Request for Quotations (RFQ) for Truck Hire & Transportation of Seedlings at Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA)

Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA) is an American non-profit NGO whose objective is agricultural and economic development. CNFA helps small producers improve their food security through new agricultural practices, the introduction of new varieties, the diversification of production, storage, the development of farmers' and herders' organizations, and the market linkages.

Applications are hereby invited for:

Title: Request for Quotations (RFQ) for Truck Hire & Transportation of Seedlings

RFQ number: RFQ NGA#06-004/2022
Location: Nigeria
For: West Africa PRO-Cashew project
Funded by: USDAFCC-641-2019/006-00
Implemented by: CNFA

Section 1: Introduction

• The five-year West Africa Cashew Project (PRO-Cashew), funded by USDA and implemented by Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA), will focus on cashew producers in Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Nigeria. In addition to helping growers increase production capacity and nut quality, the project will work to develop incentives to renovate and rehabilitate cashew farms and create a more competitive West African raw cashew nut for the international market.
• The project, therefore, seeks to put in place an efficient and timely seedlings delivery system, one that ensures the delivery of grafted seedlings to designated nurseries in real-time and most importantly, offering farmers the opportunity to optimize the rains to establish new plantations.
• 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.
• CNFA will consider proposals in response to this RFQ from companies and Independent Consultants.

Section 4: Technical Requirements
The table below contains the technical requirements of the commodities/services. Offerors are requested to provide quotations containing the information below on official letterhead or official quotation format:

Delivery time (after receipt of order): ____________________________________________________

Payment modality and condition________________________________________________________

Warranty on offered equipment_________________________________________________________

The applicant should demonstrate the ability and the technical capacity to deliver the best items and service in the industry best practices to achieving this mission.

Section 5: Quotations

• Quotations in response to this RFQ must be priced on a fixed-price, all-inclusive basis, including delivery and all other costs. Offerors are required to submit proposed payment terms and payment schedule if applicable.
• Failure to submit proposed payment terms may lead to disqualification of an offeror from consideration. Pricing must be presented in local currency of the country.
• 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 in the format provided in Section 4 – Technical Requirements.

Section 6: Evaluation
The award will be made to a responsible offeror whose offer follows the RFQ instructions, meets the eligibility requirements, and is determined via a trade-off analysis to be the best value based on application of the below evaluation criteria. Best value determination will consider both technical and financial proposals, the best approach and anticipated results in combination with a reasonable cost. Proposed costs must reflect and clearly match the degree of sophistication of the technical approach. The selectionwill based on the Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) and in accordance with the following technical acceptability criteria as stated in the RFQ:

• Compliance with minimum technical specifications and technical requirements listed in the RFQ (Cover letter; CAC Document; Official quotation on company letterhead& three (3) references) –see Annex 01
• Fleet of trucks available
• Payment terms (CNFA usually prefers to pay 100% after delivery of goods/services)
• Price - The overall cost presented in the offer.

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 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 Pro-Cashew Project;
• CNFA may cancel this RFP at any time.

Note: 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.

Section 7: Payment and Award

• The award will be awarded to the offeror whose quotation represents the best value to the Project. Award will be issued only to the entity which submits a proposal in response to this RFQ. CNFA will not issue an award to different offerors, entities, or third-parties other than the selected offeror(s).
• 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 PRO-Cashew Project’s terms and conditions as stipulated in Terms and Conditions.

Application Closing Date
29th June, 2022 (5PM GMT).

Deadline for Questions
27th June, 2022 (5PM GMT).

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should send their Offers to: procurement@cnfa-procashew.org using the RFQ Number as the subject of the email.

Hard copies should be delivered to "The PRO-Cashew Project Office".  Any hard copy deliveries must be stamped and signed by the offeror's authorized representative and delivered to the PRO-Cashew office located at:
The City of Refuge Building,
Royalton Road, Off Tanke Junction,
2nd Floor; No. 14, Station GRA,
Ilorin, Kwara State of Nigeria.

Click Here For More Information (MS Word)

Section 2: Protocol

• Please reference the RFQ number in any response to this RFQ. 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.

Section 3: Questions

• Questions regarding the technical or administrative requirements of this RFQ may be submitted no later than 5pm local time on June 27, 2022 by email to PRO-Cashew Procurement at: procurement@cnfa-procashew.org.
• 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 offerors will be circulated to all RFQ recipients who have indicated an interest in bidding.
• 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.

Section 8: Offer Format Instructions
All proposals must be formatted in accordance with the below requirements:

• English language only.
• Include the individual/agency/organization name, date, RFQ NGA#06-004/2022, and page numbers as a header or footer throughout the document.
• The Technical Offer must be in the format provided in Section 4.

A full offer will include the following documents:

• An offer checklist (Annex 01).
• A cover letter on company letterhead, signed by an authorized representative of the offeror (Annex 02).
• A complete Technical Offer in response to the evaluation criteria in Section 6 and in the format provided in Section 4.
• A copy of the offeror’s business license, or, if an individual, a copy of his/her identification card.
• Three (03) contacts for references from organizations/individuals for which the offeror has successfully performed similar work.

Annex 01 - Offeror Checklist
To assist offerors in preparation of proposals, the following checklist summarizes the documentation to include an offer in response to this RFQ:

• Cover letter, signed by an authorized representative of the offeror (see Annex 02)
• Official technical proposal if any, including specifications of offered items, goods and services
• Official quotation, including specifications of offered items (see Section 4)
• A copy of the offeror’s business license, or, if an individual, a copy of his/her identification card.
• Three (03) contacts for references from organizations/individuals for which the offeror has successfully performed similar work.

Annex 02 - 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: West Africa PRO-Cashew project
The City of Refuge Building,
Royalton Road, Off Tanke Junction,
2nd Floor; No. 14, Station GRA,
Ilorin, Kwara State of Nigeria.
Reference: RFQ NGA#06-004/2022

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. 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 USDA 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 PRO-Cashew project 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.

Authorized Signature:______________     Name & Title of Signatory:____________________

Date: ______________     Company Name:_______________________

Company Address:_______________________________     Telephone:_______________

Website:___________________     Company Registration or Taxpayer ID Number:________

Does the Company have an Active Bank Account? (Y/N):______________

Official Name Associated with the Bank Account (for payment):___________________

Annex 03 - CNFA Terms and Conditions
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 Procurement team at: procurement@cnfa-procashew.org with any questions or concerns regarding the above information or to report any potential violations. Potential violations may also be reported directly to CNFA via email at: FraudHotline@cnfa.org or you may make an anonymous report by calling the CNFA Global Complaint Hotline at 202-991-0931.

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.

Disclaimers
This is a RFQ only. Issuance of this RFQ does not in any way obligate CNFA, the PRO-CashewProject, or USDA 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 will contact all offerors to confirm contact person, address, and that the bid was submitted for this RFQ;
• CNFA will contact all offerors to inform them whether or not they were selected for award;
• In submitting a response to this RFQ, offerors understand that USDA 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 PRO-CashewProject for consideration. USDA 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.

Source / Nationality / Manufacture

• All goods and services offered in response to this RFQ or supplied under any resulting award must meet USDA Geographic Code [enter geocode] in accordance with the United States Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), 22 CFR §228. The cooperating country for this RFQ is [enter cooperating country].
• Offerors may not offer or supply any commodities or services that are manufactured or assembled in, shipped from, transported through, or otherwise involving any of the following countries: Cuba, Iran, North Korea, or Syria.

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 considered to be ineligible by the U.S. Government.

Delivery:

• The delivery location for the items described in this RFQ is Oyo, Kogi, Kwara& Ekiti, Nigeria. 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). The delivery estimate presented in an offer in response to this RFQ must be upheld in the performance of any resulting contract.