Policy Advisor (Private Sector and Finance) at Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture Feed the Future Modernizing Agriculture Activity: (Deadline 22 February 2023)

Policy Advisor (Private Sector and Finance) at Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture Feed the Future Modernizing Agriculture Activity: (Deadline 22 February 2023)

USAID/Rwanda Modernizing Agriculture Activity

Policy Advisor (Private Sector and Finance)

CNFA

CNFA is a not-for-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., dedicated to stimulating economic growth in the agricultural sector by nurturing entrepreneurship, private enterprise, and market linkages. CNFA specializes in fostering private sector investments in training, new technologies and marketing as a means to increase the overall competitiveness of agricultural value chains and rural development, to increase people’s incomes, to develop skills in the rural workforce, and to facilitate exports.

Program Description USAID/Rwanda Modernizing Agriculture Activity

The purpose of the Modernizing Agriculture Activity is to support increased agriculture productivity and income, access to finance and markets, and access and consumption of nutritious food products in Rwanda, while increasing the resilience of the agriculture and food systems to the changing climate. To achieve this goal, the Activity will sustainably increase agricultural productivity, increase access to finance for farmers and agribusinesses, improve producers’ nutrition and market outcomes, and strengthen the enabling environment to foster market-driven outcomes in agriculture.

Position Description

The Policy Advisor (Private Sector and Finance) will provide support to the ModAg team and various GoR institutions responsible for private sector development, private sector finance, and access to finance in the agriculture sector. S/he will coordinate activities implemented under ModAg’s Components 1-4 and support activities conducted under the ModAg MEL Plan and Work Plan at both the national and provincial levels. Reporting to the Enabling Environment Director, the Advisor will collaborate with and facilitate the strengthening of private sector actors, value chain platforms, business associations/groups, etc. to effectively advocate for business and investment friendly policies that support Activity objectives. The Policy Advisor will be based in Kigali.

In support of this, the Policy Advisor will:

• Mobilize private sector actors including but not limited to agribusinesses, business associations, and financial service providers to participate in policy development and advocacy efforts, including through public-private dialogues;
• Provide or facilitate capacity building for various private sector and financial service providers to sustainably participate in policy development and advocacy efforts promoting a conducive environment for agricultural finance
• Support private sector and financial service providers to better understand the existing finance-related policies and and their implementation;
• Collaborate with the Enabling Environment Director to develop and/or conduct relevant policy analyses related to private sector development in the agriculture sector in order to provide recommendations to relevant policies makers and practitioners;
• Build or facilitate capacity building of relevant public institutions to better collaborate with and align with the interests of the private and financial sectors;
• Collaborate with the Nutrition and Market Development team to facilitate advocacy activities and related capacity building within value chain platforms supported by the Activity;
• Collaborate with Finance and Investment team to facilitate the implementation of policy reforms and recommendations from public- private dialogue
• Enable private sector, financial service providers, and project beneficiaries to understand and benefit from government and donor initiatives related to the agricultural finance market (loans, subsidies, matching grants, guarantees, etc);
• Monitor reforms and identify early, visible “quick wins” such as existing policy initiatives that can be sped up or better realized with the project support, in order to foster trust and credibility among public and private reform champions;
• Support government institutions to improve the functioning, marketing, and inclusion of their programs to support private sector and financial institutions;
• Identify and engage short- or long-term consultants to support or implement any of the aforementioned activities;
• Collaborate with the Gender and Social Inclusion Advisor to ensure relevant government policies and programs are inclusive of women, youth, people with disabilities and other marginalized groups;
• Perform other duties as assigned by the Component Lead and COP.

Qualifications and Experience:

• A Master’s degree in policy, government, international development, or a related field of study or equivalent work experience plus a bachelor’s degree required;
• At least eight years of experience working in agriculture, business, policy, or government and related issues in Rwanda;
• Demonstrated expertise in policy analysis and development in the agriculture sector is required;
• Experience building local stakeholder capacity in advocacy in the agriculture sector is required;
• Strong networks in both the public and private sector in agriculture-related fields required;
• Familiarity with USAID or other donor programs preferred;
• Strong verbal and written skills in English preferred; proficiency in Kinyarwanda necessary.

Application Instructions

All interested and qualified Candidate can send their application (motivation letter, updated CV, certificates and references) documents to: ModAg@cnfarwanda.org not later than 22nd February 2023 at 6:00 PM.  Please quote the job title in the subject.  Only candidates selected for interview will be notified.