Deadline: 15-Jan-24
The Practice, Research, and Operations in Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene and Strengthening Capacity in Agriculture, Livelihoods, and Environment (PRO-WASH & SCALE) Award is excited to release this request for applications (RFA).
The goal of the RFA is to solicit applications to explore sustainability in the domains of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), agriculture, natural resource management (NRM), water resources management (WRM), livelihoods, markets, and cash-for-work (CFW), vouchers-forwork, and food-for-work interventions on closed USAID/Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA)- funded development or resilience food security activities (DFSAs/RFSAs) or development food assistance programs (DFAPs). This includes legacy Food for Peace (FFP) programs, as the programs that fall under this RFA were mostly wholly funded by FFP.
Objective
- The objective of this RFA is to identify lessons and best practices related to the sustainability of select interventions 2-5 years post-activity close-out to inform future RFSA design and implementation. The selected partner will look at a subset of technical interventions that relate to the key areas.
- Through a mix of impact evaluation methods, qualitative methods, and other approaches (as proposed by the selected partner and discussed with PRO-WASH & SCALE), the research will explore and respond to the following questions:
- Individual/Household Level: To what extent did the knowledge, attitudes, practices, and technologies introduced and/or promoted by the RFSA continue, if intended, after the Activity ended? To which extent did they scale up/expand? What factors contributed to either status?
- Individual/Household/Organizational Level: Did the interventions result in any unintended consequences (both positive and negative)?
- Organizational Level: What is the level of continuation, functionality, and role of communitybased institutions, services providers, and/or businesses that were developed or strengthened by the closed RFSA? Have these organizations continued to implement the intended action(s)? If not, why not? If so, what is the quality, level of demand, and degree of community satisfaction with the goods and/or services?
- Organizational Level: Based on the findings to the questions above, what are considerations to the design, sequencing, or handover/transition of interventions to promote continuation of the practices/services beyond the life of the RFSA.
- Organizational Level: (If applicable) Did the maintenance and ownership of assets created via CFW/food-for-work/cash-for-assets continue after the conclusion of the RFSA (and for how long)? How are assets maintained and governed? What is the level of community satisfaction with the assets and their associated governance structures?
- Household/Organizational Level: How well did communities absorb the effects of shocks and stresses (if relevant) and adapt their strategies to maintain their food and nutrition security? Did capacities that were strengthened by the closed RFSA help households manage and/or recover from these shocks and stresses?
Funding Information
- Under this RFA, PRO-WASH & SCALE will fund one Applied Research Award up to USD $200,000 for a study period of up to 16 months.
Activities
- Applicants must justify their selection of the activity, taking into consideration:
- Existing understanding of and experience in the context they are proposing to undertake the work.
- How examination of this activity will shed light on the research questions and objectives.
- The likelihood of the proposed RFSA yielding relevant insights related to sustainability of food and nutrition security practice, policy, or products.
- PRO-WASH & SCALE will not be able to facilitate introductions to previous implementing staff. The selected partner will need to rely on publicly available data and reports for information gathering. The selected partner may engage with USAID Mission staff depending on their availability, but PRO-WASH & SCALE cannot guarantee this.
Anticipated Deliverables
- The type, number, content, etc. of milestones submitted and the timeline for submission shall be based on the successful applicant’s proposed deliverables outlined in the application. At a minimum, every recipient will be required to submit or participate in:
- Final Certifications (template to be provided): final one-page form certifying completion of the activity and associated deliverables as outlined in the agreement, including confirmation that all data sets have been shared with Save the Children.
- All the deliverables for each sub-award milestone as outlined in the signed sub-award agreement which will include but not be limited to:
- Roles and responsibilities document between PRO-WASH & SCALE and the grantee.
- Bi-weekly call notes or short report include a description of progress and plans for the next two weeks. Justification must be provided for any deviations from the original research plan.
- Inception report detailing the proposed strategy, updated work plan, and literature review.
- Drafted research tools and study protocols as part of co-creation.
- Final research tools and study protocols that are co-created with PRO-WASH & SCALE and that consider USAID and partner input.
- Submissions (if relevant) for (IRB approval and/or submission to Save the Children’s ethical review board).
- Draft final comprehensive presentation (slide deck).
- Final comprehensive presentation (slide deck) that incorporates feedback from stakeholders including PRO-WASH, BHA, and IPs.
- A learning brief that shares key results and recommendations from this study.
- Learning brief should include high resolution photos.
- They recommend that all photos should not be smaller than 1024 x 768 pixels in size. A final external online webinar (approximately 60 – 90 minutes) and summary presentation slide deck for USAID partners and stakeholders.
Eligibility Criteria
- PRO-WASH & SCALE will not accept applications from individuals. All applicants must be legally recognized organizational entities under applicable law. Applicants must comply with all applicable Unique Entity Identification Number (UEI) and System for Award Management (SAM) requirements. Applicants are not required to have a UEI at the time of application but must have a UEI number at the time of the award. Applicants must have completed all required steps (if any) with the host government to legally operate their program.
- Applicants must have an organizational presence in the country where they are proposing to undertake research and/or partner with an organization in that country. Preference will be given to researchers with research institutions and higher education institutions (HEIs) in developing countries as defined by USAID’s ADS Reference 310maa | Document | U.S. Agency for International Development.
- Organizations are welcome to propose collaborative efforts, but each application must identify one organization that will be the lead/prime recipient of funding and be responsible for program requirements. The lead/prime organization will be responsible for coordinating efforts with other partners. All collaborative efforts must be clearly identified and described in the application. Lead Applicants or collaborating organization(s) must be legally recognized organizational entities under applicable laws of the implementing country. Applicants are permitted to submit only one research application in response to this RFA.
Ineligible
- The following are not eligible to apply for grants under this RFA:
- Members of the PRO-WASH & SCALE consortium: Save the Children and Mercy Corps
- Individuals and/or sole proprietorships
- Government entities, including ministries
- Multilateral organizations
- Firms operating as commercial companies or other organizations (including non-profit and nongovernmental organizations) that are wholly or partially owned by foreign governments or agencies
For more information, visit USAID.