Senior Consultant: Africa Food Systems

Required Experience & Qualifications

• 12–18+ years of progressive leadership experience.
  
• Deep background in African agriculture, agribusiness, food systems, and/or rural market development.
  
• Demonstrated experience working with development finance institutions (e.g., AfDB, World Bank, IFAD, or similar).
  
• Proven ability to navigate multi-stakeholder environments involving policy actors, private sector firms, and financing institutions.
  
• Experience in SME development, value chain programming, or anchor firm models.
  
• Strong systems-thinking capability; able to integrate institutional, market, and financial dimensions.
  
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills.
  
• Demonstrated credibility in senior-level institutional settings.
  

Strategic Architecture & Alignment

• Lead the structured co-design and alignment process with institutional partners.
  
• Integrate multiple workstreams (eg. farmer organization, SME development, market systems) into a coherent strategic model.
  
• Ensure alignment with existing sector frameworks and avoid duplication.
  
• Translate technical feedback into clear, decision-ready revisions.
  

Partnership & Stakeholder Engagement

• Serve as the primary senior counterpart to development finance institutions, impact investors, and technical partners.
  
• Coordinate inputs from external advisors, fund managers, and sector specialists.
  
• Maintain disciplined, unified messaging on behalf of IIRR.
  
• Prepare concise leadership-ready briefs and strategic notes.
  

Market Interface

• Engage with potential financing partners to test market realism and instrument design.
  
• Ensure proposed models reflect SME realities, structural constraints, and risk considerations.
  
• Support sequencing from concept to pilot design.