Agriculture Economist/Senior Researcher

İşin təsviri

ECA Agri-Finance Project

Position of Agriculture Economist/Senior Researcher

The International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, promotes sustainable private sector investment in developing countries as a way to reduce poverty. IFC, through the Private Enterprise Partnership (PEP), also executes a major donor-funded program of private sector advisory work in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus. The objectives of the program are to promote direct investment in the private sector, build local businesses and financial intermediaries, and help improve the business enabling environment.
IFC Europe and Central Asia Agri-Finance Project (ECA Agri-Finance) supports local banks to develop and/or improve lending to actors in the agribusiness value chain as part of a comprehensive agribusiness banking strategy. The ultimate goal of the Project is to improve (a) access to finance, and (b) productivity and access to markets for farmers/producers of supply chains in Eastern European and Central Asia countries including Azerbaijan.
ECA Agri-Finance created various products and approaches (tools/developments and methodologies) for agricultural banking, which are successfully used in Ukraine and other countries to improve agriculture lending and access to finance (A2F) expansion. Particularly, the project has developed an agriculture/crop and profitability matrix (CLARA) for agricultural financing and agricultural leasing. CLARA will be used in Azerbaijan but some adaptation to Azerbaijan crops is required, therefore some local agriculture specific knowledge will be necessary.  The agricultural economist will have to conduct value chain analysis, research agricultural issues that impact agricultural finance, lending and insurance provisions, and input to the determination of key crop production plans and their associated budgets, technology, and agronomic specificity.

SCOPE OF WORK

• Assemble and analyze key risks and value chains understanding costs of production and economic implications of crop/animal husbandry development. Input will go to the World Bank Agriculture Risk Assessment, bank agriculture assessments, CLARA framework development;
• The Consultant will provide support to ECA Agri-Finance team to develop detailed typical crop plans in a special format that is used in CLARA. The Consultant will also engage with expert agronomists and agricultural economists with experience relevant to the whole country and collaborate with the Project team’s specialists. The consultant will also conduct analyses of agricultural sector in Azerbaijan through internet and other available sources;
• The Consultant will compile relevant information regarding the specifications, analysis of agro-techniques and processing of agricultural products, calculations concerning application of fertilizers norms, detail labor types and costs for targeted crops and will have to account for the following factors of crop production;
• The Consultant will take the cost of production formulations and update the IFC Farm Business Management Training Program.  The Consultant will design appropriate local related exercises and case studies.  The Consultant will translate the material into Azeri and other local languages;
• The Consultant will deliver training to Finance Institution clients/farmers as required;
• Other tasks and duties as required: the TOR may be adjusted to meet the Project‘s requirements.

APPLICANT REQUIREMENTS

The successful applicant will have:
• Practical expertise in agronomy and agricultural economics relevant to the whole country and multiple crops;
• Appropriate education and training in agrarian science from a reputable university;
• Experienced user of MS Excel and Word;
• Demonstrated ability to set priorities and to work with minimum supervision in order to meet changing deadlines;
• Methodological skills to identify, collect, summarize data; 
• Strong presentation and teaching skills required;
• Excellent written and spoken Azerbaijani and English language;
• Able to work in a team, well-organized, self-confident and energetic.

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE AND DELIVERABLES

• The Consultant will work offsite and onsite as per a mutually agreed work plan.
• Start of the contract period: December 15, 2016; End of the period: June 30, 2017.
• The contract may be renewed annual subject to work requirements.

Please submit your CV and cover letter to “Business Opportunities” section at https://wbgeconsult2.worldbank.org/wbgec/index.html (Selection #: 1232706) till COB December 14, 2016. Only applications submitted online will be considered for the position.

Please contact Lamiya Huseynova at [email protected] in case of any questions.