Job Description

Background

AGRA

AGRA is a not-for-profit organization working with African governments, other donors, NGOs, the private sector, and farmers to improve the productivity and incomes of resource-poor smallholder farmers in Africa. AGRA aims to catalyze an inclusive agricultural transformation in Africa by increasing incomes and improving food security for millions of smallholder farmers in Africa. For more information about AGRA, please visit www.agra.org.

AGRA 3.0 Strategy

AGRA has embarked on its 5-year strategy, 2023-2028, with the mission “To catalyze the growth of sustainable food systems across Africa by influencing and leveraging partners to build a robust enabling environment where private sector thrives, and smallholder farmers are empowered to produce sufficient, healthy food.” The institution is working to deliver this mission through three intertwined strategic objectives, namely i) empowering and building resilience of smallholder farmers, ii) supporting development of inclusive markets to improve functional agricultural systems, and iii) building state capability to sustain agricultural transformation. To this effect, AGRA’s interventions span four integrated business lines (seed systems; sustainable farming; inclusive markets, trade and finance; and policy and state capability), supported by three cross-cutting areas (inclusivity, climate change adaptation and nutrition).

The strategy is being implemented across the 15 countries that AGRA is working in and aims to achieve the following high-level targets:

• 28 million farmers reached, of which 30% should adopt sustainable farming practices and 40% nutrient dense crops.
• $10.0B leveraged through government National Plans and flagships.
• $300M invested through AGRA platforms to enhance value chain competitiveness.
• 0 million youth for job creation and ensure that 1.5 million youth have dignified and fulfilling jobs.
• 30,000 SMEs and strive for women-led SMEs to increase revenue by 25%.

Core to delivery across each of these is a Partnerships delivery modality that not only creates scale through leverage but also sustainability of each of these efforts.

Champions 12.3 Food Loss and Waste Initiative

In 2024, in line with its 5-year strategy, AGRA started working on a Private Sector Road Map to reduce food loss and waste across priority value chains through country-level partnerships and investments in seven countries, with an ambition to scale to even more African countries as interest, resources, and capacities allow. This initiative has been co-created and will be implemented with Champions 12.3, which is a voluntary coalition of leaders across governments, business, and non-state actors dedicated to inspiring ambition, mobilizing action, and accelerating progress toward achieving SDG 12.3.

This initiative particularly seeks to:

1. Mobilize private financing and investments in food loss and waste reduction through engagement with private sector of all sizes – globally, regionally, nationally, and local rural enterprises – to scale adoption of technologies and climate-smart practices.
2. Promote effective climate-smart food and agriculture policy reforms to enhance the enabling environment.
3. Reduce post-harvest losses and waste significantly to enhance food security and reduce the negative impacts of climate change.
4. Create jobs and work opportunities in the food and agriculture sectors.
5. Contribute to climate mitigation efforts through reduced GHG emissions.

The coalition’s approach includes conducting country-specific analyses, identifying hotspots for food loss and waste (FLW), and developing bespoke interventions through public-private partnerships in each priority country. Champions 12.3 prioritizes creating an enabling environment for private sector investment by engaging stakeholders, conducting investor roundtables, and implementing de-risking strategies to foster collaboration and investment in food loss and waste reduction.

In line with this approach, the initiative will follow a two-phase roadmap for implementing, refining, and then scaling its approach across each of the seven initial countries. The first phase, over 2025-2026, will enable coalition partners to (i) complete foundational analytics, (ii) hold business roundtables, (iii) refine the program, model, and roles of various actors, and (iv) learn from initial experiences in catalyzing investment to scale up food loss and waste reduction strategies. The second phase, approximately between years 2027-2029 (but expanding as soon as interest, resources, and capacities are available), will then scale up this program in terms of number of countries engaged, value chains prioritized, and private investment leveraged, based on lessons learnt and most effective interventions.

AGRA, in partnership with the Champions 12.3 coalition, is now starting to rollout the initiative’s first phase with priority efforts in Tanzania, Ethiopia and Kenya. In Tanzania for instance, AGRA aims to develop market-driven solutions to catalyze investment, foster public-private partnerships, and reduce food loss in 2-3 priority value chains (e.g. maize, rice, soybean).

This RFP outlines the responsibilities of a consultant who will work closely with AGRA and its partners to implement the initiative’s roadmap in Zambia, Malawi and Rwanda. The Consultant will play a key role validating and presenting foundational analytical reports on food loss and waste in each of the priority countries, facilitating business coalitions, engaging stakeholders, and leading efforts to design and structure de-risking interventions for investments in prioritized value chains.

Objectives

The objective of this Consultancy is to design and lead on delivering key aspects of the Champions 12.3 Private Sector Roadmap in Zambia, Malawi and Rwanda through stakeholder engagement, leveraging data-driven analysis, and facilitating private sector partnerships and investments in priority value chains in each country (e.g. maize, rice, soybean, groundnut, etc.). The Consultant will play a key role in ensuring business roundtables are conducted, inclusive business coalitions are formed with shared priorities, and catalytic activities and grants are designed to de-risk investments by leading private sector actors. The Consultancy will need to ensure each targeted country’s program aligns with and helps delivery on AGRA’s wider goals through sustainable food systems transformation.

The Consultancy will be managed under the guidance of AGRA’s Deputy Chief of Party, Partnership for Inclusive Agricultural Transformation in Africa (PIATA) and in collaboration with AGRA’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa. This full-time consultancy over a period of 12 months will be based in Lusaka, Zambia with occasional travel within the country and to support other countries.

Scope of Work

Data Analytics to inform evidence-based advocacy, partnership development, deal cultivation, and program design

• Work closely with the World Bank and other Champions 12.3 partners to support efforts in carrying out data-driven assessments to better understand the hot spots across value chains to prioritize interventions that will reduce losses and have positive impact on climate, environmental stress, trade balances, and farmers’/communities’ welfare. The World Bank will lead on the country assessments using an established methodology, and looking at a mix of staple commodities, perishables (e.g. fruits and vegetables), and animal proteins (e.g. dairy, poultry, and fish).
• Conduct stakeholder mapping across priority value chains in each country; identify current and future role of the private sector in food loss and waste management and assess the current adoption level of food loss and waste reduction technologies and practices.
• Review and tailor evidence-based reports and recommendations based on analytics to guide business roundtables, enable stakeholder engagement with government, private sector, and other stakeholders, and give rise to public-private partnerships.
• Align analytics with national and regional priorities, including the country’s NDC, agriculture sector policies and strategies, and national pathways for food systems transformation.

Stakeholder Engagement, Country-Level Roundtables and Deal Rooms

• Lead the engagement of private sector actors, government representatives, and non-state partners to foster collaboration in food loss and waste reduction.
• Work with the Champions 12.3 coalition and government leaders to convene roundtable discussions across government leaders, private sector actors of various sizes, and other market actors (e.g. associations, technology solution providers, finance institutions, farmer organizations, international organizations, NGOs).

Business Coalition Development

• Through the roundtable discussions, facilitate the formation and structuring of bespoke business coalitions across key value chains, including grains, perishables, and animal-sourced foods. In these business coalitions, there should be a clear ask of the private sector (interested companies) from the public sector in terms of both financial and non-financial de-risking that will need to be in place for the private sector to provide adequate support. On the other hand, the private sector will seek to understand the potential return on investment (RoI) and can ask for the predictable policy and regulatory environment it needs, as well as priorities such as a first loss guarantee, at least on initial investments.
• Work with each bespoke coalition to develop and articulate business cases for the promising interventions and accompanying financial investment plans of identified companies. The latter will include the amount and type of financing needed for solution implementation, and the deal room/roundtable will work to identify the accompanied financing. Non-state actors will also be brought into the roundtables and deal rooms, given the key roles they can play in de-risking investments by helping organize farmers and meet their needs, including training, extension services and need for affordable and accessible techniques and innovations.
• Explore financial investment plans for food loss and waste reduction interventions per country per prioritized value chain and business case.

De-Risking Interventions to help unlock and support investments

• Work with Champions 12.3 partners to design and facilitate de-risking activities to attract private sector investments and unlock financing in the food system based on business cases and investment plans with each business coalition.
• Support AGRA teams in any specific supporting activities and interventions that it may prioritize as a non-state actor to help de-risk investment and best deliver on the promise of the business cases and investment plans. Explore linkage with other AGRA initiatives on food loss and waste reduction (e.g. GCF) and suggest interventions and synergies in each country and/or value chain. (Note – the specific types of interventions required will depend on the specific context of the geography, commodity, and point of intervention along the value chain, but several examples building on AGRA’s experience could include: introduction of new technologies and/or small mechanization; improving access to physical solutions (e.g. dryers, siloes, warehouses, pack houses, etc…), capacity building and awareness; access to markets and finance; and public policy.

Monitoring, Learning, Reporting, and Showcasing Progress

• Provide weekly progress reports and monthly progress reports to AGRA leadership and the Champions 12.3 steering committee.
• Track the overall progress of each business coalition’s investment plan and delivery over time, surfacing what is working, what is not, and where there is continued need for intervention across the coalition with existing or new members. Hold at least a quarterly check-in with leaders of the business coalitions, and support them to troubleshoot challenges as appropriate.
• Document the progress of business coalitions, partnerships, and de-risking interventions to be profiled in various contexts, working with AGRA’s M&E approach and contributing rigorous, science-based approaches, as well as local and indigenous knowledge, community engagement, anecdotal evidence, and case studies.
• Support governments and partners showcase results at major national, regional, and global forums to best help scale efforts that are underway and encourage new actors, private companies, and governments to take on similar work in their own context and priority value chains.

Qualifications and Experience

The Individual Consultant is expected to possess the following:

• An advanced degree (master’s or above) in Business, Economics, Finance, Agriculture, Sustainability, International Development, Marketing or related fields.
• A strong understanding of agricultural systems, food market development, food loss and waste, and players specifically in the African context.
• Strong knowledge of agriculture value chains and sustainable practices in Africa.
• Experience working with the private sector operating in food systems in Tanzania and East Africa more widely (Note – specific experience in Ethiopia and Kenya is an added benefit)
• Minimum of 10 years of experience in agricultural development, food systems, or private sector engagement and investment in East Africa.
• Proven track record in facilitating public-private partnerships, business roundtables, and coalition development.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication and facilitation skills.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to generate actionable insights from data.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English, with Swahili as an added advantage.