Call for Proposals (CfP)
Invitation
Country: Kosovo
Title: Sustainable and inclusive rural economic de-velopment
ADC ref. number: Call/8-L&R/2019
Instrument of the Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC)
Contents
1. Introduction and Context...........................................................................3
2. Overall Objective, Outcomes.....................................................................5
4. Budget allocation and general information................................................8
5. Criteria for Eligibility and Submission........................................................9
6. Data Protection Notice.............................................................................14
7. Reference Documents.............................................................................17
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AbbreviationsADA Austrian Development AgencyADC Austrian Development Cooperation AGRO Kosovo Agricultural Growth and Rural OpportunitiesARD Agricultural and Rural DevelopmentARDP Agriculture and Rural Development Plan CETEP Creation of Employment through Export PromotionCNVP Connecting Natural Values and PeopleDANIDA Danish International Development Agency DCED Donor Community on Enterprise DevelopmentEBRD European Bank for Reconstruction and Development EC European Commission EU European Union EUR Euro (currency)GDP Gross Domestic Product GIZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale ZusammenarbeitGoK Government of Kosovo IPA Instrument for Pre-Accession AssistanceInTer-Dev
Integrated Territorial Development
KAS Kosovo Agency of Statistics LAG Local Action GroupLDF Local Development FundMAFRD Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development MAP Medical and Aromatic PlantsMCC Millennium Challenge CorporationMDC Municipal Development CentreMSD Market Systems DevelopmentNDS National Development StrategyNWFP Non-Wood Forestry ProductsNGO Non Governmental Organization OSCE Organisation for Security and Co-operation in EuropePPSE Promoting Private Sector EmploymentRDA Regional Development AgencyRESI Rural Economic Sustainability InitiativeSDC Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDGs Sustainable Development GoalsSIDA Swedish International Development AgencySMEs Small and Medium EnterprisesSUSI Suhareka/Suva Reka Smallholder InitiativeTA Technical AssistanceUNDP United Nations Development ProgrammeUSAID United States Agency for International DevelopmentWB World Bank
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1. Introduction and Context
1.1 Introduction and ADA’s current activities
54 % of Kosovo’s total area is agricultural land, 60 % of the population live in rural parts of the country, the majority of which depends on agricultural activities for their livelihoods.1 According to research by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), about 22 % of all jobs are in agriculture.2 The contribution of the agricultural sector to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), though, is only 10 %3. Kosovo’s trade balance shows an extraordinary defi-cit: Imports correspond to around 10 % of exports which equal approx. Euro 1 billion. Around 10 % of exports come about from prepared foodstuff, beverages and tobacco.
One reason for this is that most of the agricultural supply chains were broken down during 1990s and were never re-activated due to widespread market failures. Another constraint is land fragmentation, which results in the fact that 80 % of farms are between 0.5 and 2.0 ha in size4. These smallholdings are nevertheless important, as they provide a significant so-cial safety net for many farmers. Farmers are usually not organized and they operate with little technical expertise, poor use of modern inputs and limited access to credit for invest-ment and growth. Farmers also have limited access to extension services, use outdated technologies and farm management practices. There is also a lack of processing capacit-ies. All these factors account for low productivity and weak supply of agricultural products and a high dependence on food imports.
Agricultural production is furthermore challenged by environmental and climate risks, such as widespread land degradation and a high climate vulnerability. For Kosovo, future climate projections include a regional warming higher than the world average, especially for moun-tain areas, a decrease in overall annual precipitation, with greatest decreases in summer and increases in winter precipitation resulting in more frequent spring flooding. Kosovo´s agricultural sector is particularly vulnerable to these predicted changes. Smallholder famers lack technology and adequate extension services. Only 17% of agricultural land is irrigated and fluctuations in rainfall leave regions without irrigation exposed to drought or flood con-ditions5. Half of farms in Kosovo are active in livestock production, especially of dairy cows. Climate projections put livestock breeding at high risk due to high temperatures, increased exposure to new pests and diseases, possible food quality decrease and highly probable degradation of pastures.6
Also, soil and water pollution is widespread, often due to bad agricultural practices, since animal manure is not adequately stored, thus leaching in the soil7. Often rural households are lacking access to sewage systems. Women are underrepresented in the formal agricul-
1 According to the Agricultural Census conducted in 2014 by the Statistical Office of Kosovo, there are 130,775 agricultural holdings in Kosovo, which cultivate 413,635 ha of agricultural area and breed 261,689 cattle, 183,584 sheep and 28,430 goats. On average, an agricultural holding in Kosovo cultivates 3.2 ha of agricultural area and with cattle breed on average 3.9 cattle, 64 breeding sheep and 11.3 breeding goats. There are in total 362,700 persons working in agriculture and their labour input amounts to 86 620 Annual Work Units (AWU).2 Millennium Challenge Corporation (2016): Labor Force & Time Use Survey3 Kosovo Agency for Statistics, GDP, Production Approach, 2008-20174 Statistical Office of Kosovo (2014): Agricultural Census5 USAID (2017): Climate change risk profile Kosovo6 RCC (2018): Study on climate change in the Western Balkans region 7 The Worldbank estimates that in Kosovo, from livestock alone, about 19,000 tons of nitrogen are produced each year, much of it leaching into soil and local water bodies.
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ture sector, especially formally, comprising 5% of licensed farmers. Lack of property owner-ship, low educational attainment, unregistered labour, poor access to information about sub-sidies and socialized gender roles undermine their official participation.8
One of the current challenges in Kosovo is that the affirmative measures supporting women of the Agriculture and Rural Development (ARD) Program are often misused by women’s male relatives. For example, based on the report “budgeting for better agriculture and rural development (2017) by KWN, they may put the family farm in the name of the woman applic-ant, so that she may become the legal beneficiary. However, in reality, she does not have decision-making power with regard to the business. As a result, the statistics produced with regard to women grant beneficiaries are not entirely accurate, according to officials.9
Despite research showing that addressing gender gaps in agriculture can increase sustain-ability by 16 percent, traditional cultural norms and institutional obstacles ensure that farmer’s organisations, a constituency key to agricultural capacity building, remain domin-ated by men.10
Ethnic minorities – such as Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians – face severe challenges; they face the highest level of social exclusion, precarious livelihood conditions and have very limited economic opportunities.
In order to improve the situation one of the main priority areas of the Austrian Development Cooperation’s (ADC) Country Strategy11 is economic development focusing on rural areas. It aims at fostering productivity and employment in selected rural areas through the promo-tion of capacity development, enhancement of local production, diversified value-chains and employment opportunities.12 Within this Strategy, the ADC has been implementing the following three projects:
1) “Local-level Response for Employment Generation and Integrated Territorial Development, phase II (InTerDev II)” which aims at providing a range of meas-ures to support employment and rural development in a participatory manner in three selected municipalities: Dragash/Dragaš, Štrpce/Shtërpcë and Viti/Vitina. This project is implemented by the UNDP Kosovo Office.
2) “Suhareka/Suva Reka Smallholder Initiative, phase II - Local Development Fund (SUSI-LDF II)” with the aim of supporting more inclusive, equitable and sustainable economic development and employment creation with particular emphasis on smallholder farmers in the Municipality of Suharekë/Suva Reka and the southern region of Kosovo. The project is implemented by the LDF Suharekë/Suva Reka.
3) Rural Economic Sustainability Initiative – RESI, aims at promoting competitive-ness of farmers, agricultural producers and food processing companies to enhance
8 https://womensnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/womens-network.pdf9 https://womensnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/20171010144621382.pdf 10 https://www.ifad.org/documents/38714170/39135645/Transforming+Agricultural+Development+and+Produc-tion+in+Africa.+Closing+Gender+Gaps+and+Empowering+Rural+Women+in+Policy+and+Practice.pdf/62ea6108-0e9f-48d9-b050-48f464d61a60 11 http://www.entwicklung.at/fileadmin/user_upload/Dokumente/Publikationen/Landesstrategien/CS_Kosovo_2013-2020.pdf12Other priority areas include education, focusing on Higher Education: Promoting the modernization and quality improvement in education and research in order to increase opportunities in the labor market; whereas governance, gender and environment are addressed as a cross-cutting issues.
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sustainable and inclusive rural development, job creation and income generation in the target municipalities of Prishtinë/Priština, Novo Brdo/Novobërdë Kamenicë/a and Ranil(l)ug. This project is implemented by CARE International.
Since all the above projects will end in December 2019 or beginning of 2020, ADA intends to launch a program that builds on the achievements made and aims at up-scaling the eco-nomic development efforts in rural areas by using the Inclusive Market System Development Approach, promoted by ADA since 201413.
The program planned aims at boosting selected agricultural products/services using sustain-able and climate resilient agriculture (e.g. conservation agriculture) and to explore opportun-ities for organic agriculture. The demand for organic products inside and outside Kosovo needs to be explored. Furthermore, women’s empowerment and empowerment of marginal-ized groups as well as equal access and equal rights to economic and productive resources and services will be a focus of the program.
1.2 Public Institutions in Kosovo
Kosovo’s National Development Strategy (NDS) refers to ARD under the ‘Competitive Indus-tries’ with two measures. Measure No. 20 aims at addressing the issue of agriculture land fragmentation, measure No.18 aims at facilitating transition from low-value added to higher value-added economic activities.
The “National Strategy for European Integration Kosovo 2020” identifies ARD as a crucial sector for Kosovo’s European integration perspective. Nevertheless, policy management of agriculture and rural development rests with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development (MAFRD). MAFRD prepared the Agriculture and Rural Development Pro-gramme (ARDP) 2014 – 2020 with support of an Austrian led EU Twinning project and a Danish technical assistance funded project. The ARDP follows the IPA priorities:
1. Enhancing farm viability, competitiveness2. Restoring, preserving, enhancing ecosystems3. Promoting social, economic inclusion4. Transfer of knowledge, innovation.
Since 2009, MAFRD significantly increased the public support for the agricultural and rural development sector within the ARDP currently amounting to 45 - 50 million Euro per year. The allocation of public funds of the MAFRD has been decided by the Rural Development Programme and the Direct Payments Programme which set the main objectives of the sec-tors and measures deployed. Public funds supporting this sector are divided into two main categories: (i) direct payments and (ii) grants. Based on the 2018 Rural Development and Direct Payment Programmes, of a total of 44 million Euro which is budgeted for these two categories, about 25 million Euro (or 56 %) were allocated for direct payments14 and the remaining part for grants.15 13 http://www.entwicklung.at/fileadmin/user_upload/Dokumente/Publikationen/Downloads_Themen_DivBerichte/Wirtschaft/En-glisch/IV_Quality_Criteria_on_Private_Sector_Development_01.pdf14 Out of 25 million allocated for direct payments, about 11 million euros or about 44% were dedicated to wheat and cattle farms. 15 Grants are divided to primary producer and processor dedicated to investments in physical assets of primary producers or processing capacities. Out of the 12 million euros for primary producers in 2018, about 3 million
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In addition to the central level, local municipalities provide support to agriculture and rural development albeit in different human and budgetary capacities16. While for example, the Municipality of Prishtinë/Priština is able to set aside about 1 million euros for the support of this sector and is working with the RESI project to develop the municipal office to provide advisory services to the farmers and producers’ associations, some other municipalities such as Novo Brdo/Novobërdë, Dragash/Dragaš and Ranil(l)ug neither have funds nor the human capacities to provide such services and support for the agriculture sector. There are other municipalities, such as Suharekë/Suva Reka, Štrpce/Shtërpcë which have some funding available and limited human resources to provide services for the sector (for example about 20,000 Euro yearly budget is available for direct payments for the municipalities of Štrpce/Shtërpcë while about 400,000 Euro is available for the Municipality of Suharekë/Suva Reka).
In terms of private actors, there are 130,775 agricultural holdings in Kosovo, which cultivate 413,635 ha of agricultural area and breed 261,689 cattle, 183,584 sheep and 28,430 goats. Nevertheless, functioning value chains are created only with limited examples throughout different players such as input suppliers, primary producers, collectors, processors etc.. The supply chain on NWFP (both organic and conventional) is being organized very gradu-ally with the involvement of primary producers, small collectors and lead collectors such as Agroproduct from Istog, Eurofruti from Prishtinë/Priština and Hit Flores from Dragash/Dragaš that export their products as raw materials or as semi processed products mainly to German-speaking countries. With regards to vegetables, there is one large collection point (Agro Celina) which supplies rather small processing units of pickles from vegetable products (mainly paper and gherkin) such as Agro-Koral from Fushë Kosovë/Kosovo Polje and Et-linger from Shtime/Stimlje and exports as primary products to different countries in the re-gion and EU.
Despite this support framework none of these institutions and organizations explicitly target development of specific value chains or market systems, but they are scattered throughout different sectors and different levels or focus only on creating core markets.17
2. Overall Objective, Outcomes
2.1. Overall Objective (Impact)
Poverty and exclusion in rural areas of Kosovo are reduced thanks to more sustainable mar-ket systems.
are dedicated for the production of vegetables (including potatoes) and for building greenhouses, whereas 2.5 million are dedicated to the cultivation of fruits, 2 million for the expansion of milk production and 2 million for cattle breeding. On the other hand, MARFD allocated 4 million euros for dairy processors, meat, fruits and vegetables and wine production. Finally, honey production, NWFP and MAPs fall within grants dedicated to farm diversification of which about 1.7 million euro were allocated during 2018 (and only 200,000 euro for NWFP and MAPs).16 MAFRD estimates that about 10 million euros annual funding is available from municipalities usually in form of direct payments and to a lesser extent by providing equipment and tools.17 While the USAID’s AGRO and GIZ CETEP projects are supporting the creation or strengthening of core market of the value chain in selected sectors they are not dealing with supporting functions and rules and regulations relevant for those sectors.
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2.2. Outcomes
1. Producers and other market actors strengthened their position in the selected market systems and have increased their income and profitability.
2. Growing cross-border trade and export opportunities enable a more diversified and profitable market access for producers and other market actors.
3. Women and marginalized people in rural areas of Kosovo improved their economic situation thanks to targeted gender-responsive measures in all outcome areas of the program.
2.3. Outputs
We expect applicants to develop activities which lead to outputs in the areas of access to business development services/extension services, certification and valuable market link-ages (inside and beyond Kosovo) in a sustainable (economically, politically, climate-resilient and gender-responsive) manner.
The market systems/sectors and geographical areas are to be selected during the inception phase.
Beneficiaries:
Producers, input suppliers, collectors, processors and other actors involved in the selected market systems.
Public and private institutions active in the selected market systems
The program wants to reach as many actors as possible and aims at systemic changes that last beyond the program period.
2.4. Methodology / guiding principles
Sector Selection: economic sectors with high potential to achieve large-scale impact (as defined under 2.1) have to be identified. In a first step the potential supply and demand for the selected products and services have to be analysed. This may be done through rapid assessments of potential sectors for organic and sustainable and climate resilient farming, but also for non-agricultural sectors in rural areas with the purpose of getting a shortlist amongst which to select the products/services with the biggest potential for an improvement of the women’s economic situation in rural areas. The final decision on sector selection will be done together with ADC head and Pristina offices.
The selection of economic sectors will follow pre-defined criteria like - potential for outreach to women and marginalized groups - commitment to change by local stakeholders- feasibility - contribution to climate resilient development.
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(Market) System Analysis: Once products/services are selected, the program shall under-take an analysis of the respective market system, including an analysis of (i) the core market (supply and demand in and outside of Kosovo), (ii) supporting functions, e.g. information, certification, finance and coordination and (iii) rules and regulations affecting the product/ser-vice. This analysis includes identifying and categorizing key market players (public and private).
The goal of such an analysis is to (1) identify underlying causes of market constraints, bar-riers and risks; (2) understand incentives and capacities of market players to contribute to systemic changes with a benefit for the poor; (3) highlight market opportunities; and (4) identify leverage points for interventions.
Such research should go beyond the identified symptoms (for example: lack of knowledge and information about organic farming techniques) and understand the root cause of the symptoms by asking why (e.g. why do farmers not acquire the skills and receive the inform-ation they need in order to increase production and productivity).
Intervention Design: The outcome of the analysis will be (i) a clear vision on how to bring sustainable and systemic change to the selected (market) systems, which is depicted in (ii) an initial strategic framework with a focus on systemic change. It needs to outline how key market players will be involved and how local ownership is ensured, so that the pro-posed improvements will have sustainable effects. The impact should not remain within a ‘pilot area’ or a group of selected beneficiaries, but it should aim at benefitting as many people (especially women)/institutions as possible.
At the end of the inception phase, the program implementing partner shall present an incep-tion report in the form of a program document with an initiation portfolio of interventions and a result framework which can be used as the basis for the final proposal.
Implementing a program which follows the MSD approach means to permanently measure and control the results achieved and to revise them if necessary.The intended monitoring system should be compliant with or comparable to the DCED Standard.
Inclusive and gender-responsive approach: The program design must provide a clear Theory of Change regarding the economic empowerment of women and marginalized groups through a systemic change.
Environment and climate action: ADC applies a mainstreaming approach to ensure that environment, climate and disaster risk reduction measures are included in planning and design. A climate adaptation lens must be applied in the promotion of sustainable and cli-mate resilient agriculture and organic farming. With a view to boosting resilience, local ad-aptation measures shall be reflected in agriculture as well as MSD approaches. This is in line with Kosovo´s National Climate Change Framework Strategy which aims at enhancing the adaptive capacity of natural systems, in particular vulnerable ecosystems, and society, in particular vulnerable communities, such as poor farmers, marginal groups and women, to address the climatic impacts and related risks on their lives and livelihoods18.
18 Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning (MESP) (2014): Climate Change Framework Strategy for Kosovo,
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Environmental, Gender and Social Impact Management (EGSIM)Environmental and social sustainability as well as gender equality are fundamental to the achievement of development outcomes. Therefore, they should be systematically main-streamed in the program. Proper EGSIM requires that social, gender and environmental op-portunities and benefits are enhanced in the program. It further ensures that environmental, gender and social risks and adverse impacts are avoided, minimized, mitigated or managed. The promotion of environmental, gender and social standards and safeguards should thus be considered at the earliest stage of the design, systematically addressed during implemen-tation and followed-up through monitoring and evaluation19. The applicant is requested to apply ADA´s EGSIM Manual and identify potential environmental, gender and social risks, including risk mitigation and management measures20.
The future implementer will be required to report on cross-cutting issues in the progress re-ports.
According to the defined overall objective ADA requires applications to propose a program which classifies as minimum DAC Gender Marker 1 intervention21.
Furthermore, already at the stage of proposal preparation applicants must take into account all standard guidelines and policy documents of the Austrian Development Cooperation as available from http://www.entwicklung.at/en/
4. Budget allocation and general information
The total available budget for this Call for Proposals is EUR 2,500,000. ADA aims at funding one program. Towards the end of the program an evaluation shall be conducted (to be budgeted for in the program). Depending on the success of the program and based on the recommendation of the evaluation the program shall be followed by a second phase of about two years with an estimated funding contribution by ADA of EUR 1,500,000. This amount may be topped up by other donor funds or by co-funding from local and central level governments before or during implementation. In that case, an updated program docu-ment and budget need to be presented to ADA for approval if additional funding is available. The future implementing partner is also expected to conclude an agreement with the funding organizations regarding the contribution to the program.
Program proposals must meet the following conditions (see also under chapter 5 “Criteria for eligibility”): Any applicant may not submit more than one program proposal under this Call for Pro-
posals.
Program proposals may be submitted by consortia consisting of at least two eligible part-ner organisations/institutions. Therefore, wherever reference is made to the “Applicant” or “Applicants” this term shall refer also to a “Consortium” or “Consortia”.
19 https://www.entwicklung.at/fileadmin/user_upload/Dokumente/Publikationen/Handbuecher/Environmental_and_Social_Im-pact_Management/EGSIM_Manual_Juni2018.pdf20 This might entail an environmental, gender and social impact assessment as well as a risk management plan depending on the risks identified 21 https://www.oecd.org/dac/gender-development/Handbook-OECD-DAC-Gender-Equality-Policy-Marker.pdf
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In addition, contributions in kind – such as provision of materials and/or services – will be taken into consideration in the content and qualitative assessment provided that they add value to the achievement of the expected results of the program. These contributions cannot be budgeted and/or accounted for in financial reports/audits. They must be de-scribed in the application (program document).
The Applicant shall be responsible for the payment of any taxes, fees, social charges or insurances related to the proposed program, the amount of which will be deemed to have been included in the program costs. With regards to tax exemption applicants are also referred to the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Kosovo and the Government of the Republic of Austria on Development Cooperation22.
Following evaluation of the applications received in response to this Call for Proposals, ADA will inform the Applicant with the highest evaluation score about the grant award decision. It is expressly noted that the information about the decision does not yet constitute any entitle-ment to the award of the grant. The Applicant will not acquire that right until a grant agree-ment has been signed in which the terms and conditions of the contract will be stipulated.
The type of agreement to be concluded will be a Grant Agreement incl. General Terms and Conditions of Contract in the English language23.
Unsuccessful Applicants will be informed about the decision.
5. Criteria for Eligibility and Submission
The eligibility of proposals shall be assessed by a commission based on formal, substantive and financial criteria. Substantive criteria are based on ADA’s quality assurance criteria, tar-geted and weighted according to the specific requirements of the CfP. Only proposals that fulfil the formal criteria of the CfP will be evaluated with respect to its substantive and finan-cial criteria. While the formal criteria will be evaluated in terms of compliance (Yes/No) the assessment of substantive and financial criteria will use a scoring system. The maximal scoring points per substantive and financial criteria are indicated in brackets. A minimum of a total of 80 points (out of 100) is required for eligibility while no section must score 0.
A) Formal Criteria
Formal Criteria concerning the submission of the proposalOnly proposals that fulfil all formal criteria and contribute explicitly and demonstrably to the achievement of the objectives and expected results of this Call for Proposals will be evalu-ated with respect to their content. The program’s relevance for this Call for Proposals must therefore be clearly apparent from the “Summary” (see section “Summary” of the Program Document24) which must be submitted in English and German languages (max. 2,000 signs including spaces).
Formal Eligibility Criteria Concerning the Applicant:
22 Accessible under the following link : http://www.ris.bka.gv.at/GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnum-mer=20006594 23 The General Terms and Conditions of Contract for interventions from the Austrian Development Cooperation budget can be accessed at: http://www.entwicklung.at/uploads/media/General_Conditions_2011_01.pdf24 See: Project document at http://www.entwicklung.at/en/funding/country-regional-programmes/
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Eligible applicants are development organisations as well as other equivalent institutions as defined in Section 3, Subsection 2, of the Austrian Development Co-operation Act25 and which dispose of adequate administrative and program imple-menting capacities. The following documents must be provided by the applicant:
o Constitution, statutes illustrating the applicant’s aims and scope of business Registration (register of associations, register of companies etc.)
o Annual reports and accounts for the three preceding business years (2016-2018; average annual turnover of the Applicant over the past 3 years 2016 - 2018 must exceed EUR 3,000,000.00)
o Experience of the applicant in methods and concepts as well as proper project cycle management in the thematic areas of the CfP to be presented via the profile, relevant policy documents, methods of the applicant and a list of least 5 reference projects in the last 5 years in ADC’s priority regions and countries.
Applicants must demonstrate experience in all mentioned thematic areas of the CfP (MSD, gender responsive actions, agriculture, rural economic development, social inclusion, environmental protection/climate resilience), in capacity development of state and non-state actors and in sound project cycle management including risk management, meeting the following criteria:
o Successful implementation during the last 5 years of at least 3 programs/projects in developing countries of which at least one in rural economic development in the Southeastern Europe, relevant experience in Kosovo is an asset.
o At least one program/project in the last 3 years with a total budget of at least EUR 1,800,000.00.
o Reference programs/projects should have a visible capacity development component and showcase cross-cutting issues such as social inclusion, gender and environment, climate mainstreaming. No small-scale or short-term intervention (e.g. ad hoc technical assistance, assessments, project preparation missions, evaluations etc.) must be presented as a reference program/project.
o Availability of at least 2 permanent key staff with at least 3 years’ technical experience in the last 5 years in planning, implementing, monitoring, steering and evaluating of interventions in the thematic areas of the CfP to be presented via CVs.
Availability of the necessary key staff for the implementation of the pro-posed intervention, highly qualified experts with well-founded knowledge in the thematic areas of this CfP, EGSIM, risk and excellent program/pro-ject management skills with at least 3 years’ technical experience in the last 5 years for the proposed position to be presented via CVs.
o Furthermore, the applicant must demonstrate: experience in MSD knowledge/understanding of the local context participation of local human resources in the program/project team a flexible and open minded approach
25 See: http://www.entwicklung.at/uploads/media/development_cooperation_law_01.pdf
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high analytical capacities (capacity to constantly analyse the context and results, and to re-orient activities if they do not bring the expected results)
entrepreneurial mind-set creativity existence of in-house expertise and knowledge management systems on
MSD.
The applications under this Call for Proposals may be submitted by a consortium consisting of two or more eligible partner organisations/institutions. The above-mentioned eligibility criteria will be applied also to a consortium consisting of two or more organisations/institutions, not to each single partner of a consortium.
The application may describe the available human and material resources that can be drawn from for the successful project implementation incl. description of any existing structure in the partner country with clearly defined tasks with respect to the planning and implementa-tion of the proposed project.
The following formal criteria have to be fulfilled:
Applicants must complete the application form and provide relevant documents as listed in the section above and the application form.
Submission in due time and at the specified location.
Not more than one proposal submitted. The technical part of the program proposal shall not exceed 25 pages26.
Modality of submission: see below
Completeness of the proposal: according to the required format/s.
Language: English, Annexes such as statutes, annual reports, etc. can be submitted in their original language. Translations shall be submitted to ADA upon request.
Duration: 36 months, including a 6-month inception phase.
Program starting date: no later than 1 March 2020; Program completion date: no later than 29 February 2024.
Program proposals can be submitted by one single organisation/institution or by a con-sortium consisting of two or more eligible partner organisations/institutions. Any partner in a consortium must not be involved in more than one program application/proposal submission.
The amount of the contribution requested from ADA amounts to a maximum of EUR 2,500,000.00. The amount requested from ADA must not exceed a maximum of 90% of the total program costs.
Monetary contributions in cash of at least 10% of the proposed total program budget. The applicant’s contribution may also be provided through third party contributions.
Administrative costs for implementation are not exceeding 10% of the direct program cost funded by ADA.
26 Font: Calibri, font size: Eleven.
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B) Substantive Criteria
Submitted program proposals will be evaluated using a scoring system. Criteria with regard to content are based on ADA’s quality assurance criteria, targeted and weighted according to the specific requirements of the present Call for Proposals.
A minimum of at least 75 points (out of 100) is required with no section scoring zero for the awarded project to be eligible.
Relevance of the Planned Program: max. 25 Points
The program is considered relevant if it addresses the actual problems, the approach util-ized, priorities and needs as well as the potential of the selected target group and intended beneficiaries. Moreover the proposed interventions should be in line with the goals of as many stakeholders as possible, should be adapted to the local situation and take the political and institutional framework into account.
Quality of the stakeholder analysis: Are the target group, the beneficiaries and other rel-evant stakeholders clearly identified and described? Have their specific problems, poten-tials and interests been analysed in a comprehensive manner? Have the social, gender and environmental (including climate action) opportunities been assessed?
Quality of the problem and potential analyses: Have the social, economic, political, environmental, legal and institutional challenges and potentials, especially at local level, been analysed in a comprehensive manner? In which manner are the constitu-encies affected by these problems? Have the local environment (soil quality, water resources etc.) and climate change related vulnerabilities and risks sufficiently been taken into account?
Quality of the proposed implementation strategy and methodology: Are the strategic options and proposed implementation strategy in line with an MSD approach? Do they respond adequately to the identified challenges and potentials of the sector as well as the specific problems and interests of the stakeholders? How will inclusive participation and representation of the constituencies in planning and decision-mak-ing be assured? How well are cross-cutting issues (gender, environment /climate change) mainstreamed?
Coherence with the development policy framework of the partner country: How well is the proposed program aligned to the national sector policies in the sphere of agricul-ture and rural/economic development? To what extent are the targets and the policies and sectoral strategies taken into consideration, and how does the proposed program contribute to their achievement? Are the planned measures coordinated with other interventions? How is this coordination organised and for which results?
Feasibility of the Planned Program: 25 Points
The planned program is considered feasible if the program objective(s) can be achieved within the given time frame with the proposed means, and if the risks are manageable.
Quality of the intervention logic: Coherence of program goal, outcomes, outputs and activities, quality of indicators, assumptions, risk assessment and mitigation strategies.
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Quality of implementation approach and methodology: Are they appropriate to achieve the objectives and expected results? Are they based on sound experience and best practices? Are the proposed activities sufficiently balanced and scaled to ensure delivery of outputs and achieving expected results?
Quality of program planning: Is the proposed timeframe and activity planning realistic under the given circumstances and with the budget available?
Quality of risk management: Which measures are foreseen to mitigate possible negative external risks? Which measures are foreseen to avoid, minimise or mitigate possible environmental (including climate), gender and social risks and/or adverse impacts? How will the risks be monitored and managed?
Quality of the institutional project set-up: Who is responsible for program management? Are the roles of all stakeholders clearly defined with respect to responsibilities, coordina-tion and collaboration modalities?
Quality of monitoring and evaluation: Who is responsible for data collection and ana-lysis? Which data sources will be used for monitoring? Will results feedback, how will experiences and lessons learnt be taken into account? How are changes of external factors taken into consideration?
Sustainability of the planned program: 25 points
Sustainability means that the positive effects and impacts initiated by the program will persist after the end of program.
Strengthening of institutionally viable structures and processes: Does the intervention contribute to capacity development at institutional level (e.g. regarding efficient and de-mand-driven service delivery, advisory services and training, transparent management of the fund, accountability etc.) and at individual level (e.g. concerning improved skills and awareness on sustainable agricultural production, processing and marketing)? Are value chain stakeholders capacitated to maintain their activities and cooperation?
Political support: How will the political support after the end of the intervention be en-sured (e.g. through support to policy dialogue, policy making and legislation as well as advocacy for sustainable reform processes)? How might municipal / governmental finan-cial and technical support to agricultural producers and processors be structured after the termination of the program?
Socio-cultural, environmental and climate aspects: Do the (final) beneficiaries have equal access to and benefit from the common infrastructures as well as services and financial support provided by the planned intervention, without discrimination due to sex, ethnic group, social status (with reference to socially marginalised groups), language, or reli-gion? Will it be likely that resilience and capabilities to cope with climate change impacts and other shocks is enhanced? How is inclusive participation and representation in plan-ning and decision-making processes assured? Are socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable measures as well as mitigation of possible (unintended) negative social, eco-nomic and ecological risks and impacts adequately addressed by the intervention?
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C) Financial Criteria
Only costs that are directly related to the implementation of the proposed program are eli -gible for funding. The adequacy of the assumed (unit) costs will be checked. The calculation of the program budget must be sound and comprehensible as well as coherent with the pro-posed intervention logic. This applies also to the administrative costs of the program partner (applicant) which are only eligible as far as they are related to specific program/project man-agement services (program/project cycle management including monitoring activities).
Costs and Efficiency of the Planned Program: 25 Points
Are the individual costs, e.g. salaries, fees, travel costs, and costs for planned activities appropriate?
Is the budget coherent with the intervention logic?
D) Submission
Program proposals must be submitted in the English language electronically (one copy scanned in pdf and one copy in formats compatible with MS-Word and MS-Excel) to: [email protected].
Submission of documents is due by 31 July 2019, 23:59:59 hours (local time in Kosovo).Please mention the ADC reference number (Call/8-L&R/2019) and the title of the Call for Proposals (Sustainable and inclusive rural economic development in Kosovo) on the envel-ope and in all communication regarding the present Call for Proposals.
Only applications in compliance with the terms of the Call for Proposals, based on the stand-ard formats and submitted on time will be considered. No handwritten documents will be accepted.
The standard formats/templates to be used for the preparation of the program proposals can be accessed from the following web link: Projects/programmes under country and re-gional strategies
Six-monthly reporting on program implementation must follow the standard ADC reporting format: Progress report
Questions regarding this Call for Proposals may be addressed in writing until 10 July 2019, 17:00 hours (local time in Kosovo) to [email protected]. Clarifications regarding ques-tions received by interested Applicants will be published on ADA’s website under this Call for Proposals.
The decision on the grant award will be based exclusively on the applicable evaluation cri-teria for this Call for Proposals. It is subject to the availability of funds and approval by ADA’s board, if applicable.
Applicants shall have no legal entitlement to the award of a grant under this Call for propos-als and in case a grant is not awarded no legal claim accrues from the application. An objec-tion against the rejection of a proposal will not be accepted.
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6. Data Protection NoticeThis notice provides you with information on how the Austrian Development Agency, a company with limited liability, registered in the Companies` Register at the Commercial Court Vienna under FN 243529 g, having its registered office in Vienna and its business address at Zelinkagasse 2, 1010 Vienna, Austria (ADA) will process your personal data.
Purposes for which ADA processes your personal data, data categories processed and legal basis
Purposes ADA processes your personal data for the purpose of awarding and administrating grants given to corporate bodies or associations according to §3(2) Federal Act on Development Cooperation (EZA-G). ADA requires your personal data to assess your application for funding under the CfP. The provision of personal data – unless agreed otherwise – is entirely voluntary. However, if you do not provide these data your application for funding under the CfP cannot be considered.
Data categories processed ADA processes the following data categories of (i) the applicant / grant recipient, (ii) local partner organizations and/or (sub-) contractors of the grant recipient, if any - Contact and identification details (name, postal address, telephone number, e-mail address, facsimile, web address, tax identification number), founding date, bank details, membership in platforms, networks, etc., authorized representatives, including their identification documents, statutes or by-laws, excerpt from public registers (e.g. company register, register of associations) - Annual reports including audit reports/financial statements of the past three years, organisational chart, institutional profile, capability statement, reference projects - Description of the available human and material resources, including available experts, CVs of key staff in the relevant thematic area and cross cutting issues - Experience in project cycle management and project management including CVs of key staff - Description of the intervention including its logic of intervention, time schedule, overall and detailed budget including source of funding, filled in checklist for environmental, gender and social standards - Personal data of stakeholders which is transferred or disclosed to ADA, e.g. intervention related reports (EGSIA, progress-, audit- or evaluation reports, PR materials, etc.) or which are collected by ADA during monitoring, audit and/or evaluation missions - Name and contact details (title, postal address, telephone number, e-mail ad-dress, facsimile), employment contracts, work time records, salary statement, records regarding official travel - Photos of stakeholders involved in the intervention
Legal basis for processing ADA processes your personal data on the basis of Article 6(1)(c) and (e) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in conjunction with § 24 of the Federal Act on Development Cooperation relating to: - Compliance with a legal obligation to which ADA is subject - Performance of a task carried out in the public interest - Processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by ADA
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Recipients or categories of recipients of personal data, including transfer to third countries or international organisations ADA transfers personal data to: - The Government of Kosovo at central and local level- The Austrian Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs - - Experts of external evaluations, auditing and controlling - Partners involved in promoting the ADA contribution - IT-services providers.
Some of the recipients referred to above are located in or process personal data in third countries or are international organisations. The level of data protection in third countries or an international organisation may not be equivalent to that in your country. However, ADA only transfers your personal data to countries or international organisations where the EU Commission has decided that they have an adequate level of data protection or ADA takes measures to ensure that all recipients provide an adequate level of data protection. ADA does this for example by entering into appropriate data transfer agreements based on standard contractual clauses (2004/915/EC). Such agreements are accessible upon request from [email protected]. It is possible that personal data is transferred or disclosed to, in particular, officers or agents of (i) the Austrian Court of Audit [Rechnungshof] (in particular pursuant to Sections 3(2), 4(1) and 13(3) of the Austrian Court of Audit Act, BGBl. No. 144/1948, as amended) (ii) the Federal Ministry of Finance (in particular pursuant to Sections 57 to 61 and 47 Federal Budget Law 2013, as amended, as well as Section 14 of the General Framework Directive 2014 [ARR], BGBl. II No. 208/2014, as amended, and (iii) of the European Union pursuant to provisions of EU law.
Retention period ADA retains your personal data for as long as is necessary for achieving the stated purposes while adhering to statutory retention periods. ADA retains your personal data at least for as long as statutory retention periods require it and as long as limitation periods for possible legal claims have not yet expired.
Rights of data subjects Data subjects have the following rights under the GDPR: - You have the right to receive information about what kind of data about you is being processed (Art. 15 GDPR); - If inaccurate personal data is being processed or processing is not in accordance with the law, you have the right to demand rectification (Art. 16 GDPR); - Provided the legal conditions are met, you can request erasure or restriction of processing of your personal data, or object to processing on the grounds of legitimate reasons (Art. 17, 18 and 21 GDPR); - You can withdraw previously granted consent at any time with effect for the future. Such withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal; - Provided the legal conditions are met, you have the right to request data portability (Art. 20 GDPR).
If you claim any of your rights under the GDPR, ADA will assess whether the legal conditions for such claim are met. You have the right to file a complaint with the competent authority. If you have any questions or issues concerning the processing of your personal data, please contact:
Name and contact details of the controller
Call for Proposals – PSD in rural areas, Kosovo / Page 17
Austrian Development Agency, Zelinkagasse 2, 1010 Vienna, Austria Tel.: + 43 (0)1 90399 - 0 Fax: + 43 (0)1 90399 - 2290 E-Mail: [email protected] Website: www.entwicklung.at
Contact details of the data protection officer Austrian Development Agency, Data Protection Officer, Zelinkagasse 2, 1010 Vienna, Austria E-Mail: [email protected]
7. Reference Documents
National Development Strategy 2016-2021http://kryeministri-ks.net/wp-content/uploads/docs/National_Development_Strategy_2016-2021.pdf
National Programme for Implementation of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (NPISAA) 2017 – 2021 http://kryeministri-ks.net/wp-content/uploads/docs/pkzmsa20172021ang.pdf
Kosovo Economic Reform Programme (ERP) 2018-2020http://kryeministri-ks.net/wp-content/uploads/docs/KOSOVO_ECONOMIC_REFORM_PROGRAMME_(ERP).pdf
Kosovo Agriculture Rural Development Project (KARDP):http://www.mbpzhr-ks.net/repository/docs/589218_KARDP_EMF_Draft.pdf
Rural Development Programme for 2018https://www.mbpzhr-ks.net/repository/docs/Programi_Shqip28318.pdf
Direct Payments Programme for 2018https://www.mbpzhr-ks.net/repository/docs/495_Pr grami_per_Pagesa_Direkte_per_vitin_2018_21.pdf
Policy and Strategy Paper on Forestry Sector Development 2010-2020http://kosovoforests.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Policy-and-Strategy-for-Forestry-in-Kosovo-2010-2020.pdf
Three years programme of the Austrian Development Policy 2016-2018 (at the moment of publication of the present CfP, available only in German language):http://www.entwicklung.at/uploads/media/3JP_2016-2018.pdf
Kosovo Country Strategy 2013-2020, Austrian Development Cooperation, Pristina 2013: http://www.entwicklung.at/uploads/media/CS_Kosovo_2013-2020.pdf
Kosovo Gender Analysis, Kosovo Women’s Network, Pristina 2018:
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https://womensnetwork.org/publications/kosovo-gender-analysis/
Budgeting for better Agriculture and Rural Development, Kosovo Women’s Network, Pristina 2017:https://womensnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/20171010144621382.pdf
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