International Value Chain Specialist / Team Leader

Preparing the Smallholder Resilient Economic Development Sector Project

Background and Rationale:

Rural communities in Cambodia face significant challenges related to low agricultural productivity, environmental degradation, climate change, limited infrastructure and food insecurity among poorer households and women. Poorer farmers and women also face significant barriers to accessing financial services such as credit, savings, and insurance. These barriers limit their ability to invest in their farms and household needs, exacerbating poverty and economic vulnerability.

Addressing these issues requires a systemic and transformative approach to enhance productivity, nutrition and resilience.

The government and ADB plan to address these issues with the Smallholder Resilient Economic Development Sector Project (2026-2031), estimated to cost $100.0 million. It will improve the income, nutrition, climate and disaster resilience of smallholder farmers, with a dedicated focus on women's empowerment. The project will target seven provinces of Cambodia, namely Banteay Meanchey, Battambang, Kampong Thom, Kampong Cham, Prey Veng, Pursat and Siem Reap, building on lessons learned from past ADB projects.

The proposed project will (i) roll-out inclusive technical services and green investment for nature-positive smallholder agriculture in targeted communes, (ii) rehabilitate or construct small-scale climate resilient infrastructure for improved productivity and better market access, (iii) strengthen the long-term resilience of poorer communities through Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), climate risk management for selected cropping systems, insurance and financing; and (iv) promote women’s empowerment in agriculture and food consumption.

The task of this assignment will be to assist the Government and ADB in the preparation of the Smallholder Resilient Economic Development Sector Project.

Scope of Work:

The scope of work will consist of project design, due diligence, feasibility assessments, safeguards, fiduciary management, and all other relevant aspects required by ADB and the Government.

Tasks of the expert include:

1. plan and implement a market and production opportunity assessment for four to six commodities which have comparative advantage, market demand and growth potential within the target provinces;
2. lead value chain analyses for the selected products;
3. include climate change adaptation and mitigation measures to be proposed by climate change specialists and rural engineers;
4. identify new technologies in agriculture that have the potential to improve productivity or increase climate resilience, and assess the potential for rolling out digital agriculture;
5. based on the value chain analyses, identify geographical areas and target beneficiaries for different project investments and other activities (i.e., loan project outputs), capacity building, and advisory on relevant policies and regulations in cooperation with other team members, particularly rural engineers, participatory community development and nutrition specialists;
6. if required, provide recommendations on policies and regulations that impede economic development of smallholder agriculture; and 
7. prepare the report on agriculture value chain analysis and interventions, and update the agriculture sector assessment.

The specialist will also be responsible for overall coordination, quality control and consolidation of inputs from the entire team and ensuring that all project documentation is prepared in close consultation with key government counterparts, beneficiaries, partners and other key stakeholders.

The specialist will plan the due diligence, lead and coordinate activities of the team, and consolidate all the inputs from the team to report to ADB and the government. Supported by the team’s experts, the specialist will take the lead in preparing the investment feasibility study, the project administration manual, the sector assessment, the risk assessment and risk management plan, development coordination, TORs for implementation consultants, the M&E system, and other documents as required.

The specialist will also help the ADB team to finalize the Report and Recommendation of the President and linked documents.