Overview
The Technical Specialist (Access to Finance) supports the implementation of the PEARL project by providing technical assistance to strengthen climate-resilient agricultural finance and enhance the financial functionality of the Farmer-led Agricultural Resilience Mechanism (FARM). The role includes supporting investment readiness of business plans and facilitating partnerships with financial service providers.
Key Responsibilities
- Support the design and implementation of inclusive financial access approaches.
- Assess financial capacity and investment readiness of target farmer organizations.
- Review and strengthen the financial structure and co-financing proposals in business plans.
- Contribute to the support to agro-insurance development.
- Identify existing value chain finance models and propose options to scale them.
- Design climate-aligned loan products with FSPs.
- Provide technical inputs to the FARM financial procedures.
- Conduct financial reviews of business plans from a banking perspective.
- Collaborate with service providers to improve financial documentation of FOs.
- Contribute to FARM –related knowledge products and internal guidance notes.
- Review FO plans from a lender’s point of view and convert to bankable packages.
- Define minimum documentation sets for each product type.
- Map and assess bank/MFI/ARDB/insurer products and underwriting rules.
- Facilitate dialogue between FOs and financial institutions.
- Identify key barriers to agricultural finance and propose strategies.
- Support the implementation of tailored financial products and delivery models.
- Run lender roundtables and curate FO–bank matchmaking sessions.
- Negotiate portfolio-level arrangements.
- Contribute to the design and review of financial literacy and financial management training materials.
- Deliver financial literacy and basic financial management training.
- Build the capacity of subnational agencies, extension service providers and project partners.
- Provide technical inputs to multi-stakeholder platforms on incentives for agricultural finance.
- Liaise with MAFF, ARDB, MoE, MoC, and other partners to promote climate-sensitive financial products.
- Train PDAFF/CAO/service-provider coaches on lender documentation and pipeline tracking.
- Provide inputs to MAFF/ARDB on climate-aligned lending parameters and certification-linked incentives.
- Perform any other relevant tasks as assigned.
Required Experience
- At least 5 years of professional experience in rural finance, agricultural credit, value-chain financing, or financial inclusion.
- Work experience in more than one location or area of work, preferably in rural development or agricultural finance projects.
- Experience in designing and implementing inclusive financial products for smallholder farmers and agribusinesses.
- Experience in assessing business plans, investment readiness, and facilitating partnerships with financial service providers.
- Experience working with farmer organizations (FOs), agricultural cooperatives (ACs), and producer groups in Cambodia, particularly in the context of enterprise development or market access.
- Familiarity with value chains of high-value crops such as cashew, mango, rice, and vegetables, and knowledge of premium market standards.
Qualifications
• University degree in finance, agricultural economics, business administration, rural development, or a related field.
