Audit of USAID/Haiti's Feed the Future North Project

Recommendation
1

USAID/Haiti, through the Feed the Future North Project contracting officer, identify activities that will have the greatest impact on project objectives given the remaining time and resources in the base implementation period, and reduce the scope of the contract accordingly.

Questioned Cost
0
Close Date
Recommendation
2

USAID/Haiti direct Development Alternatives Inc. to revise its strategy for implementing Feed the Future North Project activities to address the dearth of capable local organizations in the northern corridor.

Questioned Cost
0
Close Date
Recommendation
3

USAID/Haiti formally communicate to Development Alternatives Inc. the actual opportunities that exist for local organizations to bid on and receive direct USAID funding.

Questioned Cost
0
Close Date
Recommendation
4

USAID/Haiti report problems staffing its contracting office in its next Federal Manager's Financial Integrity Act of 1982 annual certification.

Questioned Cost
0
Close Date
Recommendation
5

USAID/Haiti, through the Feed the Future North Project contracting officer, amend the contract to define deliverables and results.

Questioned Cost
0
Close Date
Recommendation
6

USAID/Haiti establish criteria for determining
whether to exercise the option years for the Feed the Future North Project.

Questioned Cost
0
Close Date
Recommendation
7

USAID/Haiti, through the Feed the Future North Project contracting officer, realign the remaining fixed fee attributed to intermediate results 1, 2, and 3 to demonstrating "best-effort" toward achieving the deliverables and results defined in response to Recommendation 5.

Questioned Cost
0
Close Date
Recommendation
8

USAID/Haiti, through the Feed the Future North Project contracting officer, determine whether the fixed fee attributed to intermediate result 4 should allow for making 2 local organizations eligible for direct USAID funding and 12 local organizations eligible for fixed-obligation grants, and modify the contract if necessary.

Questioned Cost
0
Close Date
Recommendation
9

USAID/Haiti reflect concerns with project implementation, schedule, and staffing in its contractor performance assessment reports for Development Alternatives Inc. for the Feed the Future North Project, including revising the previous report as necessary, and maintain documentation to support the assessments.

Questioned Cost
0
Close Date
Recommendation
10

USAID/Haiti begin a performance evaluation of the Feed the Future North Project by September 30, 2015.

Questioned Cost
0
Close Date
Recommendation
11

USAID/Haiti remind contracting officer's representatives of their designated responsibilities to document performance concerns,
elevate the concerns to the contracting officer for timely resolution, and maintain complete documentation in the official project file.

Questioned Cost
0
Close Date
Recommendation
12

USAID/Haiti document clear procedures, responsibilities, and timelines for requesting and approving waivers for restricted goods.

Questioned Cost
0
Close Date
Recommendation
13

USAID/Haiti document clear procedures, responsibilities, and timelines for requesting and approving waivers for restricted goods.

Questioned Cost
0
Close Date
Recommendation
14

USAID/Haiti document clear procedures designating the contracting officer's representative, or alternate contracting officer's representative as applicable, as the sole liaison between USAID and contractor staff unless otherwise specified, with procedures to document justification for any exceptions.

Questioned Cost
0
Close Date
Recommendation
15

USAID/Haiti document clear roles and responsibilities for managing complex Feed the Future projects, and implement a plan to make sure these roles and responsibilities are respected and enforced.

Questioned Cost
0
Close Date
Recommendation
16

USAID/Haiti set a deadline for Development
Alternatives Inc. to correct critical staffing deficiencies for the Feed the Future North Project and take formal corrective action if this deadline is not met.

Questioned Cost
0
Close Date
Recommendation
17

USAID/Haiti review its requirement to approve all professional staff positions for the Feed the Future North Project, determine whether the requirement is in the best interests of the U.S. Government, and, through the project contracting officer, revise the requirement in the contract if necessary.

Questioned Cost
0
Close Date
Recommendation
18

USAID/Haiti set a deadline for Development Alternatives Inc. to finalize the project-level environmental assessment for the Feed the Future North Project and take formal corrective action if the deadline is not met.

Questioned Cost
0
Close Date
Recommendation
19

USAID/Haiti identify ongoing Feed the Future North Project activities that do not comply with environmental requirements and direct Development Alternatives Inc. to stop all identified activities until the required level of environmental review is completed.

Questioned Cost
0
Close Date
Recommendation
20

USAID/Haiti incorporate procedures in Mission Order 204-1 to document, at the start of the award, agreement between the contracting officer's representative; mission-, regional-, and bureau-level environmental officers; and the contractor on procedures and timelines to meet environmental compliance requirements.

Questioned Cost
0
Close Date
Recommendation
21

USAID/Haiti modify its initial environmental examination for the food security and economic growth portfolio to remove any ambiguity about the required level of environmental review for its projects, programs, and activities, and request approval of the initial environmental examination from the bureau environmental officer.

Questioned Cost
0
Close Date
Recommendation
22

USAID/Haiti develop a timeline with milestones for Development Alternatives Inc. to complete irrigation activities for the Feed the Future North Project and take formal corrective action if they are not met.

Questioned Cost
0
Close Date
Recommendation
23

USAID/Haiti develop procedures to make sure contracts for infrastructure projects include clear specifications for cost-benefit analyses.

Questioned Cost
0
Close Date
Recommendation
24

USAID/Haiti, through the Feed the Future North Project contracting officer, modify the contract to remove road rehabilitation activities and put $9.93 million to better use.

Questioned Cost
0
Close Date
Recommendation
25

USAID/Haiti include an in-depth review of Development Alternative Inc.'s internal controls for procurement and distribution of project materials in its upcoming financial review of the Feed the Future North Project.

Questioned Cost
0
Close Date
Recommendation
26

USAID/Haiti, through the Feed the Future North Project contracting officer, determine the allowability of $10,028 in unsupported questioned costs ($9,746 from unsupported distributions in our test sample and $264 from the banana plants delivered to cacao farmers) and recover from Development Alternatives Inc. any amount determined to be unallowable.

Questioned Cost
10028
Close Date
Recommendation
27

USAID/Haiti implement alternative measures to estimate the impact of the Feed the Future North Project and the progress of outcome indicators in the absence of a valid baseline study.

Questioned Cost
0
Close Date
Recommendation
28

USAID/Haiti implement a plan to confirm that its future Feed the Future projects establish valid baselines at the start of the awards.

Questioned Cost
0
Close Date
Recommendation
29

USAID/Haiti establish a timeline with milestones for Development Alternatives Inc. to bring performance data for the Feed the Future North Project in line with USAID's data quality standards and take formal corrective action if they are not met.

Questioned Cost
0
Close Date
Recommendation
30

USAID/Haiti determine whether its strategy for increasing food security in Haiti should include water, sanitation, and hygiene activities, document the decision, and modify the strategy accordingly.

Questioned Cost
0
Close Date
Recommendation
31

USAID/Haiti, in consultation with the contracting officer for the Feed the Future North Project, determine whether the contract should be modified to meet criteria for the water, sanitation, and hygiene earmark, document the decision, and modify the contract accordingly.

Questioned Cost
0
Close Date
Recommendation
32

USAID/Haiti incorporate reporting progress toward meeting earmarks into its biannual portfolio reviews, add a section on earmarks to its portfolio review project data sheet template, and include earmark criteria in the guidance disseminated to mission staff in preparation for its biannual portfolio reviews.

Questioned Cost
0
Close Date
Recommendation
33

USAID/Haiti provide to USAID/Washington details on its water, sanitation, and hygiene earmark allocations for fiscal years 2012 and 2013 so that USAID/Washington can notify Congress as appropriate as to overall Agency execution of the earmark.

Questioned Cost
0
Close Date