AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY AND NUTRITION IMPROVEMENT PROJECT 1. Procurement for the proposed Project be carried out in accordance with Guidelines: Procurement of Goods, Works and Non-consulting Services under IBRD Loans and IDA Credits and Grants by World Bank Borrowers” dated January 2011 (revised July 2014) and “Guidelines: Selection and Employment of Consultants under IBRD Loans and IDA Credits and Grants by World Bank Borrowers” dated January 2011 (revised July 2014). The various items under different expenditure categories are described in general below. 2. The World Bank Guidelines on Preventing and Combating Fraud and Corruption in Projects Financed by IBRD Loans and IDA Credit and Grants dated October 15, 2006 and revised on January 2011, will also apply. For each contract to be financed by the Bank, the different procurement methods or consultant selection methods, the need for prequalification, estimated costs, prior review requirements, and time frame are agreed between the GoK and the Bank task team in the Procurement Plan. The Procurement Plan will be updated at least annually or as required to reflect the actual project implementation needs and improvements in institutional capacity. 3. Procurement of Works: Works procured under this project would include (i) rehabilitation of existing on- and off-farm I&D systems; (ii) installation of intake structures at on-farm systems. 4. Procurement of Goods: Goods procured under this project would include procurement of maintenance equipment for WUAs and FWUAs, water measuring equipment for WUAs, minor food processing equipment for households, micronutrient supplements, and office equipment and vehicles for PIU. Micronutrients will be procured through UNICEF under the existing procurement agreement with the MoH. 5. Selection of Consultants: Consultancy would include (i) technical assistance in such areas as detailed design, contract administration, construction and supervision; (ii) technical assistance to rehabilitated WUAs in contract management and preparation of TORs, (iii) technical advisory services on improved agricultural production and improved marketing; (iv) technical advisory services for improved cropping patterns towards higher shares of nutritional crops; (v) technical advisory services on improved on-farm water management; (vi) M&E; (vi) international and local technical assistance for preparation of improved irrigated agricultural production and marketing and diversification towards nutritional crops; and (vii) local consultants to support FSC for improved national coordination for food and nutrition security. 6. Short-lists of consultants for services estimated to cost less than U$100,000 equivalent per contract may be composed entirely of national consultants in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 2.7 of the Consultant Guidelines. The Bank's Standard Request for Proposal Document would be used as a base for all procurement of consultancy services to be procured under the project. Some of the PIU staff hired under previous projects would continue working for implementation of the project. 7. Training: Training will cover training to (i) WUAs selected for components 1 and 2 on improved irrigated agricultural production, improved marketing and diversification towards nutritional crops, improved water management and IPM, (ii) raion level health promotion unit staff of MoH under component 3 on health promotion related activities, (iii) vulnerable households and self-help groups under components 3.1 and 3.3 on improved consumption of nutritional food and increased production of nutritional food on household plots, and (iv) PIU staff on procurement, financial management, M&E, IPM and other project management related activities. 8. Operating Costs: The grant will finance incremental operating costs. Operating costs will cover vehicle maintenance for PIU and WUA SUs, fuel, utility and communication costs, translation costs, travel expenses, bank charges, office supplies, advertisement costs, printing, mail, as well as other reasonable expenditures directly associated with the implementation of the project. Such costs would be financed by the project as per an annual budget approved by the Bank and incurred using the implementing agency’s administrative procedures. Operating costs will not include salaries of civil servants. It will also finance the operating costs of the Food Security Council (FSC) for the period of two years. 9. Project will also finance grants to WUAs for: (i) contracting advisory service providers to assist WUAs in the preparation of agricultural development plans, provision of advice and facilitation of development plan implementation; and (ii) procurement of inputs, materials, cultivation equipment, soil and water testing equipment or other equipment, and minor improvements in farm infrastructure required for the training and demonstration aspects of the agricultural development plan. 10. Delegation of the Procurement Function to WUAs. The execution of procurement for grants will be delegated to WUAs. Procurement responsibilities, procedures and sample documentation are described in detail in the Project Implementation Manual (PIM) and in the WUA Procurement Handbook. . The micro-projects will include the procurement of goods, works, consultant services and training. WUA will manage micro-project implementation. These procedures will be harmonized with public procurement procedures to ensure sustainable capacity building. They require local advertisement and public bid opening, using the sample bidding documents and standard contract forms developed for community procurement for micro-projects (and included in the IM and the WUA Procurement Handbook). 11. Each WUA will allocate a part of its public information board for posting information on contract awards, including the name of each vendor who submitted a quotation, prices as read out at public opening, name and evaluated prices of each quotation that was evaluated, name of vendors who were rejected and the reasons for rejection, the name of the winning vendor and the price it offered, as well as duration and summary of the scope of the contract award. All contracts awarded through direct contracting (irrespective of the amount) shall be listed on the information board. 12. Assessment of the agencies’ capacity to implement procurement. The implementation responsibility of the project will lie with the DWRLI through the PIU. The main activities to be procured under the project include civil works for rehabilitation of on-farm irrigation systems for 30 WUAs and FWUAs, technical equipment for WUAs, goods like seeds, agricultural tools, consultant services for design and technical supervision, agricultural advisory and nutrition services, project audit, and training and salaries of PIU staff. Individual consultants for design and technical supervision and asset management can be hired based on single source selection if they have worked for the OIP-2 and AF in the same capacity and their performance was rated satisfactory. The PIU staff hired under the OIP-2 and AF will continue working for implementation of the project activities if their performance was rated satisfactory. 13. A procurement plan has been developed covering the above procurement activities and will be agreed during negotiations. Thereafter, the plan will be updated periodically, at least once per year, and each update will be subject to the Bank’s prior review. The initial procurement plan plus the subsequent updates will be published on the Bank’s external web site in line with the requirements of Bank Guidelines. 14. Procurement Supervision and Ex-post Review: Routine procurement reviews and supervision will be provided by the procurement analyst based in the country office. In addition, two supervision missions are expected to take place per year during which ex-post reviews will be conducted for the contracts that are not subject to Bank prior review on a sample basis (20 percent in terms of number of contracts). One ex-post review report will be prepared per fiscal year, including findings of physical inspections for not less than 10 percent of the contracts awarded during the review period. 15. Procurement Thresholds and Methods of Procurement: The following methods of procurement shall be used for procurement under the project. It has been agreed that if a particular invitation for a bid is comprised of several packages, lots or slices, and invited in the same invitation for bid, then the aggregate value of the whole package determines the applicable threshold amount for procurement and also for the review by the Bank. The national competitive bidding (NCB) conditions will be part of the Grant Agreement. Contract Value Expenditure Contracts Subjects to Prior Threshold Procurement Method Category Review (Threshold in US$) (US$) >=1,000,000 ICB Contracts >=1,500,000 Goods and non- <1,000,000 NCB Not applicable consultancy services <100,000 SH Not applicable N/A DC Contracts >= 1,500,000 >=5,000,000 ICB Contracts >= 5,000,000 <5,000,000 NCB Not applicable Works <200,000 SH Not applicable N/A DC Contracts >=$5,000,000 >=300,000 QCBS/QBS/LCS/FBS In addition to the above Consultant <300,000 listed methods, CQS Contracts >= 500,000; all TORs Services* may be used (including training) N/A SSS Contracts with individuals >= N/A IC 200,000; all TORs *Consultancy: national short list for contracts