Agricultural Finance Specialist (Home-based, SHORT-TERM)

This is a short-term IPSA assignment. The contractor will perform works upon request. 

Within short-term IPSA contract, a contractor can work no more than 130 working days per calendar period. To learn more about the contract modality visit: https://popp.undp.org/policy-page/international-personnel-services-agreement 

Background

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) works in 170 countries and territories to eradicate poverty and protect the planet. UNDP supports governments in strengthening policies, institutions, skills and partnerships to sustain progress towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

UNDP’s Sustainable Finance Hub (SFH) was established to aggregate UNDP’s work and expertise on SDG financing and to offer a comprehensive package of tools and support that enables governments, the private sector and international financial institutions to accelerate financing for the SDGs.

UNDP’s Insurance and Risk Finance Facility is charting new pathways to build resilience, incentivize growth and safeguard development. Housed within UNDP’s Sustainable Finance Hub, the Facility is using insurance and risk transfer to increase the financial resilience of countries, communities, households, businesses, nature and food systems. Learn more at www.irff.undp.org   

Under the IRFF, UNDP’s Financial Resilience in Agriculture (FRA) initiative continues to refine its approach to strengthen agricultural finance and insurance systems and promote system-level change in the design and implementation of agricultural insurance and financial instruments for resilience and climate adaptation. A key area of this work is engaging with agricultural public development banks (PDBs) and other financial institutions to expand access to agri-finance, build institutional capacities, and catalyse investments in inclusive and sustainable agriculture and rural development.

Building on lessons learned and international best practices, FRA seeks to strengthen the capacities of Agri PDBs and domestic financial ecosystems to de-risk and scale up financing for climate resilient agriculture. The initiative will also provide advisory and technical support to facilitate the design of financial solutions, build partnerships between global and national financial service providers, promote innovation in agri-finance and insurance, and contribute to knowledge platforms for scaling these approaches across regions.

The overall objective of this short-term IPSA assignment is to support the UNDP Insurance and Risk Finance Facility (IRFF) under the Sustainable Finance Hub in advancing its work with Agricultural Public Development Banks and domestic agricultural finance systems to de-risk and scale up financing for smallholder farmers and their value chains across Africa, Asia Pacific, and Latin America. The Expert will contribute on an on-call basis to the Innovation Models building block of the Financial Resilience in Agriculture (FRA) Global Programme.

Duties and Responsibilities

The involvement of the expert will depend on  each specific assignment request from the Hiring Unit.  The responsibilities will include, but will not be limited to:

• Stakeholder engagement. Provide technical inputs and strategic oversight for the design and facilitation of targeted workshops, consultations, and dialogues with agricultural public development banks (Agri PDBs), insurance companies, government agencies, and public and private financiers to promote the adoption of innovative agri-finance solutions. Strengthen and expand  collaboration with other international agencies working on the agricultural finance ecosystem like IFAD, FAO, CGIAR, Regional Agricultural Credit Associations (ALIDE, AFRACA, others) etc. 
• Design of financial instruments and their implementation strategies. Share global experience to design and develop practical tools, methodologies, and guidance for Agri PDBs, financial service providers, and insurance companies to strengthen their agri-finance portfolios through insurance and risk finance instruments with the aim to integrate resilience, inclusion, and sustainability considerations into their operations.
• Research and knowledge generation. Provide technical guidance and strategic oversight on high-level research and policy analysis on agricultural finance, rural financial inclusion, climate resilient agriculture, and the role of public development banks. Knowledge products will inform the design of resource mobilization strategies.

Institutional Arrangement

The contractor will work in close collaboration with the IRFF Technical Te