REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

RFP Number: 2024-BLD-PROC-0062

Subject: Request for Proposals for onsite Technical support on Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) and plant effluent disposal management.

Issuance Date: January, 13, 2025

Offer Deadline:  January 31, 2025; 5pm, East African Time.

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Land O’Lakes Venture37 (Venture37) is soliciting proposals from qualified providers to provide onsite Technical support on Good Manufacturing Practices, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points and plant effluent disposal management to Farmer Allied Enterprises (FAEs) as described in this Request for Proposals (RFP). These services are required for the DNA-BILD under Agreement No.15550 issued by [SIDA] for services to be performed in [Tanzania].

Firms are invited by Venture37 (hereinafter “Bidders”) to submit offers for the services described in this RFP are under no obligation to do so. The Bidder shall bear all costs associated with the preparation and submission of the Proposal; Venture37 will in no case be liable for those costs, regardless of the conduct or outcome of the solicitation.

This Request for Proposal includes the following sections:

1. Instructions to Bidders
2. Technical Specifications

Submission of offers must be completed in accordance with the Instructions to Bidders and complete offers must be received by the date and time indicated.

All correspondence and/or inquiries regarding this RFP must be requested in accordance with the enclosed Instructions to Bidders.

Background

Land O’Lakes Venture37 (www.landolakesventure37.org) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to helping communities around the world thrive through agriculture. We strengthen economies by improving local agriculture, help agribusinesses create jobs, and link farmers to markets. We deliver integrated solutions that help build and improve food and agriculture systems by providing solutions for more competitive markets, more resilient systems, more nutrition-secure communities, and more inclusive societies.

Venture37’s long-standing affiliation with Land O’Lakes, Inc. (www.landolakes.com) sets us apart. Land O’Lakes Inc. is one of America’s largest farmer-owned cooperatives. It supports Venture37 project

implementation with 100 years of experience in dairy, animal nutrition, crop inputs, and agricultural insights and technologies. This gives our development projects a unique global view of agriculture, food, and the power of well-functioning market systems. Land O’Lakes, Inc. supports these efforts as part of its enterprise purpose of Feeding Human Progress at home and around the world.

Venture37 is implementing the SIDA-funded BILD project in Tanzania.DNA-BILD aims to impact resource-poor, opportunity-constrained stakeholders across the dairy value chain that would otherwise not be engaged by TI3P, particularly women and youth, to enable inclusive, climate-smart, economic, and innovative development in the dairy sector. This will be achieved by a) growing consumer demand, b) driving enterprises to full potential, c) increasing farmer productivity and sustainability, and d) strengthening the operating environment.

SECTION 1: INSTRUCTIONS TO BIDDERS

1. Introduction

Request for Proposal (RFP) No. 2024-BLD-PROC-006 January 13, 2025. Venture37, acting on behalf of the BILD project, is hereby soliciting bids for the supply of comprehensive Technical Assistance Support as described in Section 2, Technical Specifications.

1. Eligibility
2. This RFP is open to firms that are legally registered to conduct business in Tanzania. Small and/or disadvantaged businesses, minority-owned, and women-owned businesses are encouraged to submit proposals.
3. A bidder will be considered ineligible if it has been suspended, debarred, or deemed ineligible, as indicated on (1) the “List of Parties Excluded from Federal Procurement and Non-procurement Programs” and/or (2) the “Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List”.
4. “this clause is intentionally left blank”

1. Preparation of Offers

1. Bidders are expected to examine the Technical Specifications and all instructions contained in this RFP. Failure to do so shall be at the Bidder’s risk.
2. The offer prepared by the Bidder and all correspondence related to the offer exchanged by the Bidder and Venture37 shall be in English.

1. Contents of Offer

1. Submitted bids are required to consist of the following documents:

Technical Proposal

1. Organizational background showing evidence of prior performance in supplying Technical Assistance Support.
2. Outline of proposed services, solutions, and team, reflecting how the Bidder will undertake all the tasks in Section 2, Technical Specifications.
3. Plan of action with specific activities and implementation timetable to address the Specific Tasks under Section 2, Technical Specifications.
4. List and brief description of the names and qualifications of the key personnel proposed to work on the assignment. CVs of proposed professional staff should be included as an annex.
5. Statement of Qualifications including evidence in support of its technical qualifications and ability to perform the services if its offer is accepted, such as references to successful prior projects of a similar nature.

Price Offer

1. Detailed budget outlining Bidder’s Price Offer, in Microsoft Excel, unlocked, and with formulas intact.
   1. Budget must give a detailed unit price breakdown and the total price of the services being offered in response to this RFP. If there is a discrepancy between the unit price and the total amount, the unit price shall be considered as correct and the total amount adjusted accordingly.
   2. All prices should be indicated in Tanzania Shillings.
2. Budget Narrative explaining calculation and necessity of costs, displaying attribution to the activities proposed. Narrative may be included in the Excel budget or as a separate Word document.

Supporting Documentation

1. Official business registration or license documenting eligibility to do business in Tanzania.
2. Two references including contact names, e-mail addresses, and telephone numbers of persons who can be contacted regarding the Bidder’s prior performance for similar work within the past three years.
3. The Bidder shall prepare one complete offer with all the required sections of the proposal and supporting documentation typed or written in legible ink. Only complete offers will be accepted and evaluated; incomplete offers will be eliminated.
4. Offer Validity Period

Offers shall remain valid for a minimum of sixty (60) days after the offer deadline. An offer valid for a shorter period shall be rejected as non-responsive. Bidders shall clearly indicate their offer’s validity period within the proposal documents.

1. Clarification of Bidding Documents

Clarifications may be requested in writing up to five (5) business days prior to the Offer Deadline. The contact for requesting clarifications is: [email protected] with copy to [email protected]

1. Offer Deadline and Late Bids

All offers must be submitted to Venture37 by January 31, 2025.  Please submit electronic proposals to [email protected] with the RFP Number referenced in the subject line.  Late proposals will not be accepted.

1. It is the Bidder’s sole responsibility to ensure that offers are received by Venture37 on or before the Offer Deadline of January 31, 2025. Electronic submissions are strongly encouraged. Faxed offers will not be accepted.

1. Offers received after the deadline for submission shall be rejected. A late offer will be considered only if the sole cause of its lateness was attributable to Venture37, its employees or agents.

1. Submission of Bids

1. Only electronic submissions will be accepted. Complete offers, including technical, price, and all supporting documentation must be received by January 31, 2025 by [email protected]. Please reference the RFP number in the subject line.

1. Ensuring successful transmission and receipt of the bids is the responsibility of the Bidder. It is recommended that no e-mail exceed the size of 10 MB, inclusive of attachments.

1. Amendment of Bidding Documents

Venture37 may at its discretion and for any reason, modify bidding documents by amendment. All prospective Bidders that have received bidding documents will be notified of the amendment by e-mail and such amendments will be binding on them.

1. Modification of Offers

1. Any Bidder has the right to withdraw, modify, or correct its offer after it has been delivered to Venture37, provided the request for such a withdrawal, modification, or correction together with full details of such modification or correction is received by Venture37 at the submission point of contact above before the Offer Deadline.

1. Venture37 may ask any Bidder for a clarification of its offer or conduct negotiations with the apparent winner after evaluation of offers; nevertheless, no Bidder will be permitted to alter its price or make any other material modification to its offer after the deadline unless the RFP has been amended or the deadline extended. Clarifications which do not change the price or other material aspects of the offer may be accepted.

1. Criteria for Award and Evaluation

1. Subject to Clause 15, Venture37 will award the contract to that Bidder whose offer is deemed acceptable and which offers the best value based upon the evaluation criteria. All complete, eligible offers will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

• Price (30%)
• Formal qualifications in Dairy products process (20%)
• Experience with small holders dairy processing systems (20%)
• Experience in training Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) 10%)
• Technical expertise in Dairy effluent management (10%)
• Hands- on experiences in adult training (10%)

In order for a bid to be deemed acceptable, it must comply with all the terms and conditions of the RFP without material modification. A material modification is one which affects the price, quantity, quality, delivery or installation date of the equipment or materials or which limits in any way any responsibilities, duties, or liabilities of the bidders or any rights of Venture37. In addition, the successful bidder must be determined to be responsible. A responsible bidder is one who has the technical expertise, management capability, workload capacity, and financial resources to perform the work.

1. Subject to Clause 15, Venture37 shall award the contract to the Bidder whose offer presents the best price, taking into consideration that the offer meets the eligibility requirements and technical specifications and requirements indicated in Section II of the bidding documents.

1.     Venture37’s Right to Accept Any Offer and to Reject Any or All Offers

Venture37 will reject any offer that it deems nonresponsive. Further, Venture37 reserves the right to waive any minor errors in any offer received if it is in Venture37’s best interests to do so, to reject the offer of any Bidder if, in Venture37’s judgment, the Bidder is not fully qualified to provide the services as specified in the contract, or to reject all bids.

1. Notification of Award

1. Before the expiration of the period of offer validity, Venture37 will notify the successful Bidder in writing that its offer has been accepted.  Venture37 may negotiate with the successful bidder on any details and terms of the contract which do not materially change the scope or specifications of the goods or services to be provided.

1. Upon the successful Bidder acknowledging receipt of the Notification of Award, Venture37 will promptly notify each unsuccessful Bidder that their bids were rejected. If, after notification of award, a Bidder wishes to ascertain the grounds on which its offer was not selected, it should address its request to Venture37 in writing.

1. Acceptance of Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions.

By submitting a proposal to Venture37, Bidder consents to and provides Venture37 with permission to process the Bidder’s personal data specifically for the performance of, and purposes identified in, this solicitation document and in compliance with Venture37’s legal obligations under applicable United States and European Union laws, data protection and regulations, and any other applicable legal requirements. The bidder may withdraw their consent at any time by contacting Joachim Balakana (Team Leader). If consent is withdrawn, Venture37 reserves the right to either accept or

reject the offer.

SECTION 2: TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

1. Scope of Work

BACKGROUND

Land O’Lakes Venture37 is implementing the Dairy Nourishes Africa – Building Inclusive Livelihoods through Dairy (DNA-BILD) – funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) from July 2022 to June 2025.

DNA-BILD aims to impact resource-poor, opportunity-constrained stakeholders across the dairy value chain that would otherwise not be engaged by TI3P, particularly women and youth, to enable inclusive, climate-smart, economic, and innovative development in the dairy sector. This will be achieved by a) growing consumer demand, b) driving enterprises to full potential, c) increasing farmer productivity and sustainability, and d) strengthening the operating environment.

1. Challenges

Small scale dairy farming is emerging as an important component of the milk production system based on available stock of dairy cattle and milk processing plants in the Northern Highlands milk shed. However, there are many challenges faced by the farmers and farmer allied enterprises including technical gaps like low quality dairy products and lack of appropriate working equipment for production of various products. Technical gaps include lack of knowledge of improved ways of producing quality dairy products such as cheese and butter, milk quality control and improved methods of computerized data keeping systems.

Despite these constraints, dairy farming continues to expand due to the ever-increasing demands for milk and milk products. In addition to supporting their own livelihoods, dairy farmers are also creating more employment opportunities for others.

1. OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The main objective of the assignment is to enhance capacity of small and medium commercial dairy processors in Kilimanjaro and Arusha regions on improved quality of processed products.

Specific objectives of the assignment include:

• To identify technical gaps that processors face in dairy technology.
• To prepare and use training materials and give guidelines based on knowledge and skill gaps
• To provide practical training to processors on improved dairy products processing.
• Training dairy processors on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP)
• To give recommendations to individual processors for improved quality of dairy products in relation to their specific challenges identified during the

1. PROJECT CONTRIBUTION

The project has committed to mobilize 26 x staff/FAEs for the technical and practical training. The project will also avail key personnel to work closely with the trainer in assisting her/him during training and practical demonstration sessions, ensuring translation of the training media to the local language and advising on the culture of the area.

1. EXPECTED RESULTS FROM THE ASSIGNMENT

It is expected that the training will lead to:

• Improved dairy products production techniques
• Productivity and income increased because of knowledge and skill transfer from the expert to the FAE.
• Improved product quality.
• FAEs implementing the HACCP.

1. DELIVERABLES

The major deliverables of this assignment include, but not limited to:

• Manual/guidelines for processing of various dairy products and HACCP procedures.
• Training report with lists of 26 trained FAE staff and subject
• Trainer’s end of assignment report with recommendations to the project action plan and recommendations to National Coordinator.
• Documentation (Photos and Presentation slide)

1. PROPOSED TRAINING SCHEDULE AND COVERAGE

• Tailor made TA made to each processor through a day visit by the trainer.
• The trainer must deliver tailor made hands-on training to each processor basing on processor’s products.

1. VENUE

• The trainer will be responsible for paying costs of renting a training venue, facilities and materials needed for practical training.
• The training venue will be in the processor’s factory/plant

1. DESIRABLE DAIRY EXPERT SKILLS

The expert need to have the following skills, qualifications, and competencies:

• Formal qualifications in dairy
• Extensive experience in dairy technology and milk handling
• Experience and skills in adult training methodologies
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills
• Willingness and flexibility to train and technically assist the FAE staff whenever