Markets and Financial Inclusion Analyst

Government of Zimbabwe received funding from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) for the project entitled “Building climate resilience of vulnerable agricultural livelihoods in southern Zimbabwe” The objective of the project is to strengthen resilience of agricultural livelihoods of vulnerable communities, particularly women, in southern Zimbabwe in the face of increasing climate risks and impacts. The project will contribute to the following GCF Fund-level impacts for adaptation: 

1.  “Increased resilience and enhanced livelihoods of the most vulnerable people, communities and regions” and
2. “Increased resilience of health and well-being, and food and water security” for vulnerable smallholder communities in southern Zimbabwe. 

The project outcome is to strengthen the adaptive capacities of vulnerable smallholder farmers, especially women, to climate change induced impacts on their agro-ecosystems and livelihoods. To achieve these outcomes the project will implement the following three interlinked components using GCF and co-financing resources: 

1. Increased access to water for climate-resilient agriculture through climate-resilient irrigation systems and efficient water resource management,
2. Scaled up climate-resilient agricultural production and diversification through increased access to climate -resilient inputs, practices, and markets and
3. Improved access to weather, climate, and hydrological information for climate resilient agriculture.

The project is being implemented by the Government of Zimbabwe in partnership with UNDP for 7 years, commencing June 2020 to May 2027. 

Institutional Arrangement 

The Markets and Financial Inclusion Analyst reports to the GCF Project Manager. The incumbent will also work in liaison with the UNDP colleagues, Regional Technical Advisors, Partners and Government-nominated project focal points. The Markets and Financial Inclusion Analyst will be located at UNDP Country Office and should be willing to commute regularly to various meetings in ministries and on-site.
 

Duties and Responsibilities

To achieve the objectives highlighted above, the Markets and Financial Inclusion Analyst is expected to support the following components: 

Facilitation and Coordination of Market Linkages (output, input) and financial services to support inclusive business/partnerships models.

• Develop the portfolio of private sector companies to refine their business models to cope with the changing environment; 
• Coordination across districts to lower transaction costs of doing business with rural communities in GCF programming areas; 
• Formation of market linkages working groups and mentoring and coaching of the market linkages working group members;
• Providing technical expertise to facilitate / formalize contract farming agreements and legal support services to smallholder producer groups per the Innovation Platform;
• Negotiations with national-level companies;
• Support the setting up of Inclusive Business Forums and mentoring of producer groups in the project area. The Inclusive Business Forum should not merely be a discussion forum but should facilitate multi-partite agreements for cooperation in the value chain or territory-based agricultural (multi-value chain) development, which might involve agribusinesses, smallholder associations/unions, financial institutions, extension services and civil society;
• Facilitate coordination with other similar programs involved in market linkages facilitation. 
• Design a private sector engagement model for the GCF project;
• Support the diligent setup and implementation of value chain strategies and plans in identified IP centres and other research institutions;
• Capacity building of smallholder farmers, Farmer Field Schools, Irrigation Schemes in value chain based, market research, market access and linkages where applicable.

Co-Design and co-develop concepts and strategies for Innovation Platforms within the project’s focus areas, paying special attention to the unique needs of vulnerable smallholder farmers in each of the IPs and their areas of operation. 

• Conceptualization and implementation of innovation and technology within the context of building climate resilient agricultural communities;
• Revising strategies for the promotion of innovation in IP centres and FFS;
• Identification of the key areas within the scope of the Project where innovative ideas, approaches and strategies are needed, and developing the plans to be used;
• Capacity Building of research and extension officers;
• Mapping and establishing partnerships with formal and informal players that are involved in crop and livestock values in the project areas;
• Identify possible partners, and a mechanism to support the building, maintenance and delivery of results through such partnerships;
• Develop evidence-based implementation of innovation strategies that link farmers to lucrative markets.

Promote federation of VSLAs/ISALs and strengthening and upscaling of community-based, self-managed institutions for financial inclusion, risk sharing, scaling up and sustainability.

• Financial literacy training for commodity groups, VSLAs/ISALs and project participants in the districts, in order for them to cope with the volatile economic environment; 
• Research good practices for sustainable establishment and scaling up of VSLAs/ISALs and other self-managed institutions of the rural poor, including informing whether promoting their federation is the appropriate option going forward; 
• For existing VSLAs, the Climate Resilient Markets Analyst is expected to strengthen the VSLAs’ capacity in governance, group dynamics and financial management, especially considering that there are a number of already functional VSLAs and the potential role of these institutions in social and economic empowerment of women;
• Carry an assessment on how VSLAs can help members to respond to crises and how the project can support VSLA members during a crisis period. This assessment also includes the possibility of establishing community contingency funds through contributions from various VSLAs; 
• Instituting local mechanisms for multiplication, testing and scaling up production appropriate varieties of crops, livestock, grasses and multi-use tree species;
• Supporting small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurs for services such as O&M of irrigation equipment

Strengthening/establishment of Innovation Platform Linked value chain commodity groups at different level (National, district and community level).

• Support the establishment and progression of producer groups to commodity groups and identify gaps in collaboration with the relevant government ministry/departments especially the Department of Small and Medium Enterprises and the Ministry of Land Agriculture Water and Rural Resettlement; 
• Assessment of the maturity level of the existing producer groups to graduate into commodity groups, assist them to have proper constitutions and management structures and have them registered to make their operations formal;
• Support establishment of at least 1 commodity group per district, where they are non-existent;
• Facilitate relevant trainings on the group committee members and to the members through a Training of Trainers and cascading model to enable them to run the business of commodity groups along business/commercial lines;
• Organization of Women’s empowerment programme with a focus on Climate resilient crop production and value chain development opportunities with a specific focus on women.

Research and Documentation

• Document all good Climate Resilient Agriculture innovative products, services, and practices for up-scaling;
• Documentation of models, including previous success and failures in market linkages and financial inclusion interventions; 
• Documentation of key marketing and legal practices emerging from the Innovation Platforms;
• Co-facilitating the National Scaling Up Platform for key innovations from the Innovations Platforms;
• Research and publication of key models and successes emerging from implementation of innovations.
• Support the generation, codification, and exchange of knowledge across agricultural colleges and research centres for climate resilient agriculture; 
• Support the Country Office as and when requested by the supervisor. 

• Nature, Climate and Energy: Climate Change Mitigation: Climate Change Mitigation, Adaptation and Resilience.

Business Direction & Strategy

• System Thinking: Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgement to understand how interrelated elements coexist within an overall process or system, and to consider how altering one element can impact on other parts of the system.
• Effective Decision Making: Ability to take decisions in a timely and efficient manner in line with one's authority, area of expertise and resources.
• Entrepreneurial Thinking: Ability to create clarity around UNDP value proposition to beneficiaries and partners and to develop service offers responding to client needs based on UNDP's organizational priorities and mandate.

Business Development

• Knowledge Generation: Ability to research and turn information into useful knowledge, relevant for context, or responsive to a stated need.
• Monitoring: Ability to provide managers and key stakeholders with regular feedback on the consistency or discrepancy between planned and actual activities and programme performance and results.
• Partnerships Management: Ability to build and maintain partnerships with wide networks of stakeholders, Governments, civil society and private sector partners, experts and others in line with UNDP strategy and policies. 

• Minimum 2 years (with master’s degree) or 4 years (with bachelor’s degree) experience in working with rural communities/farmers in market linkages, financial inclusion, business development or relevant related field is required.
• Experience in the use of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc) and advanced knowledge of web-based management systems such as ERP.