Doing Broad Agency Announcements
Global Environment Officers Workshop
February24, 2016
FOUR BAA COCREATION EXPERIENCES
ROUTES:ReducingOpportunitiesforUnlawfulTransportof Endangered Species, Addendum 1 to USAID Development Innovation Accelerator BAA for Global Forestry and BiodiversityConservation
LeadtechnicalteamPOCs:GeetaUhl (),HannahFairbank,NitinSekar,USAID/E3/Forestry andBiodiversity
OtherAgencyorDonorpartners:State,FishandWildlife,HomelandSecurity
Whatdevelopmentproblemwereyoutryingtosolve?
- Illegalwildlifetradeisanissueofglobalconcern.Poachingoficonicwildlifespecies,including elephants and rhinos, is at a record high. Wildlife traffickers rely on logistics, land, air and sea carriers to move illegal wildlife from source to consumer countries in complex routes and methods.USAIDhasbeenworkingtostoppoachingatthesourceandreducedemand.
- Addressingtheuseofthetransportationsectorforwildlifetraffickinghasbeenamissinglinkin our work to combat wildlifetrafficking.
Whydidyoupursuecocreation,ingeneral,andtheBAAapproach,specifically?
●Jointlyidentifyanddefinekeychallengesandpracticalinterventionsincollaborationwith the transportationindustry
●Facilitategreatercollaborationbetweenthepublicandprivatesectors
●Builduponglobalcollectiveeffortstocombatwildlifetrafficking,andexploretheroles thatgovernment,lawenforcement,civilsociety,andprivatesectorcanplay
●Buildaninvestedcommunityofcollaboratorstocarrythisinitiativeforward
Processoverview
BAAStage / Timeline / Number of participants/partnersinvolvedSolicitation ofEOIs / January2015 / 25 Expressions of Interestreceived
CoCreation / June2015 / Invited 10 Expression of Interest holders,in addition to USG agencies, donors, and private sector to a 2dayworkshop.
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Codesign ofconcepts / JulyAugust 2015 / Selected 5 organizations to be part of “core team” of partnership, in addition to keyUSG agencies, and one other donor. Selected one of these organizations to be USAID’s main funding partner and partnership coordinator. Asked the rest of the workshop participants to join a “consultative body” of partners.Codevelopment toward award (postreviewboard) / August2015 Present / Codevelopment was started in Augustbut continues as we develop theworkplan
Awardsmade / September 2015 / Award to oneorganization
What have been your top two challenges so far?
●BAA can facilitate creativity but USAID procurement mechanisms remain the same: We wanted to openly design a partnership with stakeholders, but we still needed to obligate funding through one USAID mechanism. We worked with our main IP to empower other organizations as key implementers of pieces of the work plan. We had challenges managing partner expectations about this, and with organizations who expected to receivemorefundsandarenotpleasedaboutworkingforanotherNGOvs.withUSAID. Some organizations have restricted funds which hinders their ability to participate in cocreation.
●Transparency and inclusivity is a lot of work: We have had to balance the need to be inclusive and transparent with starting to actually get some work done. Maintaining relationships and momentum in the partnership takes effort. We worked with our facilitatorthroughoutthecocreationprocessandinourfirstyearofimplementationto help us build the partnership and build trust among stakeholders but it is a constant challenge.
What parts of the process have beensuccessful?
●Bringingtogetheraverydiversegroupofstakeholderstogettoknowoneanotherand collaborate. We facilitated new connections for stakeholders and collaborations that have continued outside of USAIDfunding.
●Developmentofapartnershipandpriorityactivitiesincollaborationwithawidegroupof stakeholders, includingindustry.
What are your nextsteps?
●Wearecurrentlyinourfirstyearofimplementation.Wearefinalizingouryearonework plan, monitoring, evaluation and learning plan, partnership framework and other initial deliverables to start activities in March2016.
●Ourfacilitatorwillcontinuetoprovidesupporttoourpartnershipbuildingeffortsandbuild USAID and our implementing partners’ capacity to maintain momentum and manage partnerrelationships.
COMBATING WILDLIFE TRAFFICKING IN SOUTHERN AFRICA: Addendum 2 to USAID Development Innovation Accelerator BAA for Global Forestry and Biodiversity Conservation
Lead technical team & POCs: Doreen Robinson ), USAID/Southern Africa
Other Agency or Donor partners: UNEP, UNDP
What development problem were you trying to solve?
USAID seeks to develop partnerships with organizations working to combat wildlife crime, and as a specific focus rhino poaching, in Southern Africa and jointly identify, develop, and test innovative, transdisciplinary approaches to preventing wildlife crime that can be disseminated throughout the region.
Why did you pursue co-creation, in general, and the BAA approach, specifically?
USAID/Southern Africa chose co-creation for a few reasons. Firstly, the complexity of the issueand the fact that we simply do not know how to solve the crisis on our own, led us to decide we wanted a group of diverse experts to help us understand better both the scope and potential response. As well, the problem dictates a need for a diversity of partners to act in new, concerted ways. The co-creation process allowed us to break down traditional barriers of competition amongst partners as well as to promote new, innovative partnerships for action.
Process overview
BAA Stage / Timeline / Number of participants/partnersSolicitation of EOIs / May 2015 / Approximately 65 organizations
Co-Creation / November 2015 / 28 organizations
Co-design of concepts / ongoing
Co-development toward award (post-review board)
Awards made / Est. June 2016
What have been your top two challenges so far?
- Dealing with stakeholders that are necessary, but not in the co-creation process. As we are designing a regional program that has the potential to work in multiple countries, we cannot include all relevant stakeholders in the co-creation process, the numbers are simply too big. We have to balance inclusivity in the co-creation, with a good plan for adaptive management and further design post award. As well, due to inherent trust issues in the enforcement community, a key group of stakeholders, it is difficult to bring them in to the process.
- Balancing local and regional contexts within the co-creation process. The problem, and solutions demand concerted action at a variety of scales/geographies from local, provincial, national, transboundary, and regional. Collaborating partners have a mix of knowledge at these scales, and facilitation of the co-creation process requires attention to the expertise and limits of each co-creator and the perspectives they represent.
- Not letting USAID procurement needs limit the process. We struggle to balance the need to develop programs for USAID (carving up our pie) versus helping to facilitate broader partnership (expanding the pie). The pressure to spend money now is not insignificant.
What parts of the process have been successful?
- Generation of new ideas amongst partners that do not always work together.
- Facilitation of new relationships and networks of actors that may lead to action, regardless of USAID funding
- Trust built between USAID and co-collaborators
What are your next steps?
We are still in the co-creation process. We hope to develop an overarching framework for partnership that we can take to the review board. After that, we will identify potential ‘primes’ and sub-grantees from the existing pool of co-creators to develop full proposals. We also hope to expand the co-creation process to integrate additional stakeholders, post award.
IMPROVED CLIMATE RESILIENCE (IN BANGLADESH)
Lead technical team & POCs: Nathan Sage (), USAID/Bangladesh
Other Agency or Donor partners: SIDA & DFID
What development problem were you trying to solve?
About 35 percent of Bangladesh’s population (56 million) currently lives in urban areas. A combination of factors, including low political will and insufficient finances together with poorly regulated industries and unplanned urbanization, has contributed to a state of grossly inadequate urban services, including health systems, housing, water and sanitation, and environmental management of pollution. Local governments across Bangladesh lack the capacity to deliver basic services as well as maintain and improve infrastructure, much less adapt to climate change. This BAA will attempt to improve climate resilience through private sector engagement, particularly in the urban and sub-national context.
Why did you pursue co-creation, in general, and the BAA approach, specifically?
USAID/Bangladesh GCC Team chose co-creation for a few reasons. Firstly, co-creation affords us the opportunity to leverage (6:1) development partner funds from DFID and SIDA. Secondly, “collaborative design” affords the selected partners an opportunity to discuss systems, challenges/opportunities, and ways to engage the private sector at scale. We want to wait until the collaborators convene to discuss further the challenges/problem, within the context of urban resilience and private sector engagement. In this way, we were trying not to get “into the room” before the other collaborators.
Process overview
BAA Stage / Timeline / Number of participants/partners involvedSolicitation of EOIs / Feb/March 2016 / TBD
Co-Creation / March 2016 / TBD
Co-design of concepts / April 2016
Co-development toward award (post-review board) / June 2016
Awards made / Est. September 2016
What have been your top two challenges so far?
- Understanding the advantages/disadvantages, level of effort, and lessons learned on the BAA process within USAID. Ultimately, we moved away from seeking to select multiple “winning concepts” to an approach of selecting “qualified organizations/individuals” to design one project/activity, which could have zero, one or more than one award.
- Trying not to be overly “prescriptive” by strictly defining the problem. We aim to program GCC-Adaptation funds, and along with the other Development Partners, are interested in engaging private sector solutions. But we have not limited the scope to address (only) the urban sector, or slums, or livelihoods, or mobility or early warning systems—although all these elements may or may not ultimately become part of the Activity Results Framework/Logframe.
What parts of the process have been successful?
- Both a challenge and success: Getting OAA and PRO to embrace the BAA means they need to understand the process and “own it” (as much if not more than the Technical Team). Getting USAID Develop Lab staff (namely Bill MacFarland) to come out to the mission last September was helpful, particularly since these other offices were not familiar with the BAA process.
- Getting the other Development Partners (DFID and SIDA) to come on board despite having little paperwork to go by. It takes trust, time and persistence.
What are your next steps?
- Getting the World Bank to provide pro-rata refunds from Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund (BCCRF) and re-programming these funds into our current Development Objective Agreement (DOAG).
- Getting DFID and SIDA to sign non-binding MOUs (so that we have the authority to announce the partnership) and then working with them to receive the funds into USAID.
- Selecting EOIs and getting into the heavy lifting of the collaborative design.
PRIVATE SECTOR ENGAGEMENT IN CLIMATE SMART AGRICULTURE
Lead technical team & POCs: Bureau for Food Security/MPI, Curt Reintsma () and Mark Sieffert
Other Agency or Donor partners: None officially at this point, but we are working to involve IADB, IDH and others.
What development problem were you trying to solve?
How to assist private companies expand their engagement and investment in Climate Smart Agriculture, to the benefit of smallholder farmers in low income countries who are struggling with the impacts of climate change on their livelihoods.
Why did you pursue co-creation, in general, and the BAA approach, specifically?
We believed that this is a subject matter where USAID did not already know the answers, and could great benefit from bringing together a range of individuals and institutions with experience and perspectives on the issue. We also wanted to “test” the BAA as a co-creation mechanism.
Process overview
BAA Stage / Timeline / Number of participants/partners involvedSolicitation of EOIs / March 17, 2015 / 126 EOIs submitted
Co-Creation / May, 2015 / 11 Organizations + USAID, about 25 or 30 people total at the main co-creation wkshop.
Co-design of concepts / June, 2015 / 6 Concept Papers
Co-development toward award / July 2015--Present / 4 Full Proposals. (Consortium of(3-6 organizations each)
Awards made / 1 made via PIO grant 9/30/15, 3 others still pending
What have been your top two challenges so far?
- Length of time from Review Board (June, 2015) to design of full-fledged proposals (Sept and Nov. 2015) to award (3 of 4 still pending).
- Heavy lift, very staff intensive during co-creation workshop, development of full proposals, and pre-obligation procurement processes.
What parts of the process have been successful?
Co-creation and collaboration among different organizations really worked for the most part. We got better product designs, and got most of the different organizations really thinking and working together. We hope this will really pay off during implementation. In fact, it already has, since many of the groups are already working together nicely, even before all the awards are made.
What are your next steps?
Complete three outstanding awards. Work to ensure that USAID staff now getting involved in implementation continue to practice the spirit of co-creation.
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