POC Dennis Sharma, Project Officer, ENI/ED/AG, (703) 875-5196. The United
States Agency for International Development (USAID) is seeking applications
from agribusiness associations, agricultural cooperatives, PVOs with agribusiness
affiliations and other agribusiness organizations 1) who have experience with
the formation of agribusiness partnerships or joint ventures, 2) whose members
or affiliated agribusinesses have experience with indigenous private agricultural
firms in the New Independent States (W/NIS), and are interested in establishing
agribusiness partnerships to provide market driven private alternatives in
agricultural input supply, marketing and distribution, and agroindustrial
processing in West NIS countries (principally Ukraine, Moldova and to a limited
extent Belarus). The objective of this three year activity is to increase
private sector involvement in the agricultural input supply, agroindustrial
processing, marketing and distribution in West NIS countries (principally
Ukraine and Moldova and to a limited extent in Belarus). The primary components
of this activity will be: 1) Agricultural Input Supply, Technology and Market
- over the next three years and with the assistance provided under this project,
U.S. and local agribusinesses will establish new Farm Service Centers, as
agribusiness partnerships, to provide farmers with a viable, private, market-based
sources of inputs, technical assistance and market outlets that can compete
with the existing state system. USAID will provide incentive financing in
form of development contracts for technical assistance and training to induce
U.S. and local entrepreneurs to undertake investments in the Farm Service
Centers. In addition, USAID will provide resources to support commercialization
of small farm agriculture. This could be in the form of technical assistance
provided to fledgling private farmers in production, processing, marketing,
distribution and access to credit, 2) Transport and Distribution - agribusiness
partnerships funded under this component will support the privatization of
transport and improved communications systems necessary for efficient operations,
and 3) Developing Commercial, Private Agro-Processing Enterprises and Trade
- the lack of modern technology, food additives, ingredients and packaging
materials needed, and poor management capabilities continue to have a negative
impact on the quality of processed products in Ukraine. To address these problems
USAID will support, through a U.S. agribusiness association, up to twenty
Agribusiness Partnerships in value-added food and feed processing, packaging
and distribution, encouraging private investment in these enterprises and
providing an expanding market outlet for the increased agricultural output
being generated through the Farm Service Centers. As with the farm service
center activity, USAID would provide incentive financing, to support largely
technical assistance and training and limited equipment costs of the new enterprises.
USAID investment in the farm service centers, transport and communication,
and agroindustrial partnerships will be based on a 2.5:1 ratio of private
to public investment, with businesses providing the core investment and U.S.
funding to catalyze the process and enhance development impact.
The primary scope of work for the successful applicant will be to solicit
sub-grant applications from its members in the three project components, make
agribusiness partnership sub-grants and manage such subgrants until project
completion. Supporting this program, the selected applicant will also be expected
to do business outreach in W/NIS and the United States to facilitate business
networking between the U.S. and local firms, and undertake other appropriate
activities that promote agricultural trade and investment in the W/NIS countries.
Funding has not been allocated for the activity at this time, however it is
anticipated that funding will be available before the RFA issued. Applications
will be evaluated and the selection will be based on the application that
is most advantageous to the Government, considering the technical and cost
factors stated in the evaluation criteria of the RFA. Further instructions
regarding technical and cost proposal will be in the RFA. The RFA is anticipated
to be issued not less than 15 days after this notice. This CBD notice can
be viewed and downloaded using the Agency Gopher. The RFA, once issued, can
downloaded from the Agency Gopher. The Gopher is GOPHER.INFO.USAID.GOV. Select
USAID Procurement and Business Opportunities from the Gopher menu. The RFA
text can be downloaded the Anonymous Files Transfer Protocol (FTP). The FTP
address is FTP.INFO.USAID.GOV. Logon on using the user identification of anonymous
and the password is your E-mail address. Look under the following directory
for the RFA: pub/OP/RFA/121601/121601.rfa. Receipt of the RFA through INTERNET
must be confirmed by written notification to the contact person noted above.
It is the responsibility of the recipient of this Application to ensure that
it has been received from INTERNET in its entirety and USAID bears not responsibility
for data error resulting from transmission or conversion processes.
U.S. [AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT], [USAID] Mission to Ukraine,
American Embassy Kiev, Washington, D.C. 20521-5080. (0081)
***************************************************************************
You can subscribe to the USAID CBD listserve by sending an e-mail to "listproc@info.usaid.gov"
-- in the body of the e-mail include the message:
subscribe USAID-CBD-L your name
****************************************************************************