative and financial systems improvement, as well as other identified needs. Further, Africa Lead II will fund the core mission work of our nonprofit partners so that their voices are heard more clearly and effectively in their efforts to enhance food security and improve agricultural policy. Other key elements of how grants will be incorporated include the following: To build capacity by funding training and administrative and financial systems improvements so partners may become eligible for direct USAID assistance. To support core mission work to strengthen legally registered NSA organizations so they can be more vocal and effective advocates in enhancing food security and improving agricultural policy. To spur local innovations and local solutions through adoption of USAID’s Grand Challenges for Development model. DAI will identify a specific development challenge and then issue a call for applications to address this challenge. To provide initial support for organizations seeking to implant improved performance management or M&E systems. To support development of effective networks and cascade training of Africa Lead’s Champions for Change (C4C) curriculum by legally registered groups representing/supporting Food Security Champions. To support organizations seeking to accompany local youth and women’s groups innovative initiatives in promoting agribusiness Feed the Future focus value chain development. All grants will be fully consistent with Africa Lead II strategies and priorities and Africa Lead II will strive to ensure adequate coordination with implementing partners and other donor- funded interventions to avoid duplication of effort. In this way, grants contribute financially and technically to promote and facilitate achievement of expected project results, and do so in a manner complementary to other, financial and non-financial Africa Lead contributions, such as volunteer labor or space. The grant program is designed to provide this financial support while leveraging local resources and those of other donors. Eligible organizations: Africa Lead II can award grants to legally registered organizations, both U.S. and non-U.S. organizations through Ghana and West Africa, (both for-profit and non- profit). Non-US organizations should be registered under their resident country Law. In-eligible organizations: Africa Lead II cannot award grants without the prior written consent of USAID to: Any U.S. entity which is a “private voluntary organization” (PVO) but has not registered as such with USAID; Any entity whose name appears on the “List of Parties Excluded from Federal Procurement and Non-Procurement Programs”; Any “public international organization” (PIO); Any third country foreign government; Any entity affiliated with DAI or any of its directors, officers, or employees; Any political party organization; and Individuals.
Eligible activities: The following are examples of activities that may be supported by grant funds. These categories and activities are illustrative only; variations are likely to emerge in actual practice, in keeping with the needs and opportunities that arise during Africa Lead II implementation. Capacity building to local partner organizations to support innovative programs for youth, women, Champions for Change, and former interns who may need assistance to start a new initiative.
Activities that provide support for cascade training of Africa Lead’s Champions for Change Leadership Course by organized networks of Food Security Champions
To build capacity in training institutions. By supporting development and advertising of selected certificate-level leadership or capacity building courses. Provide technical assistance to grantees for the systematic improvement of effective M&E system Communication and outreach campaigns targeting a subset of NSA groups who show particular promise in the quality and vision of their action plans will be provided more extensive and specialized training and coaching through grants to build capacity on how to better engage in agricultural policy formulation and implementation processes. Activities that provide training to people seeking employment – particularly women and youth – or create employment opportunities in Africa Lead II ’s target value chains development sectors. Procurement of equipment and services to improve processing and marketing of priority agricultural products (as defined by Africa Lead II). Innovative actions supporting key NSA groups through grants may include: Strengthening business leadership of African farmer groups. Strengthening agribusiness leaders for policy engagement. Providing scholarship/internship programs for underrepresented groups, especially youth and women. Strengthening the ability of African civil society to support farmers. Facilitating national agricultural investment It is usually expected that the grantee will make a contribution to the activity for which they are seeking funding. This can be either in-kind (such as labor and materials) or cash through direct financing of a portion of the grant initiative’s implementation costs. In most cases, Africa Lead II will seek a minimum contribution of 25% of the cost of activities. In the case of grants to private sector entities that fall under the category of formal public-private partnerships, Africa Lead expects the grantee to make a higher financial commitment. The purpose of the matching requirement is to leverage additional resources towards achieving the program’s objectives and to ensure that the grantee has a stake in the outcome of the activity. Africa Lead West Africa will accept grant applications on a quarterly basis by mail, email, or hard copies starting October 1st 2014 until September 30th 2015. Quarterly application deadlines are the following: October 31, 2014 January 31, 2015 March 31, 2015 June 30, 2015 September 30, 2015
Africa Lead II will not reimburse any costs incurred prior to award of a grant or any costs associated with developing a proposal – whether successful or not. Grant applications will be reviewed by a Grant Committee comprising representatives of Africa Lead, USAID and key partner organizations. Application guidelines can be found on the Africa Lead website (www.africaleadftf.org) Grant applications that meet minimum eligibility criteria will be reviewed and awarded based on selection criteria that include: 1. Conformity to Africa Lead II Program Objectives. The proposed activity must directly support Africa Lead II program objectives and contribute to one or more of the Africa Lead II intermediate results as well as USAID/ Feed the Future program 2. Technical approach and feasibility. Appropriateness of the proposed methodology, innovativeness, and ability to produce the intended outcomes. The technical approach must directly contribute to the achievement of Africa Lead II expected results and performance under the activity, and must be measureable under one or more of Africa Lead II indicators. 3. Cross cutting issues agricultural development and food security issues. Does the proposed activity incorporate gender issues into its approach? 4. Sustainability. What is the probability that the activities will be sustainable over the long term without continued external support? 5. Institutional Capacity. The organization must present evidence that it possesses the technical, managerial, and financial capacity to accomplish the proposed task. 6. Environmental Compliance. Does the proposed activity meet environmental compliance criteria? 7. Cost. The proposed cost should be within the expected range as mentioned in the APS and should be reasonable, allocable, and allowable. 8. Cost Sharing. What is the % cash and/or in-kind contribution from the grantee to the overall program? Is the applicant also partnering with other stakeholders to leverage funding? The competency, suitability, and capability of eligible applications will be evaluated based on established criteria. The evaluation may entail interviewing, site visits, background research, and/or solicitation of additional information. Following the evaluation of proposals, all applicants will be informed in writing whether their applications have been successful or not. Once grants are awarded, they will be managed according to Chapter 303 of the Automated Directives System and either the Mandatory Standard Provisions for U.S. Non-Governmental Recipients or the Mandatory Standard Provisions for Non-U.S. Non-Governmental Recipients depending on the award recipient. To submit grant applications and request further information, please contact: Africa Lead program A&C Shopping Mall Square 14 Jungle Road, East Legon Tel: 0577 668 040 [email protected]