BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT: ASEAN AGRIBUSINESS DEVELOPMENT | BAA OAA RM 2017 ADDENDUM02

Opportunity Information: Apply for BAA OAA RM 2017 ADDENDUM02

USAID issued this opportunity as Addendum 02 to an existing Broad Agency Announcement (BAA-OAA-RM-2017) focused on harnessing local innovations and partnerships to solve development challenges in Asia. The addendum, titled "ASEAN Agribusiness Development," is essentially a call for Expressions of Interest (EOIs) rather than a traditional single, pre-packaged grant program. USAID is looking for strong ideas and capable partners who can contribute research, innovation, and practical collaboration aimed at improving how entrepreneurs and small- and medium-sized agribusinesses (SMAs) in Southeast Asia access finance and grow their businesses.

The core development problem being targeted is that many SMAs across agricultural value chains struggle to obtain the financing they need to expand, modernize, and compete. USAID is specifically interested in approaches that increase access to debt finance for these firms, meaning loans and other credit-based products that can support working capital, equipment purchases, processing upgrades, storage, logistics, and other needs tied to growth. In parallel, USAID is also seeking concepts that raise productivity and profitability through the development or adoption of new agricultural technologies, improvements to business processes, and upgrades to small-scale trade infrastructure. In practice, that could include anything from innovations that reduce post-harvest loss, improve quality control, or increase traceability, to operational tools and systems that help agribusinesses manage inventory, cash flow, supplier relationships, and market linkages more effectively, as well as modest infrastructure solutions that make it easier and cheaper to move goods and transact locally.

Geographically, the opportunity is anchored in ASEAN countries where USAID is active, with the notice specifically referencing Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Burma (Myanmar), the Philippines, and Vietnam. The overall goal is region-wide in nature: to increase access to finance for SMAs operating across these markets, recognizing that many value chains, traders, and input-output relationships are regional and benefit from scalable solutions that can be replicated across borders.

Structurally, this is a competitive, partner-seeking mechanism under a BAA framework. That matters because BAAs are designed to attract state-of-the-art concepts and encourage flexible collaboration rather than prescribing a single implementation model. USAID signals an intent to "co-create" and "co-design" with selected partners, and potentially "co-invest," which implies openness to blended approaches where private sector actors, investors, researchers, implementers, and other stakeholders bring resources, tools, or capital alongside USAID. The emphasis on recognized expertise suggests USAID is looking for partners who already have a credible track record in relevant areas such as agricultural finance, SME lending, value chain development, agtech innovation, digital finance, risk management, or trade facilitation.

From an applicant standpoint, eligibility is listed as unrestricted, meaning there is no narrow applicant category limitation stated in the notice. The funding instrument type is labeled "Other," and the award ceiling is shown as 0, which typically signals that a fixed funding amount was not specified in the summary record and that the agency may define funding levels during later stages depending on the concept, partnership structure, and negotiated scope. The notice also does not specify an expected number of awards in the extracted data, reinforcing that this is more of an open call for EOIs where USAID will identify promising concepts and then determine next steps. The original closing date for submissions was February 24, 2017, and the opportunity was created on February 8, 2017.

In plain terms, the opportunity was a time-bound request for concept-level proposals from organizations and teams that could help unlock affordable credit and workable financial products for ASEAN agribusiness SMEs, while also delivering practical innovations that make those businesses more productive, resilient, and profitable. The key themes are finance access (especially debt), innovation and applied research, operational and process improvements for agribusinesses, and targeted infrastructure solutions that support small-scale trade, all implemented through collaborative partnerships that USAID can help shape and scale.

• The Agency for International Development in the other sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT: ASEAN AGRIBUSINESS DEVELOPMENT" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 98.001.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-02-08.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2017-02-24. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted.

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