The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) has selected Integra to conduct an AgCLIR Diagnostic in the Philippines. The AgCLIR diagnostic shall provide a comprehensive method to diagnose the root causes and inefficiencies of an underperforming agriculture and agribusiness sector in the Philippines. An analysis of the pertinent legal framework, implementing institutions, supporting institutions, and social and market dynamics shall provide the basis of a detailed report that reveals major cross-cutting themes, priorities, and opportunities for reforms across identified value chains. A key objective of this approach is to narrow the elements that matter most for improving competitiveness across value chains and for unlocking the greatest potential for economic growth. Ultimately, the AgCLIR diagnostic will inform the second Philippines Compact that MCC is developing with the Government of the Philippines, which will focus on issues of market failures in the rural economy.

This AgCLIR diagnostic will take place over the course of a year and in two phases. The first phase, taking place from September 2016 to June 2017, will conduct the main diagnostic, while the second phase, from June to September 2017, will dive into three of the reform areas identified during phase one. The findings of this work will help the Government of the Philippines to understand the enabling environment for agribusiness within the country. Further, this project will be conducted concurrently with a separate MCC project, awarded to Integra under Integra’s GSA Schedule, to conduct an agricultural markets assessment, as well as a value and supply chain analysis, to help the Government identify which agricultural products it should support and focus on.

Integra is proud to announce it was recently awarded an agricultural markets assessment project from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) under Integra’s GSA schedule. Integra will conduct a markets assessment and value/supply chain analysis in the Philippines to identify agricultural products with high potential for return on future investment.

In summary, the project consists of the following three tasks:

1. Conduct a market assessment that analyzes the current market and identifies future opportunities for agricultural products produced and exported from the Philippines;
2. Perform a value and supply chain analysis for 6 raw and 6 processed agricultural products demanded on a domestic, regional and global scale;
3. Recommend high potential value chains and their constraints for further analysis, as well as a methodology for how to do so.

This Philippines Market Assessment will take place over six months from September 2016 to February 2016. The findings intend to help the Government of the Philippines identify particular value and supply chains to focus on and support. Further, this project will be conducted concurrently with a separate MCC project, awarded to Integra under MCC’s Finance, Investment and Trade Blanket Purchase Agreement to conduct an agribusiness commercial, legal and institutional reform (AgCLIR) diagnostic in order to better understand the enabling environment for agribusiness of the Philippines.

Integra is showcasing our Pathways to Climate-Smart Agriculture in Africa findings at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC on Tuesday, September 13, 2016. Read more

Snapshot of planned foreign assistance from ForeignAssistance.gov

Integra recently completed a performance and technical evaluation of the implementation of the Foreign Assistance Coordination and Tracking System (FACTS Info) Next Generation (NextGen) project, instituted by the Office of US Foreign Assistance Resources (F). FACTS Info serves as the central information system for all foreign assistance budgeting, operational planning, and performance management processes overseen by F and stands at the nexus of F and operating units worldwide. Integra was contracted to identify the technical and functionality issues within the FACTS Info System, as well as any managerial areas of needed improvement. The evaluation, awarded in September 2015, was conducted over the course of five months, awarded under MOBIS Schedule 874.

Integra LLC and its subcontractor, Sonjara Inc., conducted an extensive assessment of the system’s technical and management factors, and identified accomplishments and challenges encountered within the project to date. As part of the evaluation, the team recommended practical solutions to the senior management at F and the FACTS Info NextGen project team, to assist them in meeting their implementation schedule for CY 2016.

Integra hopes that the evaluation and recommendations provided will help the client to prioritize and implement both short-term and long-term corrective plans towards improved performance in project and people management practices, while maintaining the current schedule of deployment of the FACTS NG system.

Integra is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a new task order under the REPLACE IDIQ to conduct a biodiversity and extractives political economy assessment (PEA) in Sub-Saharan Africa. The main objective of the PEA is to better understand how key actors’ interests and incentives help or hinder USAID programming to conserve biodiversity in extractive industries. Through three separate case studies in locations to be determined, Integra will utilize the PEA approach to examine how natural resource extraction is affected by a range of factors, including but not limited to governance, conflict and resource depletion. The results of this study will help inform how USAID programming can be designed to better protect biodiversity in the face of such factors. Integra will also conduct several capacity building efforts to support USAID personnel in utilizing PEAs to inform and update their efforts in the biodiversity space.

The implementation of this task order will involve a literature review and fieldwork to be conducted in early 2106. The three case studies will be issue specific, in locations to be determined across Sub Saharan Africa. Upon completion of the case studies, Integra will also lead several consultative processes to disseminate and discuss findings and lessons learned, not only to USAID Mission personnel but also with the broader conservation community.