Gender, Rural Finance and Financial Inclusion Specialist
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Career category: Advocacy/ Policy, Programme/ Project design & management
Job type: Job
Experience level: 5-10 years
Organisation type: Inter-governmental
Remote option: Not Specified
Right to work requirements: Nationals-only contract
Work schedule: Full-time
Length of contract: Temporary/ Fixed-term
Economic justiceFood security & Nutrition
Organizational Setting
FAO has been actively supporting the Government of Sierra Leone in strengthening inclusive rural development, working in close partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security (MAFFS), the Bank of Sierra Leone (BoSL), and the Ministry of Gender and Children's Affairs (MoGCA).
Rural women in Sierra Leone remain systematically excluded from formal financial services. Only 25 percent of women hold an account versus 33 percent of men, and just 5 percent of women aged 15 and above reported borrowing from a formal financial institution in 2021. Gender-specific barriers, including women's limited access to and control over land, low levels of financial literacy, and the limited availability of suitable financial products, continue to restrict women farmers' access to finance and social protection. System-level constraints compound the problem: the Collateral Registry is underutilised, and implementation of the NSFI 2022 to 2026 and the GEWE Act 2022 with 2024 Regulations remains nascent in rural markets.
Based on the above, FAO has developed a project component, endorsed by MAFFS, to be implemented in Sierra Leone under the project titled “Pathways for Inclusive and Gender Responsive National Policy Instruments to Eradicate Hunger and Poverty,” funded by the FAO's Flexible Voluntary Contributions (FVC) Programme.
Reporting Line
Under the general supervision of the FAO Representative in Sierra Leone, the National Consultant will be technically supervised by the Lead Technical Officer, FAO ESP Division, and relevant ESP teams and in close collaboration with the National Technical Project Coordinator.
Technical Focus
The candidate delivers the Plan phase of the Sierra Leone component (Component 1 of the project chronogram, July–December 2026): the diagnostic study, the VSLA maturity and autonomy assessment tool, the targeting of the value chain and pilot district, and the pilot package co-designed with rural women and financial institutions and validated by government. The Plan phase outputs feed directly into the Implementation phase delivered by the Service Provider in 2027
Minimum Requirements
- Advanced university degree (Master’s or equivalent) in Economics, Agricultural Economics, Finance, Development Studies, Gender and Development, Social Sciences or a related field.
- At least five (5) years of relevant professional experience in rural finance with additional expertise in financial inclusion, gender-responsive programming and/or applied research on rural development.
- Demonstrated experience in carrying out assessments of needs and markets for rural finance products and services with focus on rural women's financial inclusion using qualitative (KII, FGD) and (where possible) quantitative (mini-survey) methods, with sex- and age-disaggregated analysis.
- Demonstrated experience working with VSLAs, cooperatives or community-based financial institutions in Sierra Leone or the West Africa region.
- Sound knowledge of Sierra Leone’s financial sector landscape, including the NSFI 2022–2026, the GEWE Act 2022 with 2024 Regulations and the Feed Salone Programme.
- Working knowledge of English (level C).
- National of Sierra Leone
Apply Here- https://jobs.fao.org/careersection/fao_external/jobdetail.ftl?job=2601423&tz=GMT%2B00%3A00&tzname=UTC&utm_source=genderjobs