Delivery Specialist – Inclusive Agricultural Finance Agriculture Transformation Office (ATO) Sierra Leone

Location: Freetown, Sierra Leone

Job Reference: IAF/SL/03/2026

AGRA and its Work to Transform Agriculture

AGRA is an African-led institution that actively supports the drive towards inclusive agricultural transformation and sustainable food systems. We do this by empowering the continent’s estimated 33 million small-farming households to transform their subsistent agriculture into profitable businesses. The continent’s farmers regularly face challenges, and we, in collaboration with our partners, aspire to provide uniquely African solutions that respond to their agricultural and environmental challenges, leading to increased harvests for reduced hunger and more incomes aligned with the Kampala CAADP and national priorities.

Working in alignment with the development priorities of our focus countries, we enable farmers to access improved and high-yielding seeds, gain knowledge on sustainable farming, and linkages to profitable markets. In our work, we aspire to build the alliances, partnerships, and networks required to drive an inclusive agricultural transformation. We work with our partners to create an equitable youth-friendly environment that harnesses the youth dividend on the continent to drive growth and facilitate open employment opportunities for young women and men. We achieve our key objectives through a focus on the following four areas of intervention:

1. Policy and state capability – We support governments in creating an enabling environment for private sector involvement in agricultural transformation.
2. Seed systems – We trigger higher productivity by increasing the availability and access to improved seeds by farmers allowing them to increase their harvests for food security and better incomes.
3. Sustainable farming – We support farmers in building resilient farming systems for sustained high yields through interventions such as mechanization and irrigation.
4. Inclusive markets and trade – We work to increase the linkages between farmers, and other market actors for a positive, sustained cycle of commercialization and reinvestment.
5. Youth, Gender, and Inclusiveness – We enable women and youth to contribute to and benefit from agriculture for their economic empowerment.

Implementing Our New Strategy Through People

People are the heart of our organization and remain the true drivers of our delivery and our impact.

We work with incredible people and partners who have roots in farming communities across the continent, combined with an inclusive and diverse workforce from over 24 nationalities. Our commitment to a call to action goes beyond ourselves as we arise to catalyze African Food Systems & transformation by being Deeply collaborative, Executing Excellently, Sincerely Constructive, and Increasingly Entrepreneurial, aligned with our values of (I-RISE; Integrity, Respect, Innovation, Stewardship, and Equity).

We are looking for people who are passionate about Africa to join our innovative, growing, and multidisciplinary team. Together, we can accelerate Africa’s food system transformation, thereby improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. Want to join us?

Background

The Government of Sierra Leone has launched the Feed Salone Strategy (2023–2028) to accelerate and ensure food systems transformation, food security, and inclusive economic growth, targeting an annual growth rate of 10% for the agriculture sector within the next five years. The strategy focuses on boosting productivity in high- impact value chains, leveraging the comparative advantages of targeted districts, and enhancing resilience through climate-smart practices. The Feed Salone Strategy focuses on six strategic pillars: mechanization and irrigation, seed and input systems, aggregation and marketing, agricultural finance, AgTech and climate-smart agriculture, and the empowerment of women and youth.

To drive its effective implementation, the Sierra Leone Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (MAFS), in collaboration with AGRA and its partners, seeks to hire a qualified Monitoring and Evaluation (M &E) Officer who will lead the design and operationalization of a monitoring, evaluation and learning framework working directly with the Minister and engaging across government, development partners, and the private sector to deliver “Feed Salone” strategic priorities.

The Position Overview

The Delivery Specialist – Inclusive Agricultural Finance will provide technical advisory and delivery support to ATO-Sierra Leone and Government of Sierra Leone stakeholders to strengthen the design, coordination, and implementation of agricultural finance reforms under the Feed Salone Strategy. The role will support the development of the National Agricultural Finance Policy, assess institutional and financing options (including Special Purpose Vehicles, SPV, and risk-sharing mechanisms), and translate policy decisions into implementable institutional arrangements and roadmaps. Diagnose and recommend alternative access to finance solutions, including digital financing options to smallholder farmers, and support implementation.

The role is explicitly delivery-oriented, bridging policy design and practical implementation across government, financial institutions, and development partners, and will report to the ATO Director.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

• Provide technical advisory and delivery support to strengthen the design and implementation of agricultural finance reforms under the Feed Salone Strategy.
• Support development and refinement of the National Agricultural Finance Policy, ensuring proposed models are viable, sustainable, and aligned with Sierra Leone’s development trajectory.
• Conduct evidence-based analysis to inform Government decisions on the most appropriate institutional models for financing agriculture.
• Strengthen coherence between agricultural finance policy, institutional arrangements, and delivery mechanisms across government and the financial sector.
• Support coordination across key government institutions, including the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, the Ministry of Finance, and the Bank of Sierra Leone, to align roles, responsibilities, and decision-making on agricultural finance.
• Provide technical support to the establishment and functioning of a high-level Agricultural Finance Coordination Committee, including development of terms of reference, meeting cadence, and secretariat arrangements.
• Engage financial institutions, rural finance networks, insurers, and development partners to ensure proposed agricultural finance models reflect operational realities and market conditions.
• Support ATO and MAFS leadership through participation in coordination and stakeholder meetings, preparation of technical briefs, and synthesis of discussions into actionable recommendations.
• Diagnose and recommend alternative access to finance solutions, including digital financing options to smallholder farmers, and support implementation.
• Strengthen institutional capacity within the Government to design, coordinate, and implement agricultural finance reforms by embedding practical tools, frameworks, and delivery routines that can be sustained beyond the assignment.
• Provide technical inputs to the National Agricultural Finance Policy, including drafting sections, comparative option analyses, and implementation recommendations.
• Develop detailed technical profiles for priority institutional mechanisms, including a Special Purpose Vehicle for agricultural finance, and an integrated agricultural risk-sharing or insurance facility within the Sierra Leone financial system.
• Design concise and implementable roadmaps for the design and establishment of the Special Purpose Vehicle and the integrated risk-sharing facility, including governance, sequencing, timelines, and resource requirements.
• Support the design of a high-level coordination agency formally mandated to drive agricultural finance implementation, including its terms of reference, mandate, and reporting arrangements to an inter-
  ministerial body.
• Clearly delineate and document the delivery support role of ATO, ensuring complementarity and avoiding duplication with the coordination agency.
• Produce technical briefs, meeting notes, progress updates, and a final handover report capturing achievements and implementation recommendations.

Skills, Qualifications and Experience Required:

• A master’s degree (or equivalent) in a relevant field such as Finance/Banking/Business Administration – finance or development finance, Agricultural Economics/Agribusiness/Agricultural Science, Public Policy, or Law (financial/corporate law).
• Professional certification in Finance, Banking, or Development Finance is desired.
• A minimum of 6 years of experience in the financial sector (banking operations, product development for agricultural lending, credit risk, treasury, capital adequacy, regulatory compliance, and governance).
• Experience designing/implementing agricultural finance products and services aligned to value chains, seasonality, and climate risk across diverse farmer segments.
• Agricultural and rural development experience (market/value chain dynamics, food security, and inclusive development approaches).
• Institutional development and policy advisory experience (designing new institutions, legal/operational frameworks, and advising on banking/finance/agriculture policy and regulation).
• Strong ability to conduct comparative assessments of agricultural finance models and develop clear, well-justified recommendations.
• Ability to produce high-quality policy briefs, advisory papers, institutional profiles, roadmaps, and progress or handover notes.
• Experience conducting interviews, focus groups, and technical meetings, and synthesizing discussions into actionable outputs.
• Ability to support multi-institutional coordination, follow up on agreed actions, and maintain structured information flows across stakeholders.
• Capacity to translate policy decisions into practical implementation roadmaps with clear steps, roles, and timelines.
• Demonstrated ability to bring together senior stakeholders across ministries, regulators, and partners, structure discussions, and drive convergence toward decisions and the next steps.
• Able to adjust approaches in response to political, institutional, or market constraints while maintaining reform momentum.

If you believe you are a fit for this position, please submit your application with a detailed CV (including your email and telephone contact information) to recruit@agra.org. Please quote the job reference number IAF/SL/03/2026 on the subject line of the application email.

Applications must be received on or before 18 th March 2026. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

For more information on the AGRA, visit www.agra.org.

AGRA is an Equal Opportunity Employer