Drought Financing Consultant

A. Purpose and Objectives:

ADPC is an autonomous international organization established for scientific, educational, developmental, and humanitarian purposes with a vision of safer communities and sustainable development through disaster risk reduction and climate resilience in Asia and the Pacific. Established in 1986 as a technical capacity building center, ADPC has grown and expanded its role to be for scientific, educational, developmental and humanitarian purposes. ADPC employs a wide range of professional expertise typically required for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Resilience (CR) in an effective manner.

ADPC develops and implements cross-sectoral projects/programs on the strategic themes of risk governance, urban resilience, climate resilience, health risk management, preparedness for response and resilient recovery. Our strategic themes are complemented and underpinned by the cross-cutting themes of gender and diversity, regional and transboundary cooperation as well as poverty and livelihoods.

Through its work, ADPC supports the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the New Urban Agenda, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the agenda defined at the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016, and other relevant international frameworks.

For details, please refer to ADPC website at http://www.adpc.net/.

B. Department Introduction

The Risk Analytics and Climate Services Department is a multi-disciplinary team of experts committed to providing innovative, science-based solutions for actions to adapt to climate change and mitigate the impacts of disasters. The innovations include uses of geospatial technology, satellite data, numerical models, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence for assessing vulnerability and risk, generating climate data, developing early warning systems, forecasting possible climate impact, and informing anticipatory actions. These lead to risk-informed developments in the sectors such as agriculture, transportation, water resources, and health.

The department also applies advanced geoinformatics and climate analytics to address water and food security by assessing water availability and water use efficiency, monitoring groundwater, assessing drought risks, and optimizing agricultural productivity, hence ensuring sustainable water and food systems in vulnerable regions. The department promotes Nature-Based Solutions by leveraging ecosystem services such as wetland restoration, agroforestry, and green-gray infrastructure to reduce disaster risks and build climate resilience. Lastly, the department produces risk analytics and integrates them into urban plans and engineering designs of critical infrastructures, hence improving their resilience to disasters and climate change.

With a commitment to science-based approach, the department envisions empowering stakeholders to reduce risks, adapt to climate change, and build more resilient communities and ecosystems.

C. Statement of Intent

Asian Disaster Preparedness Center, in collaboration with Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, is developing guidelines and methodologies for creating national investment plans for drought management. The investment plans will also include a financial feasibility analysis of select drought mitigation measures, particularly focusing on sustainable land and water management practices. The guidelines and methodologies will be piloted in three countries: Ghana, The Philippines and Sri Lanka to produce national investment plans along with financial feasibility analyses of select drought mitigation measures.

ADPC intends to hire a consultant to (i) develop a methodology for creating national drought investment plans (also called “national drought portfolios) and ii) carry out feasibility analysis of selected drought mitigation measures from the national drought plans of Ghana, The Philippines and Sri Lanka.

D. Scope of Work

The service of the consultant is to perform the following tasks:

1. Develop a methodology for the investment plans for drought management (“national drought portfolios);
2. Review of existing assessment methods to evaluate the financial feasibility of drought mitigation options and select appropriate financial indicators to estimate returns;
3. Implement the methodology and the financial feasibility assessment in pilot countries, with emphasis on sustainable land and water management practices with high return.

The consultant will need to coordinate with FAO experts and national stakeholders teams in the three pilot countries to carry out the above tasks including gathering information from stakeholders through online resources.

E. Expected Outputs:

The consultant will be responsible for delivering the following Outputs:

1. Methodology and guidelines for the development of investment plans for drought management (“national drought portfolios”)
2. Framework for a calculation scheme for financial feasibility assessment
3. Implementation of the methodology and framework for the development of national investment plans (3), including the financial feasibility assessment of select number of drought mitigation measures
4. Support to the validation process in the pilot countries.

F. Responsibilities and Tasks:

The Consultant will be responsible for the following tasks and duties:

1. Review the existing methods for the establishment of investment plans, and synthesize the methods applicable for drought management;
2. Establish a methodology for the establishment of investment plans for drought management, in consultation with and guidance of an expert team;
3. Review of existing assessment methods to evaluate the financial feasibility of drought mitigation options and select an appropriate financial indicator to estimate returns;
4. Establish a framework for a calculation scheme for financial feasibility assessment with select financial indicators to measure returns;
5. Prepare a data collection template for national experts in the pilot countries and support the data collection process for the investment plans and feasibility analysis;
6. Develop investment plans for drought management in the pilot countries (3), including the financial feasibility assessment of select mitigation measures (preferably sustainable land and water management practices);
7. Support the validation of the investment plans along with the feasibility analysis with national stakeholders, and incorporate the finding of the consultations and validation workshops carried out with stakeholders in project countries.

G. Working Principles: Consultant will report to the Program Lead, Climate Services, Risk Analytics and Climate Services Department and will work closely with and other specialists and FAO country teams as required.

H. Qualifications:

Consultant shall have the following qualifications

• Advanced university degree in finance, environmental finance, financial engineering, economics, statistics, and other similar relevant fields of expertise;
• A minimum of 7 years working experience related to analyzing/designing natural disaster (preferably drought) risk finance modeling/strategy or investment in development projects with emphasis on resilience in a national/regional context;
• Extensive knowledge on finance, cost-benefit analysis including methodologies for monitoring and assessing risk mitigation measures would be an asset;
• Demonstrated skills in business judgement in the context of development/disaster risk management projects;
• Demonstrated strong interpersonal and motivational skills and sensitivity to the local environment as well as the ability to work with minimal supervision;
• Excellent writing, presentation, and analytical skills.

I. Duty Station: Home-based

J. Duration: 5 months of input over 8-month period

K. Itinerary: 31 March – 30 November 2025. No travel is required as part of the assignment. Online attendance of stakeholder workshop may be required (dates to be communicated).

L. Condition of payment:

Payment will be made as per the payment schedule given in the ToR. All payments will be credited to the bank account provided by the consultant.

M. Selection Method

The candidate will be selected in accordance with ADPC’s recruitment process and policy guidelines.