Organizational Setting

The Government of Brazil, through the National Productive Forests Program (NPFP), aims to recover areas that have been altered or degraded for productive purposes, with a view to the adequacy and environmental regularization of family farming and the expansion of the production capacity of healthy food and socio-biodiversity products. A key challenge to the success of the NPFP is access to adequate, affordable, and tailored financial services for smallholders, community forestry groups, cooperatives, and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) engaged in productive forestry and restoration activities. Better access to financing for family farmers and smallholders is needed for primary production as well as for processing, storage, and market access. Small family farmers, however, continue to be excluded of most of the formal financial services and face risks related to production, markets, climate change, and unstable income.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has experience in strengthening smallholder access to finance through initiatives such as the Forest and Farm Facility (FFF) as well as in supporting the design of blended finance solutions to unlock investment in forest and landscape restoration. Building on this experience, FAO will oversee a scoping study to identify opportunities, barriers, and recommendations for strengthening financial access in support of NPFP implementation.

Reporting Lines

The incumbent reports to the Assistant Representative in FAO Brazil – Programme.

Technical Focus

The main objective of this role is to assess financial instruments and mechanisms that are able to enhance access to financial services to family farmers and smallholders on restoration, productive forestry and related value-added production and market development under the NPFP, and to provide technical support in developing recommendations for improving access to financial services for smallholders, communities, and SMEs under the NPFP, with focus in the Amazon and Cerrado regions.  
Specific objectives are to:
●    Map existing and potential public, private, and blended finance instruments available in Brazil that could support restoration, productive forestry and related value-added production activities.
●    Assess the barriers and opportunities faced by both financial service provides as well as smallholders, traditional communities, Indigenous Peoples, and SMEs in accessing these financial services.
●    Analyse four financial mechanisms (partial credit guarantees, agricultural insurance, revolving funds, and savings and credit schemes) and their potential application in the NPFP context as well as FAO potential technical assistance in facilitating access to finance under the NPFP. 
●    Provide technical support in developing recommendations on priority financial instruments and mechanisms to be amended or developed and related proposed roadmaps for follow-up action implementation

Tasks and responsibilities

The incumbent will undertake the following tasks:

●    Desk Review:
o    Review relevant national policies, credit programs, and financial instruments related to forests, agriculture, rural development, and restoration.
o    Review FAO’s global and regional experiences (FFF, AFR100 support programme, blended finance initiatives).

●    Stakeholder Mapping:
o    Identify key actors (public banks, private financial institutions, cooperatives, microfinance providers, climate funds, impact investors, and community-based finance mechanisms).

●    Analysis:
o    Assess gaps, barriers, and enabling factors in smallholder and community access to financial services.
o    Examine innovative finance instruments (partial credit guarantees, agricultural insurance, revolving funds, and savings and credit schemes) and their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and risks as well as conditions for successful deployment in the NPFP context. The analysis should cover the different types of financial services that could be introduced within the scope of the NPFP, with the description of the financial service, the profile of the beneficiary, specific aspects to be considered for its implementation within the scope of the NPFP, impacts that could be achieved, necessary institutional arrangements, governance mechanisms, among others.
o    Provide further in-depth analysis of 2-3 priority instruments for potential development and practical piloting. 
o    Assess FAO potential technical assistance, including through FAO’s capitalization of financial instruments, Forest and Farm Facility or business incubation in the context of restoration.

●    Recommendations and Roadmap:
o    Provide technical support in developing recommendations for financial mechanisms and partnerships relevant to NPFP implementation and possible pilots.
o    Support the development of roles for FAO in providing technical assistance, capacity building, and facilitation of partnerships.
o    Provide support in outlining an operational roadmap for piloting and scaling financial access solutions within the NPFP framework.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING:

Minimum Requirements

●    University Degree in Economics, Finance, Public Policy, Rural Development, Environmental Management, Forest Engineering, or a related field.
●    At least 6 years of relevant professional experience in rural financial inclusion and/or in providing financial services to smallholders, cooperatives, traditional communities, and SMEs engaged in restoration, productive forestry, and related value chains.
●    Working Knowledge (level C) in Portuguese and English 
●    National of Brazil or resident of the country with valid work permit.

FAO Core Competencies

●    Results Focus
●    Teamwork
●    Communication
●    Building Effective Relationships
●    Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

●    Experience in financial analysis of investment projects in the agricultural sector.
●    Knowledge of evaluating financing sources for agricultural development.
●    Participation in the design of alternative financing mechanisms for projects and programs.
●    Experience in developing public rural development programs.
●    Master Degree will be an asset