Request for Proposals
Title: Financial Strengthening of Key Value Chain Actors for SLV Activity
RFP No: USAID-SLV-FY22-003
Date of Issuance: May 4, 2022

1.

BackgroundConservation International México A.C. (hereinafter referred to as “Conservation InternationalMéxico”), is issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) for Financial Strengthening of Key Value Chain.
The attached RFP contains all the necessary information for interested Offerors.
Conservation International Mexico (CI Mexico) is a non-profit organization that since 1990 has
supported the development of a healthy and sustainable economy, based on the recognitionand conservation of nature for human well-being. Progress has been achieved by linking public
policies at different decision levels and by integrating various actions between organizations,
government agencies and academic institutions that contribute to the conservation of thecountry's environmental services.
The Sustainable Landscape Ventures (SLV) Activity is a five-year, USD $10 million-dollar project
funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) that is being
implemented by CI Mexico. The Activity will serve as a financial mechanism for existinglandscape projects in the country and will be led by CI Mexico. The purpose of the Activity is todevelop sustainable and inclusive value chains at scale in four landscapes. The economic
activities promoted must be market-driven and investor-ready. It aims to consolidate long-term
partnerships among small-scale producers, investors, and buyers in Mexico in sustainable andinclusive value chains.

2. Project Overview
The SLV Activity is a 5-year, US$10 million-dollar project funded by USAID being implemented
by CI Mexico with the primary objective of developing a financial mechanism for existinglandscape projects in the country. SLV aims to create sustainable and inclusive value chains at
a market-driven and investor-ready scale in three landscapes. CI will lead this project incollaboration with two consortium partners. SLV aims to consolidate long-term partnerships insustainable and inclusive value chains with small producers, investors, and buyers in Mexico.
The project will strengthen cooperatives, producer organizations, associations, and small andmedium enterprises (SMEs) to be market and loan ready. This will allow them to be presented toinvestors and buyers through the Blended Finance Engine (BFE); which is a coordination

Page: 1 of 11mechanism bringing together investors to look at potential investment opportunities along theSLV’s prioritized value chain actors. The BFE mechanism supports the management decisionsof the project and third parties involved, meets the demand for information from donors, andfacilitates the systematization and evaluation of the potential investment in all its phases.
Financial Strengthening of Key Value Chain Actors for SLV Activity
General objective
Provide tailored technical assistance, focusing on financial management and investmentreadiness to cooperatives, producer organizations, associations, and/or SMEs participating in
the landscape initiatives.
Specific objectives
1.

Identify and analyze the needs and gaps of producer organizations, cooperatives, and/orSMEs in business operations, production costs and incomes, financial break-even point,
financial statements, accounting, financial management, commercialization, taxes, and debtmanagement.
2. Formulate and implement a tailored strategy to close gaps and cover the needs identified
by producer organizations, cooperatives, and SMEs.
Key Tasks•••

Identify and analyze the gaps and needs of SLV selected cooperatives, producer
organizations, associations, and SMEs in business operations, production costs and incomes,
financial break-even point, financial statements, accounting, financial management,commercialization, taxes, and debt management.
Develop and implement a strategy to minimize the gaps and identified of selected
cooperatives, producer organizations, associations, and SMEs in the 3 target SLV
landscapes.
Establish a monitoring and evaluation system to follow-up the learning of the selected
cooperatives, producer organizations, associations, and SMEs.

3. Scope of Work, Deliverables and Deliverables Schedule• Deliverables and Deliverable Schedule - See Terms of Reference as Attachment 1
4. Submission Details
a. Deadline. Proposals must be received no later than May 25, 2022, at 11:59PM EDT(UTC-03:59). Late submissions will not be accepted. Proposals must be submitted

Page: 2 of 11via email to slvproveedores@conservation.org. All proposals are to be submitted
following the guidelines listed in this RFP.
b. Clarifications. Questions may be submitted to slvproveedores@conservation.org
by the specified date and time in the timeline below. The subject of the email must
contain the RFP number and title of the RFP. CI will respond in writing to submitted
clarifications by the date specified in the timeline below. Responses to questions
that may be of common interest to all bidders will be posted to the CI website
and/or communicated via email.
c. Amendments. If at any time prior to the deadline for submission of proposals, CI
may, for any reason, modify the RFP documents by amendment which will beposted to the CI website and/or communicated via email.
5. Required experience and track record
The technical proposal must include confirmation that the candidate has work experience in:-Considerable experience working in complex multi-stakeholder and interinstitutionalrelationships.
Experience in the design and implementation of successful financial strengthening
training programs for enterprises including cooperatives.
Experience in working with organizations to identify needs and propose training
interventions especially in the areas of financial management.
Proven ability to deliver and monitor training programs and adapt trainings as needed tofit the audience.

6. Proposal Documents to Include
a. Signed cover page on bidder’s letterhead with the bidder’s contact informationb. Technical Proposal
i. Attestation of meeting Minimum Requirements Listed in Section 5.
ii. Implementation Methodology including:• Description of the work methodology.
• Roles and responsibilities of implementation partner.
• Roles and responsibilities of CI and estimated level of effort required(Delineation of roles between CI and implementor).
• Standard artifacts that are generated as part of your methodology, such asuse case templates and configuration/technical design documents.
• Estimated timeline for project implementation.
• Estimated technical-economic proposal with a budget breakdown.
iii. Implementation Partner Experience including

Page: 3 of 11•••Corporate Capabilities, Experience, Past Performance, and 2 clientreferences. Please include descriptions of similar projects or assignments
and at least two client references.
Staffing plan and Personnel Qualifications. Please propose how the projectwill be staffed. Attach CVs of personnel proposed for the project that
demonstrate how the team proposed meets the minimum requirements
listed in section 5 (Minimum Requirements).
Work experience (see Terms of Reference)

7. Evaluation Criteria and interview process:a. A Technical Evaluation Committee formed by SLV partners and CI staff will make atechnical evaluation of the proposals received, which will be ranked based on theevaluation criteria based on the RfP and ToR.
b. A Financial Evaluation Committee formed by CI staff will make a financial evaluationof the proposals received, which will be ranked based on the evaluation criteria
based on the RfP and ToR.
c. The top 2 ranked proposals will be invited for a virtual interview and proposal
presentation, to take place between 30 May – 1 June 2022.
d. Based on the sum of the Technical and Financial Evaluation, the winner will beannounced on June 10, 2022.
In evaluating proposals, CI will seek the best value for money considering the merits of thetechnical and costs proposals.
Following is an indicative and synthetized evaluation criteria to be used:

Evaluation Criteria
I.
•••••

Technical proposal

Possiblepoints60

Meets or exceeds technical requirements outlined in section 5
Description of the work methodology
Quality of end-user experience
Customer support model
Strong references

II.

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Work experience and management

10••
•
••
•

Considerable experience working in complex multi-stakeholder andinterinstitutional relationships.
Experience in the design of technological solutions for ruraldevelopment projects.
Experience in the design and implementation of successful productive,
financial and environmental monitoring and management systems.
Experience in adapting products and services to market requirements.
Experience in implementing public policies, sustainable development,
and/or rural development.
Strong and established track records in research-based and education
organizations for knowledge share.

III.
•

Cost Proposal-Cost Includes (Travel, fee, charges, any otherexpenses)
CostIV.
•10Interview and presentation

20

Strong presentation and sales pitch skills during the interview of thosecompanies selected

8. Proposal Timeline
RFP Issued
Clarifications submitted to CI
Clarifications provided to known bidders
Proposals Due
Interview and presentations
Final selection
Contract FinalizedWork Begins

May 4, 2022
May 13, 2022
May 18, 2022
May 25, 2022
May 30 – June 1,2022
June 10, 2022
June 25, 2022
July 1st, 2022

9. Resulting Award CI anticipates entering into an agreement with the selected bidder by July
1st, 2022. The successful bidder will have to agree to enter contractual terms based on CI’s
standard agreements.

Page: 5 of 11

This RFP does not obligate CI to execute a contract, nor does it commit CI to pay any costs
incurred in the preparation or submission of the proposals. Furthermore, CI reserves the rightto reject any and all offers if such action is considered to be in the best interest of CI. CI will,at its sole discretion, select the winning proposal and is not obligated to share individual
evaluation results.
10. Confidentiality All proprietary information provided by the bidder shall be treated asconfidential and will not be shared with potential or actual applicants during the solicitation
process. This includes but is not limited to price quotations, cost proposals and technicalproposals. CI may, but is not obliged to, post procurement awards on its public website after
the solicitation process has concluded, and the contract has been awarded. CI’s evaluation
results are confidential and applicant scoring will not be shared among bidders.
11. Code of Ethics All Offerors are expected to exercise the highest standards of conduct inpreparing, submitting and if selected, eventually carrying out the specified work inaccordance with CI’s Code of Ethics and the Green Climate Fund’s Policy on Prohibited
Practices. Conservation International’s reputation derives from our commitment to ourvalues: Integrity, Respect, Courage, Optimism, Passion and Teamwork. CI’s Code of Ethics(the “Code”) provides guidance to CI employees, service providers, experts, interns, andvolunteers in living CI’s core values, and outlines minimum standards for ethical conduct
which all parties must adhere to. Any violation of the Code of Ethics, as well as concerns
regarding the integrity of the procurement process and documents should be reported to CI
via its Ethics Hotline at www.ci.ethicspoint.com.
12. Attachments:

Attachment 1: Terms of Reference
Attachment 2: Cost Proposal Template

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Attachment 1: Terms of ReferenceTerms of Reference
Financial Strengthening of Key Value Chain Actors for SLV Activity

Overview
Name of the project where thegrant is inserted:

Sustainable Landscapes Ventures (SLV)

Title of the grant:

Financial Strengthening of Key Value Chain Actors for SLV
Activity

Implementation Partner:
Address:
Telephone:
Email:
Main contact at CI:

Chief of Party

Start date:End date:
Duration of the grant:
Date of receipt of technicaleconomic proposals:

July 2022
June 2025
Three (3) years

Amount:May 25, 2022
To be agreed, according to the technical-economic
proposals of the candidates. The agreed amount includes
tax less withholdings, according to the law, and within arange of USD $ 100,000 and USD $200,000

Project Description
The SLV Activity is a 5-year, US$10 million-dollar project funded by USAID being implemented by CIMexico with the primary objective of developing a financial mechanism for existing landscapeprojects in the country. SLV aims to create sustainable and inclusive value chains at a market-driven
and investor-ready scale in three landscapes. CI will lead this project in collaboration with two
consortium partners. SLV aims to consolidate long-term partnerships in sustainable and inclusive
value chains with small producers, investors, and buyers in Mexico.
The project will strengthen cooperatives, producer organizations, associations, and small andmedium enterprises (SMEs) to be market and loan ready. This will allow them to be presented toPage: 7 of 11

investors and buyers through the Blended Finance Engine (BFE); which is a coordination mechanism
bringing together investors to look at potential investment opportunities along the SLV’s prioritizedvalue chain actors. The BFE mechanism supports the management decisions of the project and thirdparties involved, meets the demand for information from donors, and facilitates the systematizationand evaluation of the potential investment in all its phases.
Financial Strengthening of Key Value Chain Actors for SLV Activity
General objective
Provide tailored technical assistance, focusing on financial management and investment- readinessto cooperatives, producer organizations, associations, and/or SMEs participating in the landscapeinitiatives.
Specific objectives
1.

Identify and analyze the needs and gaps of producer organizations, cooperatives, and/orSMEs in business operations, production costs and incomes, financial break-even point,
financial statements, accounting, financial management, commercialization, taxes, and debtmanagement.
2. Formulate and implement a tailored strategy to close gaps and cover the needs identified
by producer organizations, cooperatives, and SMEs.
Key Tasks•••

Identify and analyze the gaps and needs of SLV selected cooperatives, producerorganizations, associations, and SMEs in business operations, production costs and incomes,
financial break-even point, financial statements, accounting, financial management,commercialization, taxes, and debt management.
Develop and implement a strategy to minimize the gaps and identified of selected
cooperatives, producer organizations, associations, and SMEs in the 3 target SLV
landscapes.
Establish a monitoring and evaluation system to follow-up the learning of the selected
cooperatives, producer organizations, associations, and SMEs.

Required experience and track record
The technical proposal must include confirmation that the candidate has work experience in:Page: 8 of 11

-Considerable experience working in complex multi-stakeholder and interinstitutionalrelationships.
Experience in the design of technological solutions for rural development projects.
Experience in the design and implementation of successful productive, financial andenvironmental monitoring and management systems.
Experience in adapting products and services to market requirements.
Experience in implementing public policies, sustainable development, and/or ruraldevelopment.
Strong and established track records in research-based and education organizations forknowledge share.
Proven track record in project management.

Estimated Timeline
July 1st, 2022, until June 30, 2025.

Estimated Budget and Reporting
Within a range of USD 100,000 to USD 200,000 for the project's life. No budget figure is being
suggested for the project's scope. It will be up to proponents to develop their own budget based onscope of work as advertised.
The successful partner will be expected to provide reports based on the deliverables established.

Location of Task/Applicable Trips
Tasks will also require travel to each of the selected three landscapes and availability to perform thekey tasks all the markets require to deliver the project's scope successfully.
The Activity is implemented in the following three landscapes:
1. Sierra Sur (Oaxaca). This Landscape includes the regions of the Sierra Sur and the Isthmusof Oaxaca.
2. Sierra Madre (Chiapas). It divides the regions of the Pacific Coastal Plain and the Central
Depression of Chiapas, topographically and climatically.
3. Calakmul (Campeche). This Landscape is within the municipality of Calakmul, Campeche,
and includes 159 localities, among them Xpujil, Zoh-Laguna, and Constitución.

Work Method
Proposed by the consultant and the SLV project. Also, the costs of travel by the offeror to the threelandscapes should be included in the proposal.

Page: 9 of 11

Deliverables/Estimated Outputs and work schedule
Activity
Provide adiagnostic of
the SLV
selectedcooperative/
producerorganization/
association,and/or SME

Deliverables
Present the diagnostic andneeds from the first entity interms of in business operations,production costs and incomes,
financial break-even point,
financial statements,
accounting, financialmanagement,commercialization, taxes, anddebt management.

Expected delivery dateMilestones
willbedeveloped
asorganizations/enterprises
identified

Percentage of payment
Payment schedule to be
developed based on theorganizations/enterprises
developed

Conduct
training

Develop and implement a
strategy to minimize the gaps
and identified for the SLV
selected organization

Milestones will bedeveloped as trainings
are identified

Payment schedule to be
developed based on theorganizations/enterprises
developed

Required experience and track record
Work Experience:• Considerable experience working in complex multi-stakeholder and interinstitutionalrelationships.
•

Experience in the design of technological solutions for rural development projects.

•

Experience in the design and implementation of successful productive, financial andenvironmental monitoring and management systems.

•Experience in adapting products and services to market requirements.

•Experience in implementing public policies, sustainable development, and/or ruraldevelopment.

•Strong and established track records in research-based and education organizations forknowledge share.

•Proven track record in project management.

Key team members skills:• Proven track record in managing complex multi-stakeholder and interinstitutionalrelationships.

Page: 10 of 11•Solid track record in the agriculture sector working
organizations/enterprises in value chains such as cocoa, coffee, etc.

•Solid track record in developing and implementing training programs in the areas of businessplanning, financial management, forecasting, and so forth.

•Solid track record in collaborating in multi-year, multi-million complex projects withgovernments, public and private organizations.

•Ability to communicate clearly across diverse socio economic and cultural spectrum.

•Fluent writing and speaking in Spanish and English.

withstrengthening

Final considerations
The potential grantee must send the technical proposal with a budget breakdown. Any information
or element not included in these Terms of Reference must be presented, analyzed, agreed, andconsidered between CI Mexico and the potential grantee to fulfill the objective and may be raisedby any of the parties using the mechanisms established between them.
AcronymsCISLVCBE
BFE
PIR
USAID

Conservation International
Sustainable Landscapes Ventures
Collective Business Entities
Blended Finance Engine
Performance Indicator Reference
United States Agency for International Development

Attachment 2: Cost Proposal Template

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