• Home
• Content
• Carbon assessment on Coconut Water Product in Thailand

Carbon assessment on Coconut Water Product in Thailand

2357

Request for Proposal (RFP)

RFP Title: Carbon assessment on Coconut Water Product in Thailand

RFP No: RFP-GIA-2020009

Date of Issuance: April 9, 2020

Questions submitted by: April 13, 2020 (17.00 Bangkok time)

Responses provided by: April 14, 2020

Closing Date: April 24, 2020 (17.00 Bangkok time)

Estimated Award Date: May 26, 2020

1. BACKGROUND

Pact is an International NGO with offices throughout the world with a mission to enable systematic solutions that allow those who are poor and marginalized to earn a dignified living, be healthy and take part in the benefits that nature provides. Pact accomplishes this by strengthening local capacity, forging effective governance systems and transforming markets into a force for development.

Pact is recruiting a consultancy to support the USAID Green Invest Asia project, a technical assistance facility working to catalyze private investment for sustainable agriculture and forest landscapes across Asia. By 2022, USAID Green Invest Asia aims to mobilize $400 million of private finance for sustainable production in agriculture and forestry that will result in a reduction or sequestration of 25 million tons CO₂e of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. We currently operate across Southeast Asia with an initial focus on Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

USAID Green Invest Asia is developing a knowledge product in partnership with an organic coconut water company (the “partner”), with primary production in Thailand. The study will focus on carbon footprint assessment along the value chain of organic Nam Hom coconut water in Thailand. The supply chain covers 400 farms and 1,600 hectares across 4 provinces, including Nakorn Pathom, Ratchaburi, Samut Sakorn and Samut Songkram provinces. The product is then transported primarily to the United States of America. Based on the findings, the study will also inform carbon mitigation and sequestration strategy, carbon credit schemes and recommendations on approaches for on-going carbon monitoring.

The purpose of this consultancy is to conduct a study on Nam Hom coconut water carbon footprint, in collaboration with USAID Green Invest Asia and its partner. This will involve coordinating and implementing collaborative activities between the partner, its clients, and USAID Green Invest Asia. The role will involve data collection and analysis along coconut water value chain in Thailand. In addition, the consultancy is expected to help advise on climate mitigation and carbon strategies and opportunities, as well as approaches to scale-up effective carbon assessment methodologies across the partner’s portfolio. 

2. SCOPE OF WORK

1. Place of Performance

Services required under this solicitation will be performed primarily in Thailand, including Nakorn Pathom, Ratchaburi, Samut Sakorn and Samut Songkram provinces

2. Period of Performance and Estimated Level of Effort

All goods and services required under this solicitation will be delivered from May 25, 2020 and estimated to conclude by September 30, 2020. Estimated level of effort is approximately 55 days.

3. Scope of Work

The key activities are as follows:

• Data gathering from relevant actors along the coconut water supply chain and farms in 4 provinces in Thailand: Nakorn Pathom, Ratchaburi, Samut Songkram and Samut Sakorn provinces
• Data analysis on:
  • Sequestration capacity of current coconut plantation, compared to uncultivated or degraded land
  • Carbon intensity (per liter of coconut water produced) along different life cycle stages including but not limited to: production of raw materials (e.g. farming, transport, waste), processing (e.g. byproduct, packaging, waste) and distribution (e.g. transport to distribution center inside Thailand and shipping to the USA East and West coasts, storage, transport to stores, retail), consumer use (e.g. storage, consumption) and disposal (e.g. transport to landfill, landfill decomposition)
  • Identification of carbon hotspots along the value chain
• Reporting and recommendations for:
  • Carbon mitigation/sequestration strategies with associated cost/benefit, timeline and potential partners
  • Potential carbon credit schemes
  • Set-up for future carbon monitoring system

An indicative timeline involves the following:

4. Deliverables

Main deliverables, deadlines, and instructions are provided in the table below.

3. SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

1. Submission of Questions: All questions or clarifications regarding this RFP must be in writing and submitted to thailandprocurement@pactworld.org no later than 17:00 hours Bangkok time on April 13, 2020. Questions and requests for clarification, and the responses thereto, will be circulated to RFP recipients on April 14, 2020

2. Technical Proposal

The technical proposal in response to this solicitation must address how the offeror intends to carry out the statement of work contained in Section II. It should also contain a clear understanding of the work to be undertaken and the responsibilities of all parties involved. Please note that technical proposals will be evaluated based on the evaluation criteria set forth in Section IV. Offerors shall provide all documentation in English. The technical proposal should be in font size 12, Times New Roman, single spacing. Proposals should not exceed 5 pages. Please note that technical and cost applications should be separate files.

1. 1. Proposal Cover Sheet. The first page of the proposal must use the Proposal Cover sheet as per Attachment 1. This section does not count against the page limit above.
       
   2. Capability Statement:  Provide a short description of offeror’s capabilities and past experience that qualify the organization to conduct this specific scope of work. This should be less than one half (1/2) page.

1. 3. Technical Approach: The technical approach should state clearly the offeror’s understanding of the requirements in Section II as well as the proposed approach to accomplish the contract objectives and achieve results. Offerors should keep in mind the geography of the place of performance and any travel that may be required to accomplish the work. Clarity, completeness, and directness are imperative. Elaborate formats are not desirable. This section should be about two to three (2-3) pages.

1. 4. Management and Staffing Plan. Please identify and describe the proposed staff to implement the scope of work with details on proposed roles and responsibilities. Provide short CVs (2 pages max) for key personnel in an annex to the technical proposal; these will not count against the page limit. This section should be about one half (1/2) page.
   5. Work Plan. Describe the key activities you will undertake under this contract. At a minimum you must include a description of the activity, expected outputs, and estimated completion date. This section should be about one (1) page.

3. Cost Proposal

Cost proposals will be evaluated separately from technical proposals. The cost proposal shall include a detailed budget that reflects clearly the costs necessary to implement the proposed contract and must include all taxes that are required to provide the services requested. Costs should be represented in (USD).  No profit, fees, taxes, or additional costs can be added after award. The cost proposal must be valid for at least 90 days.

1. 1. Proposal Cover Sheet. The first page of the proposal must use the Proposal Cover sheet as per Attachment 1. This section does not count against the page limit above.
   2. Summary Budget. The offeror should present a summary budget by line item: salaries, fringe benefits, travel costs, other direct costs (e.g. activities), indirect rates, etc.
   3. Detailed Budget. In the detailed budget, the offeror should include a breakdown of line items that they believe are realistic and reasonable for the work in accordance with the technical requirements outlined in Section II. Offerors must provide a detailed budget showing major line items, e.g. salaries, fringe benefits, travel costs, other direct costs, indirect rates, etc., as well as individual line items, e.g. salaries or rates for individuals, rent, utilities, insurance, etc. Offerors must show unit prices, quantities, and total price. The offeror should clearly identify indirect rates (including fringe rates), the base to which each indirect rate is applied, and the cost base.
   4. Budget Notes: The Budget Notes should thoroughly explain the estimating methodology used to calculate the budget and any assumptions that may be made by the offeror over and above the ones stated in this RFP that had a material effect on the resulting proposed cost. Offerors must clearly explain the basis of costs, meaning why and how Offerors are costing out certain figures for item or service, to establish reasonableness of costs. The notes should include a clear and thorough explanation for each budgeted line item, reflecting the rationale for the quantity required.  If a proposed benefit (e.g., local fringe) is an all-inclusive rate, notes must specify what benefits are included in the proposed rates.
   5. Supporting Documentation: Additional supporting budget documentation (as necessary), including travel quotations, historical cost information, profit/fee policy, etc. to substantiate all proposed costs.  A copy of the latest NICRA or audited indirect costs must be included if the offeror has one.  

Pact may require additional, more detailed budget information prior to issuing a contract.

4. Certifications: Offerors responding to this RFP must include the following disclosures and certifications as part of the proposal submission in an annex to the cost proposal.

1. Disclose any close, familial, or financial relationships with Pact or project staff. For example, if an offeror’s cousin is employed by the project, the offeror must state this.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Certify that all information in the proposal and all supporting documentation are authentic and accurate.

5. Submission of Proposals: The deadline for submission of proposals is April 24, 2020 at 17.00 Bangkok time. Submissions must be forwarded in electronic format only (either PDF or Microsoft Word and Excel) to thailandprocurement@pactworld.org. Offeror’s proposals should not contain any unnecessary promotional material or elaborate presentation formats (black and white is preferred). Offerors must not submit zipped files. Those pages requiring original manual signatures should be scanned and sent in PDF format as an email attachment.  The technical proposal and cost proposal must be kept separate from each other. Please reference the RFP Number and RFP Name in the e-mail subject line. Offerors are responsible for ensuring that their offers are received in accordance with the instructions stated herein. Late offers may be considered at the discretion of Pact.  Pact cannot guarantee that late offers will be considered.

4. EVALUATION CRITERIA

1. Review Process. Pact will establish a selection committee that includes appropriate representatives. All technical reviewers will be subjected to a screening process to eliminate any conflict of interest. Evaluation will be based on the criteria set forth in Section B. Evaluation Criteria.

2. Evaluation Criteria. The award will be decided on Best Overall Value as determined by a Selection Committee on the basis of the criteria set forth below, as demonstrated in the Offeror’s proposal. Only proposals conforming to the solicitation requirements will be considered.  This RFP will use the tradeoff process to determine best value. That means that each proposal will be evaluated and scored against the evaluation criteria and expectations, which are stated in the table below. Cost proposals are not assigned points, but for overall evaluation purposes of this RFP, technical evaluation factors other than cost, when combined, are considered more important than cost factors. If technical scores are determined to be equal or nearly equal, cost will become the determining factor.

5. TERMS AND CONDITIONS

1. Disclaimers

• Pact reserves the right to modify by written notice the terms of this solicitation at any time in its sole discretion. Pact may cancel the solicitation at any time
• Pact may reject any or all proposals received.
• Issuance of solicitation does not constitute award commitment by Pact.
• Pact reserves the right to disqualify any application based on applicant’s failure to follow solicitation instructions.
• Pact will not compensate applicants for their response to the solicitation.
• Pact reserves the right to issue an award based on initial evaluation of applications without further discussion.
• Pact may choose to award only part of the scope of work in the solicitation or to issue multiple awards the scope of work.
• Pact reserves the right to waive minor proposal deficiencies that can be corrected prior to award determination to promote competition.
• Pact may contact offerors to confirm contact person, address, and that the proposal was submitted for this solicitation.
• Pact may contact listed past performance references without notice to the offeror. Pact also reserves the right to contact other past performance information sources that the offeror did not list in the proposal.
• By submitting a proposal, the offeror confirms they understand the terms and conditions.
• Information pertaining to and obtained from the Offeror as a result of participation in this solicitation is confidential. The offeror consents to the disclosure of the documents submitted by the offeror to the reviewers involved in the selection process. Please note that all reviewers are bound by non-disclosure agreements. 

B. Standard Provisions

See Attachment 2 Pact General Terms and Conditions

C. Attachments

Attachment 1: Proposal Cover Sheet

Attachment 2: Pact General Terms and Conditions

Attachment 1: Proposal Cover Sheet

Instructions: Please fill in the information requested highlighted in yellow below.  This page should be the first page in your Technical Proposal Submission and in your Cost Proposal Submission.