Sustainable Regional Agricultural Extension (ENSURE) Project

Sustainable Regional Agricultural Extension (ENSURE) Project is a grant from the East African Community (EAC) that funds agricultural extension and capacity-building initiatives supporting locally owned, locally led, and locally managed development in East Africa.

The project is part of USAID Kenya and East Africa's journey to self-reliance, aiming to reduce reliance on international implementing partners and build direct relationships with regional stakeholders. Eligible applicants are agricultural stakeholders in East African Community member states, including Uganda, working on community-based agricultural development and extension services. Grant amounts are not specified.

USAID Kenya and East Africa (KEA) has embarked on a deliberate journey to support Kenya and the region on the journey to self ‐reliance (J2SR). According to the CDCS 2020 ‐2025, one of USAID/KEA’s strategic goals is to reduce reliance on international implementing partners as intermediaries between USAID and key stakeholders and to cultivate and maintain direct relationships and partnerships with Kenyan counterparts.

To support this strategic shift, OEGI is making intensified and accelerated efforts to ensure its activities are locally oriented – locally owned, locally led and locally managed. OEGI implements programs to increase food security, promote resilience, improve water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), enhance trade and investment, expand access to energy, and increase sustainable economic integration in Kenya and East Africa.

Bilateral activities are implemented in 17 Feed the Future (FTF) counties, 13 WASH counties and 8 Prosper Counties. Regional activities focus on trade and energy in and support regional economic communities such as the East African Community (EAC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) that support regional economic integration. II.

OEGI Services and Activities OEGI’s focus areas are as follows: Agriculture (with priority on the following value chains; horticulture ‐ fruit and vegetables, drought tolerant crops, diary, and livestock) ● Strengthening and development of market systems for selected value chains ● Strengthening networks of service providers; producer organizations; aggregators; produce marketers and supportive services; agro ‐processing facilities; and small and medium ● Improving agricultural quality and productivity ● Developing micro, small and medium enterprises to manage finance and expand their ● Expanding and improving financial services to producers, and private sector actors ● Improving policy and enabling environments in agriculture and for private sector actors ● Undertaking agricultural research ● Enhancing compliance to regional Standards including Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures ● Improving access to safe and nutritious foods ● Undertaking social and behavior change activities ● Implementing nutrition sensitive programming ● Improving the enabling environment for expanded economic opportunities (including women and youth) in areas of recurring crisis Request for Information No. 72061521RFI000001 ‐ Assessment by USAID Kenya and East Africa’s Office of > Economic Growth and Integration (OEGI) on Interest Among Local Partners in Applying for USAID Funding ● Strengthening county ‐level institutional and governance capacity of both county governments and non ‐governmental organizations to support expanded economic growth in areas of ● Developing more extensive and robust private sector partnerships to expand investments in areas of recurring crisis.

● Strengthening coordination and integrated resilience programming at cross ‐order and regional level for inclusive resilience outcomes. ● Facilitating learning and knowledge exchange on resilience at community, sub ‐national, national and cross ‐border levels. ● Supporting formulation and implementation of resilience strengthening policies, strategies and protocols at regional and cross ‐border levels.

● Strengthening sector governance and financing ● Increasing sustainable access and use of sanitation and the practice of key hygiene behaviors ● Increasing sustainable access to safe drinking water ● Improving management of water resources ● Improving enabling environment for trade and international investment across the region ● Improving Kenyan and East Africa exports under AGOA ● Improving private investment in job ‐creating sectors in Kenya and East Africa ● Improving the operational efficiency of utilities and mini ‐grid operators to ensure increased access to reliable and cost ‐effective electricity supply.

● Supporting development of new power projects for both on and off ‐grid players. ● Improving economic growth through identification and development of opportunities for increased productive use of energy. ● Improving the energy sector’s policy and regulatory environment.

● Supporting regional power trade to increase reliability of electricity supply and drive down costs The specific purpose of this RFI is to enable OEGI to reach out to local partners to assess the level of local interest in collaborating in OEGI ‐funded activities and programs.

The RFI will also enable OEGI to better understand the landscape of available and viable local and regional entities capable of implementing its activities in Kenya and the region. The following 4 principles will serve as pillars for the RFI.

a) The Journey to Self ‐Reliance (J2SR): USAID focuses on building countries’ self ‐reliance which is defined as the ability of a country, including the government, civil society, and the private sector, to plan, finance, and implement solutions to solve its own development challenges. The approach fosters locally led development, mobilization of domestic and other financial resources, and building the capacity of local partners.

OEGI will form transformational partnerships with local organizations to stimulate and support self ‐reliance and empowerment and achieve USAID KEA goals under Kenya’s Request for Information No. 72061521RFI000001 ‐ Assessment by USAID Kenya and East Africa’s Office of > Economic Growth and Integration (OEGI) on Interest Among Local Partners in Applying for USAID Funding Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) and East Africa’s Regional Cooperation Development Strategy (RDCS) that are in various stages of development.

To achieve this, OEGI will prioritize inclusive collaboration with the local partners to achieve locally sustained results, strengthen local capacities, and foster enterprise ‐driven development. b) Invest in local leadership, capacity and systems : This will ensure long ‐term ownership and sustainability.

USAID KEA places an important focus on developing, supporting, and sustaining the considerable professional talent and institutional capabilities that exist within Kenya and the c) Evidence ‐based Interventions.

OEGI interventions must be aligned and respond directly to the needs of the people in Kenya and East Africa, scaling up evidence ‐based models and employing proven approaches to strengthen management systems to build a body of evidence to improve current and future economic development programming. d) Increase involvement of the private sector.

OEGI activities must leverage strategic private sector partnerships and alliances to improve on health and social service delivery. The private sector offers expertise in implementing cost ‐effective models that can complement access to comprehensive services, maximize efficiency and enable beneficiaries and local partners to [THE REST OF THIS PAGE HAS BEEN LEFT BLANK INTENTIONALLY]