RFQ Number: RFQ # 2024/03/005_ZM
Issuance Date: March 1, 2024
Deadline for Questions March 8, 2024
Deadline for Offers: March 15, 2024
Description: Local Transportation Services
For: Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) Southern Africa
Funded By: USAID 7200AA23LE00013
Implemented By: CNFA
Point of Contact Joyce Malasha +260 97 860 5967 jmalasha@cnfazambia.org

1. Introduction: The Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) is a USAID-funded program implemented by CNFA in Zambia. The goal of the F2F project is to generate broad-based economic growth in the agricultural sector.

As part of project activities, the F2F Project is looking for credible providers who have the capability, experience, and infrastructure to deliver transportation services for the CNFA Zambia staff and designated volunteer experts in Central, Eastern, Lusaka and Southern provinces.

The services required are classified in two categories – airport pickups and field visits.

The purpose of this RFQ is to solicit quotations for these services.

Offerors can bid for one or all of the areas of CNFA operation. 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.

2.       Offer Deadline and Protocol: Offers must be received no later than 5:00pm Zambian time, on March 15, 2024. Offers must be submitted by email, to the following address: jmalasha@cnfazambia.org.

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.

3.       Technical Requirements: The text and table below contain the technical requirements of the services. Offerors are requested to provide quotations containing the information below on official letterhead or official quotation format.

A.     Passenger transportation: presentation of the available options (available vehicle models – list of models/type of available vehicles, age of the vehicles, including photos

B.      Experienced drivers: presentation of the proposed drivers, indicating whether they speak English with a class C or C1 driver’s license and able to operate a 4WD vehicle, driving courses completed by drivers.

C.      References: List of at least 3 past/current clients with contact information for collecting references, OR recommendation letters from past/current clients

D.     Price Offer (see table below)

Line Item
Description and Specifications
Items and Specifications Offered
Rate per day
1
Airport Pickup
Pickup of 1-2 passengers at  the  Lusaka Airport, driving them to the hotel in the Kabulonga neighborhood in Lusaka.

Pick-up of 1-2 passengers from Mfuwe international airport to Chipata.

2
Airport Drop-off
Drop of 1-2 passengers at  the Lusaka  Airport, driving them from the hotel in the Kabulonga neighborhood.

Drop off 1-2 passengers from Chipata to Mfuwe International airport.

3
Local transportation services-Field visits
Transportation services for up to 4 passengers, with overnight stay in Mkushi in Central province.

4
Local transportation services-field visits
Transportation services for up to 4 passengers, with overnight stay in Choma and Kalomo districts in Southern province

5
Local transportation services-Field visits
Transportation services for up to 4 passengers, with overnight stay in Petauke and Nyimba districts in Eastern province.

6
Local transportation services- field visits
Transportation services for up to 4 passengers within Chipata district of Eastern province.

4.       Quotations: Quotations in response to this RFQ must be priced on a fixed-price, all-inclusive basis, including delivery and all other costs. Pricing must be presented in Zambian Kwacha.  Offers must remain valid for not less than 60 (sixty days) calendar days after the offer deadline. Offerors are requested to provide quotations on official letterhead in the format provided in Section 3 – Technical Requirements.

5.       Evaluation: The award will be made to a responsible offeror whose offer follows the RFQ instructions, meets the eligibility requirements, and below judgement criteria:

Award 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, i.e., 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 relative importance of each individual criterion is indicated by the number of points below:

• Company experience – 20 points: presence on the market, references from past clients, etc.
• Human Resources – 20 points: availability of experienced drivers, including English speakin
• Technical capability – 20 points: the offeror’s vehicles, their state and availability
• Price – 40 points: 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;
• CNFA may cancel this RFQ at any time.

Please note that 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.

6.       Payment and Award: The award will be awarded to the offeror/s whose quotation represents the best value to the Project. Any award and payment resulting from this RFQ is anticipated to be in the form of a wire transfer. This award is subject to the CNFA’s terms and conditions as stipulated in Annex C.

7.       Offer Format Instructions: Format Instructions: All proposals must be formatted in accordance with the below requirements:

(a)    English language

(b)    Include the individual/agency/organization name, date, RFQ number, and page numbers throughout the document.

(c)    The Technical Offer must be in the format provided in Section 3.

A full offer will include the following documents:

(a)    An offer checklist (Annex A).

(b)    A cover letter on company letterhead, signed by an authorized representative of the offeror (Annex B).

(c)    A complete Technical Offer in response to the evaluation criteria in Section 5 and in the format provided in Section 3.

(d)    A copy of the offeror’s business license, or, if an individual, a copy of his/her identification card.

Annex A – Offeror Checklist

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

• Offeror Checklist (Annex A)
• Cover letter, signed by an authorized representative of the offeror (see Annex B)
• Official quotation, including specifications of offered items (see Section 3)
• Copy of offeror’s registration or business license

Annex B – 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:  Farmer-to-Farmer Project

jmalasha@cnfazambia.org

Reference:  RFQ # 2024/03/005_ZM

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.

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 Farmer-to-Farmer 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 C – CNFA Terms and Conditions

1.  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  aprzybyl@cnfa.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 at to FraudHotline@cnfa.org or by phone at 202-296-3920.

2. 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:

(a)      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.

(b)     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.

(c)      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.

(d)     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.

(e)      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.

(f)      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.

3. Disclaimers: This is a RFQ only. Issuance of this RFQ does not in any way obligate CNFA, the Farmer-to-Farmer project, or USAID to make an award or pay for costs incurred by potential offerors in the preparation and submission of an offer. In addition:

(a)      CNFA may cancel RFQ and not award;

(b)     CNFA may reject any or all responses received;

(c)      Issuance of RFQ does not constitute award commitment by CNFA;

(d)     CNFA reserves the right to disqualify any offer based on offeror failure to follow RFQ instructions;

(e)      CNFA will not compensate offerors for response to RFQ;

(f)      CNFA reserves the right to issue award based on initial evaluation of offers without further discussion;

(g)     CNFA may negotiate with short-listed offerors for their best and final offer;

(h)     CNFA reserves the right to order additional quantities or units with the selected offeror;

(i)       CNFA may reissue the solicitation or issue formal amendments revising the original RFQ specifications and evaluation criteria before or after receipt of proposals;

(j)       CNFA may modify the specifications without issuing a formal notice to all offerors when the revisions are immaterial to the scope of the RFQ;

(k)     CNFA may choose to award only part of the activities in the RFQ, or issue multiple awards based on multiple RFQ activities;

(l)       CNFA reserves the right to waive minor proposal deficiencies that can be corrected prior to award determination to promote competition;

(m)    CNFA will contact all offerors to confirm contact person, address, and that the bid was submitted for this RFQ;

(n)     CNFA will contact all offerors to inform them whether or not they were selected for award;

(o)     In submitting a response to this RFQ, offerors understand that USAID 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 F2F Project for consideration. USAID 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.

4. Source/Nationality/Manufacture: All goods and services offered in response to this RFQ or supplied under any resulting award must meet USAID Geographic Code 937 in accordance with the United States Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), 22 CFR §228. The cooperating country for this RFQ is Zambia.

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.

5. Taxes and VAT: As an organization that is implementing a project on behalf of USAID, CNFA is exempt from being charged VAT, customs duty or fee, excise tax, road tax, or any other form of tax or tariff for goods and services purchased for USAID funded activities. As such, offerors agree to exclude VAT or any similar taxes or fees from its cost proposal.

6. 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.

7. Delivery: The delivery location for the items described in this RFQ is Plot 2031, Hillsview Office Park, Chipata. 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, should be no more than 30 days). The delivery estimate presented in an offer in response to this RFQ must be upheld in the performance of any resulting contract.

8. Warranty: Warranty service and repair within the cooperating country is required for all commodities under this RFQ. The warranty coverage must be valid on all commodities for a minimum of 36 months after delivery and acceptance of the commodities, unless otherwise specified in the technical specifications.