REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST
TO PARTNER WITH FEED THE FUTURE ACTIVITY

SUBJECT: Request for expressions of interest to partner with the USAID-Funded Feed the Future Bangladesh Cereal Systems Initiatives for South Asia Mechanization Extension Activity (CSISA-MEA) in the Feed the Future Zone of Influence (ZoI) and Zone of Resilience (ZoR).

The Feed the Future Bangladesh Cereal Systems Initiatives for South Asia Mechanization Extension Activity (CSISA-MEA) is seeking expressions of interest (EOIs) from private companies, firms or institutions engaged in agricultural mechanization, agricultural inputs, manufacturing of agricultural machinery and equipment, agricultural machine assembly, spare parts aggregation and/or providing access to finance services for agriculture machine or spare parts manufacturing, assembling, marketing, and/or offering fee based agriculture machinery services in the ZoI and or ZoR. The Activity anticipates signing agreements with one or more successful partner(s), subject to alignment with CSISA-MEA and USAID’s priorities, due diligence, agreement on terms, and availability of funding.

PROJECT BACKGROUND

CSISA-MEA is a five-year activity, funded by USAID and implemented by CIMMYT and its partners: iDE and Georgia Institute of Technology (GT). The project aims to support the growth and expansion of agricultural mechanization in Bangladesh so that smallholder farmers can affordably access cost and resource-saving sowing, planting, irrigation, harvesting, and other types of machinery and agriculture inputs. CSISA-MEA supports market actors along the entire value chain including machinery manufacturers, assembler, agricultural machinery importers and retailers, dealers, mechanics, spare parts vendors, and machinery solutions providers (MSPs) who provide services directly to farmers.

SCOPE OF WORK AND PRIORITY AREAS OF INTEREST

CSISA-MEA is inviting applications from companies such as private entities, firms, financial institutions, social enterprises, professional associations etc. interested in designing new and innovative business models and activities targeting the farmers of its working areas. All concepts are expected to focus the overarching areas of -

  • Establishing/ expanding/ improving / innovating business models to support more underserved Ag machinery markets and market actors in the rural areas (e.g. women, youth) so that they can set up and expand machinery service businesses to improve crop and input sales in the Feed the Future zone.
  • Innovative business solutions that target and benefit underserved farmers, machine solution providers (MSPs) / local service providers (LSPs), women and youth in the working area and can be scaled up beyond project support.
  • Innovative digital/smart online-based business solutions that target and benefit for a large number of Ag machinery and spare parts manufacturers, machine solution providers (MSPs) / local service providers (LSPs) and underserved farmers in the project working areas.
  • Address a specific Ag machinery market challenge (including climate challenges in Ag mechanization) that may not be resolved without the intervention.
  • Ability to scale up the business solution beyond the project support.
  • Address overarching issues such as enhanced food security, nutrition and farming practices.

The scope of work has three different categories targeted to organizations:

Category 1: Strengthening Agri machinery and spare parts supply chain, its distribution, uses, servicing, demand creation and deliver agricultural services to the farmers with enhancing capacity of the actors engaged in Ag mechanization specially for local services providers/machine solution providers (LSP/MSPs) along with youth and women LSPs/MSPs, rural entrepreneurs.
Category 2: Improve access to financial services to enable Agricultural Based Light Engineering (ABLE) small & medium enterprises (SMEs), dealers and Ag Machine Solution Providers (MSPs) to obtain financing for investments in new agricultural machinery and spare parts manufacturing, stocking, selling and/or capital machine purchases and making ABLE SMEs, dealers and MSPs ready for financing. Relevant for bank and non-bank financial institutions, social enterprises and microfinance institutions.
Category 3: Improve the competitiveness and efficiency of domestic agricultural machinery and spare parts manufacturing, assembly, quality improvement, aggregation with developing new/ innovative channels including digital marketing platforms for Ag machinery and spare parts along with business incubation, deliver business development support services to the ABLE SMEs including branding and marketing made in Bangladesh Ag machines and spare parts, drawing, design, testing, heat treatment, as well as enhancing commercially viable capacity building solutions for ABLE SMEs and workforces. Relevant for social enterprises, machinery firms, training service providers, technology and capital machine suppliers and agricultural-based light engineering SMEs.

Working Area: The areas include Feed the Future districts under the zone of influence (ZoI): Khulna divisions of Jashore,  Jhenaidah, Magura, Narail, Bagerhat, Khulna, Satkhira, Chuadanga, Meherpur and Kustia; Barisal divisions of Barisal, Bhola, Jhalokathi, Pirojpur, Barguna, Patuakhali; and Dhaka divisions of Faridpur, Gopalganj, Madaripur, Rajbari, and Shariatpur.
Areas under the zone of resilience (ZoR) are: Cox’s Bazar, Bandarban, and the southern part of Chattogram districts.

Application and Submission Information: 

  • Please see the details of the EOI and scope of work in this link.
  • All applications must be submitted following the template and instruction provided in the Annex of the EOI which include application form, technical and financial proposal.
  • Application Format: applications must be submitted in English and using 11 point font size.
  • Legal documents: this should include documents mentioned in the eligibility section and any other documents that relate to your functioning in Bangladesh.
  • All costs associated with responding to this solicitation shall be the sole responsibility of each applicant. 
  • Items laid out in this EOI are subject to change and may differentiate based on availability of funding and Activity priorities. The objectives expressed in this EOI may be discontinued based on the unavailability of funds or discontinuation of the Activity. CSISA-MEA reserves the right not to make any award from this solicitation.

Please submit your application to bangladesh.procurement@ideglobal.org with the subject line “CSISA-MEA Feed the Future Expression of Interest.” Applications will be assessed on a first-received basis starting from December 20, 2023. Only shortlisted firms will be contacted for the next round of the selection process. For any queries regarding the EOI and application process, please contact Mazed Hossain Mahin, Senior Technical Specialist, email: mhossain@ideglobal.org.