Supply of 210,000 Pineapple suckers and 16,322 Crowns: (Deadline 15 March 2021)

Supply of 210,000 Pineapple suckers and 16,322 Crowns: (Deadline 15 March 2021)

Introduction:

The Feed the Future Rwanda Hinga Weze Activity (Hinga Weze) is a USAID program implemented by CNFA in Rwanda. The goal of Hinga Weze is to sustainably increase smallholder farmers’ income, improve nutritional status of Rwandan women and children, and increase the resilience of the agriculture and food systems to the changing climate. To achieve the goals of the Hinga Weze, five value chains are specifically targeted: high-iron beans (HIB), orange flesh sweet potato (OFSP), Irish potato, maize, and horticulture.

It is within that background Hinga Weze, in collaboration with Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources  Board (RAB),  needs to procure Pineapple suckers and Pineapple crowns to be distributed to farms in Nyamagabe/Musange sector. The detailed specifications and terms are provided in section 4.

The purpose of this Request for Quotations (RFQ) is to solicit quotations from well-known individual/cooperatives/companies in Pineapple suckers and crowns production or supply.  Offerors are responsible for ensuring that their offers are received by CNFA in accordance with the instructions, terms, and conditions described in this RFQ.  Failure to adhere with instructions described in this RFQ may lead to disqualification of an offer from consideration.

2. Offer Deadline and Protocol:

 Offers must be received no later than 10:00 AM, Kigali City time, on March 15, 2021. Offers must be submitted by email to:  [email protected].

 Please put “Quotation for RFQ HW-2021-03-53” as subject line of your submission email.  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 provided deadlines to be considered for award.

3. Questions:

Questions regarding the technical or administrative requirements of this RFQ may be submitted no later than 5:00 PM/Kigali time on March 9, 2021 by email to [email protected]. Questions must be submitted in writing; phone calls will not be accepted. Questions and requests for clarification – and the responses thereto – that CNFA believes may be of interest to other offers will be circulated to all RFQ recipients who have indicated an interest in bidding on or about March 10, 2021.

Only the written answers issued by CNFA will be considered official and carry weight in the RFQ process and subsequent evaluation. Any verbal information received from employees of CNFA or any other entity should not be considered as an official response to any questions regarding this RFQ.

4. Technical Requirements:

The table below contains the detailed specifications or/and requirements of the pineapple/variety needed. Offerors are requested to provide quotations containing the information below on official letterhead or official quotation format. All commodities offered in response to this RFQ must meet per the requirements specified below. Offerors may submit partial quotations for only the variety and quantity they have ready for delivery and for preferred districts (or lots) with reference to the below list of districts and quantity.

Lot 1: Supply of 210,000 suckers

 Lot 2: Supply of 16,322 suckers

Note: Offerors may apply for one lot or both depending on their preference and capacity. The offeror must indicate the source/site of proposed pineapple suckers/crowns in Rwanda. CNFA, in collaboration with RAB will visit the sites of suckers for quality check and will cover transport from the site to the destination (Nyamagabe).

Maximum Delivery time (after receipt of order): 10 calendar days maximum, a shorter period is preferred.

Payment terms: Within 15 calendar days upon completion of delivery.

• Quotations:

Quotations in response to this RFQ must be priced on a fixed-price, all-inclusive basis, including delivery and all other necessary costs. Pricing must be presented in RWF currency. As a USAID sponsored Contractor, CNFA is exempted from being charged import duties and other eligible taxes and therefore, offers must indicate detailed price for items and relevant taxes. Offers must remain valid for not less than thirty (30) calendar days after the offer deadline. Offerors are requested to provide quotations on official letterhead or format; in the event this is not possible, offerors may complete the table in Section 4.

Note: Tender may be awarded to more than one offeror at CNFA’s discretion.

• Delivery:

The delivery location for the items described in this RFQ is Nyamagabe District (for different farmers), unless agreed otherwise. Transportation to the destination will be covered by CNFA/RAB. The offeror must indicate the source (district/sector) in his bid to facilitate the transportation planning.    As part of its response to this RFQ, each offeror is expected to provide an estimate (in calendar days) of the delivery timeframe (after receipt of order) and proposed payment terms.  Please note that the maximum delivery time after receipt of order is 10 calendar days (time for collecting items from the site by CNFA) and but a shorter period is preferred for lot 1 especially. The delivery estimate presented in an offer in response to this RFQ must be upheld in the performance of any resulting purchase order.

• Source/Nationality/Manufacture:

All goods and services offered in response to this RFQ or supplied under any resulting award must meet USAID Geographic Code 935 in accordance with the United States Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), 22 CFR §228. The cooperating country for this RFQ is Rwanda.

• Quality Test Certification:

The selected Supplier warrants and implies that the items to be delivered hereunder are merchantable and fit for use for the particular purpose described in this RFQ. All pineapple suckers under this order will be inspected and approved by CNFA and Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Board (RAB) technical team to ensure quality before any delivery. Any poor quality seeds will not be accepted and must be replaced by supplier. In the event of the Supplier’s refusal, failure, or inability to remedy such discrepancies within a reasonable time of notification, CNFA may remedy such defects on its own and claim the reasonable cost of such remedial action from the Supplier.

• Eligibility:

By submitting an offer in response to this RFQ, the offeror certifies that it and its principal officers are not debarred, suspended, or otherwise considered ineligible for an award by the U.S. Government. CNFA will not award a contract to any firm that is debarred, suspended, or ineligible by U.S. Government.

• Evaluation:

The award will be made to a responsible offeror whose offer follows the RFQ instructions, meets the eligibility requirements, and is determined via Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) evaluation methodology. The award will be made on the basis of the lowest evaluated price of proposals meeting or exceeding the acceptability standards for non-cost factors.  These include:

• Compliance with needed variety of seeds indicated in Section 4, Technical Requirements;
• Meeting delivery schedule proposed (10 calendar days ) at the indicated delivery points;
• Submission of relevant past experience/performance in seeds supply, especially pineapple production sector;

Best-offer proposals are requested. It is anticipated that 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 deemed to be the best prior to award;
• While preference will be given to offerors who can address the full technical requirements of this RFQ, CNFA may issue a partial award or split the award among various suppliers, if in the best interest of the Feed the Future Rwanda Hinga Weze Activity;
• CNFA may cancel this RFQ at any time or reject all bids at its discretion.

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

• Award and Payment:

The award will be awarded to the offeror(s) whose quotation represents the best value to the Project. Any award and payment resulting from this RFQ is anticipated to be in the form of a purchase order. This award is subject to the Feed the Future Rwanda Hinga Weze Activity’s terms and conditions as stipulated in Annex 3.

• Offer Format Instructions:

All proposals must be formatted in accordance with the below preliminary requirements:

• English or French languages only
• A cover letter on company letterhead, signed by an authorized representative of the offeror (Annex 2)
• The Technical Offer must be in the format provided in Section 4
• Copy of the offer’s business license for companies, registration for cooperatives or Identity card for individuals
• At least one past reference for similar items( pineapple suckers/crowns supply)
• Declaration letter for disposition of capacity to execute the tender ( with full current address of  source  of   items to be delivered)

Annex 1 – Offeror Checklist

To assist offerors in preparation of proposals, the following checklist summarizes the documentation to include an offer in response to this RFQ:

• English or French languages only
• A cover letter on company letterhead, signed by an authorized representative of the offeror (Annex 2)
• The Technical Offer must be in the format provided in Section 4
• Copy of the offer’s business license for companies, registration for cooperatives or Identity card for individuals
• At least one past reference for similar items( pineapple suckers/crowns supply)
• Declaration letter for disposition of capacity to execute the tender ( with full current address of  source  of   items to be delivere

Annex 2 – Offeror Cover Letter

The following cover letter must be placed on letterhead and completed/signed/stamped by a representative authorized to sign on behalf of the offeror:

To:   CNFA/Feed the Future Rwanda Hinga Weze Activity

Reference:       RFQ No. HW 2021-03-53

To Whom It May Concern:

We, the undersigned, hereby provide the attached offer to perform all work required to complete the activities and requirements as described in the above-referenced RFQ. Please find our offer attached.

We hereby acknowledge and agree to all terms, conditions, special provisions, and instructions included in the above-referenced RFQ, and further explained in Annex 3 We further certify that the below-named firm—as well as the firm’s principal officers and all commodities and services offered in response to this RFQ—are eligible to participate in this procurement under the terms of this solicitation and under USAID regulations.

Furthermore, we hereby certify that, to the best of our knowledge and belief:

• We have no close, familial, or financial relationships with any CNFA or Feed the Future Rwanda Hinga Weze Activity staff members;
• We have no close, familial, or financial relationships with any other offerors submitting proposals in response to the above-referenced RFQ; and
• The prices in our offer have been arrived at independently, without any consultation, communication, or agreement with any other offeror or competitor for the purpose of restricting competition.
• All information in our proposal and all supporting documentation is authentic and accurate.
• We understand and agree to CNFA’s prohibitions against fraud, bribery, and kickbacks.
• We understand and agree to CNFA’s prohibitions against funding or associating with individuals or organizations engaged in terrorism or trafficking in persons activities.

We hereby certify that the enclosed representations, certifications, and other statements are accurate, current, and complete.

Annex 3 – CNFA Terms and Conditions

1. Ethical and Business Conduct Requirements.

CNFA is committed to integrity in procurement, and only selects suppliers based on objective business criteria such as price and technical merit.

CNFA does not tolerate fraud, collusion among offerors, falsified proposals/bids, bribery, or kickbacks. Any firm or individual violating these standards will be disqualified from this procurement, barred from future procurement opportunities, and may be reported to both USAID and the Office of the Inspector General.

Employees and agents of CNFA are strictly prohibited from asking for or accepting any money, fee, commission, credit, gift, gratuity, object of value or compensation from current or potential vendors or suppliers in exchange for or as a reward for business. Employees and agents engaging in this conduct are subject to termination and will be reported to USAID and the Office of the Inspector General. In addition, CNFA will inform USAID and the Office of the Inspector General of any supplier offers of money, fee, commission, credit, gift, gratuity, object of value or compensation to obtain business.

Offerors responding to this RFQ must include the following as part of the proposal submission:

• Disclose any close, familial, or financial relationships with CNFA or project staff. For example, if an offeror’s cousin is employed by the project, the offeror must state this.
• Disclose any family or financial relationship with other offerors submitting proposals. For example, if the offeror’s father owns a company that is submitting another proposal, the offeror must state this.
• Certify that the prices in the offer have been arrived at independently, without any consultation, communication, or agreement with any other offeror or competitor for the purpose of restricting competition.
• Certify that all information in the proposal and all supporting documentation are authentic and accurate.
• Certify understanding and agreement to CNFA’s prohibitions against fraud, bribery and kickbacks.

Please contact Mr. Daniel Gies at [email protected] with any questions or concerns regarding the above information or to report any potential violations. Potential violations may also be reported directly to CNFA at to [email protected] or by phone at 202-296-3920.

2. Terms and Conditions:

This solicitation is subject to CNFA’s standard terms and conditions. Any resultant award will be governed by these terms and conditions; a copy of the full terms and conditions is available upon request. Please note the following terms and conditions will apply:

• CNFA’s standard payment terms are net 30 days after receipt and acceptance of any commodities or deliverables. Payment will only be issued to the entity submitting the offer in response to this RFQ and identified in the resulting award; payment will not be issued to a third party.
• No commodities or services may be supplied that are manufactured or assembled in, shipped from, transported through, or otherwise involving any of the following countries: Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria.
• Any international air or ocean transportation or shipping carried out under any award resulting from this RFQ must take place on U.S.-flag carriers/vessels.
• United States law prohibits transactions with, and the provision of resources and support to, individuals and organizations associated with terrorism. The supplier under any award resulting from this RFQ must ensure compliance with these laws.
• The title to any goods supplied under any award resulting from this RFQ shall pass to CNFA following delivery and acceptance of the goods by CNFA. Risk of loss, injury, or destruction of the goods shall be borne by the offeror until title passes to CNFA.
• United States law prohibits engaging in any activities related to Trafficking in Persons. The supplier under any award resulting from this RFQ must ensure compliance with these laws.

3. Disclaimers:

This is an RFQ only. Issuance of this RFQ does not in any way obligate CNFA, the Feed the Future Rwanda Hinga Weze Activity, or USAID to make an award or pay for costs incurred by potential offerors in the preparation and submission of an offer. In addition:

• CNFA may cancel RFQ and not award;
• CNFA may reject any or all responses received;
• Issuance of RFQ does not constitute award commitment by CNFA;
• CNFA reserves the right to disqualify any offer based on offeror failure to follow RFQ instructions;
• CNFA will not compensate offerors for response to RFQ;
• CNFA reserves the right to issue award based on initial evaluation of offers without further discussion;
• CNFA may negotiate with short-listed offerors for their best and final offer;
• CNFA reserves the right to order additional quantities or units with the selected offeror;
• CNFA may reissue the solicitation or issue formal amendments revising the original RFQ specifications and evaluation criteria before or after receipt of proposals;
• CNFA may modify the specifications without issuing a formal notice to all offerors when the revisions are immaterial to the scope of the RFQ;
• CNFA may choose to award only part of the activities in the RFQ, or issue multiple awards based on multiple RFQ activities;
• CNFA reserves the right to waive minor proposal deficiencies that can be corrected prior to award determination to promote competition;
• CNFA may contact all offerors to confirm contact person, address, and that the bid was submitted for this RFQ;
• CNFA may contact all offerors to inform them whether or not they were selected for award;
• In submitting a response to this RFQ, offerors understand that USAID is not a party to this solicitation and the offeror agrees that any protest hereunder must be presented – in writing with full explanations – to the Feed the Future Rwanda Hinga Weze Activity for consideration. USAID will not consider protests regarding procurements carried out by implementing partners. CNFA, at its sole discretion, will make a final decision on any protest for this procurement.