DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS
29 June 2026-23:59-GMT+08:00 Philippine Standard Time (Manila)
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JOB TITLE: Programme Policy Officer – Smallholder Farmer Access to Institutional Markets Consultant
TYPE OF CONTRACT: Regular Consultant
JOB GRADE: CST-II
UNIT/DIVISION: Programme
DUTY STATION (City, Country): Manila, Philippines
DURATION: Six (6) months
CONTEXT
Across the Philippines, smallholder farmers face persistent structural barriers, including limited access to affordable finance, weak market linkages, low integration into formal value chains, and inadequate infrastructure, all of which constrain productivity and reduce incomes. These challenges are compounded by climate vulnerability, high post-harvest losses, limited access to services and technologies, and restricted participation in institutional markets. In the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), these constraints are further intensified. At the same time, the country’s policy environment is increasingly supportive of local farmer access to institutional markets, and multiple public, cooperative and private sector actors have an interest in supporting local farmer participation.
The Government of the Philippines is positioning school feeding as a central platform for improving child nutrition, education outcomes, local economic growth, and long‑term human capital development. There is increasing policy momentum to expand and strengthen the national school-based feeding programme (SBFP) with a progressive move toward universal feeding and nutritious hot meals, including the use of central kitchens, fortified foods, and community‑based procurement that prioritizes sourcing from local farmers and cooperatives. However, despite this policy momentum, implementation remains constrained. In practice, procurement approaches and the lack of scalable delivery models continue to limit smallholder participation in institutional markets such as school-based feeding. Aggregation, logistics, traceability, stable supply, quality assurance and payment arrangements remain weak in many areas, and most farmer groups and cooperatives are still at an early stage of market readiness, particularly in the BARMM. This creates a timely policy and operational window to define how smallholder farmers can be linked to school-based feeding in practice and at scale.
The WFP Country Office (CO) has developed an internal Market Access and Livelihoods Framework and a smallholder access to markets (SAMS) roadmap that guides inclusive, climate-resilient approaches to strengthen smallholder farmers’ access to markets. WFP Philippines supports the Government through technical assistance and modeling of the Home-Grown School Feeding (HGSF) approach in BARMM and Luzon. In addition, WFP is supporting the Government in developing a Roadmap for SBFP from 2026-2030 to reach its targets of universal coverage and hot meals, including HGSF scale-up, with a phased plan. Furthermore, WFP along with FAO and UN Women are supporting local food system strengthening by connecting smallholder farmers to institutional feeding markets, with financing, investments and public-private partnerships. These efforts now need scalable delivery models and practical operational arrangements. This consultancy is therefore designed to provide the dedicated technical expertise and time-bound focus to define concrete options for Government action and WFP support, building on the existing SAMS Roadmap.
JOB PURPOSE
The purpose of this consultancy is to provide technical support to WFP’s SAMS, Agricultural Livelihoods and School Feeding teams, and answer the following: What are the most viable and scalable delivery models for school-based feeding for the Department of Education (DepEd) and the BARMM Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE), as well as their School Divisions Offices (SDOs) and Local Government Units (LGUs), to ensure the provision of nutritious hot meals sourced from smallholder farmers at scale?
The Consultant will identify, compare and recommend viable and scalable delivery models for school-based feeding that can enable the provision of nutritious hot meals sourced from smallholder farmers; clarify what the demand side and supply side must put in place to make such models work; recommend practical implementation pathways for smallholder participation under different operational contexts, including BARMM settings; identify readiness activities than can be carried out at scale; produce recommendations for Government HGSF operational scale-up, Government SBFP Roadmap and WFP’s SAMS Roadmap. In addition, the consultant will support the CO in identifying strategic and programmatic adjustments for its engagement with private sector actors relevant to smallholder farmer access to markets.
The consultant is expected to operate with a high degree of independence and in joint work with the SAMS Programme Policy Officer (PPO) and the Agricultural Livelihoods Programme Policy Officer (PPO) to ensure quality deliverables and CO ownership. This role involves collaborating within WFP teams, with government partners, private sector and relevant academic institutions to support the CO’s efforts to integrate smallholder farmers into national and regional institutional markets.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES (not all-inclusive nor exhaustive):
The consultant will work under the supervision of the Head of Climate Change and Resilience, in joint work with the SAMS and Agricultural Livelihoods team in CO and Sub-Office, in collaboration with School Feeding team, Nutrition, SBC and WFP BARMM Sub-office, and in coordination with Supply Chain; with overall guidance from the Head of Programme.
Develop food delivery and supply models for school feeding sourced from smallholder farmers, generating model options, readiness requirements, and implementation considerations that Government counterparts can use to guide planning and scale-up.
Review and synthesize available evidence, internal analyses, and HGSF experience relevant to food supply and delivery models.
Map and assess existing and proposed school feeding delivery and supply arrangements (ie HGSF sites and in LGUs providing hot meals), with attention to how sourcing, aggregation, transport, and delivery are implemented.
Map and assess the farmer access to institutional market value chain, considering farmer profiles, school feeding menu and local food availability.
Assess options for mechanisms such as clustering, grouping, or intermediary arrangements to facilitate wider participation of smallholder farmers while maintaining operational reliability.
Analyze supply model options against prevailing farmer capacities, infrastructure availability, and geographic and operational constraints.
Develop diagram and process flow of food supply and delivery models according to feasibility, reliability, scalability and suitability to different operational contexts, defining what the demand side (school feeding systems and institutional buyers) and the supply side (farmers and enabling government and private sector stakeholders) needs to ensure.
Assist WFP teams in framing operational options and tradeoffs for government consideration, including concrete recommendations on delivery models, institutional requirements, and smallholder readiness pathways.
Review the SAMS Roadmap to integrate delivery models actions identified for WFP support.
Advisory support on procurement modalities and expanding smallholder access
Support the SAMS PPO in reviewing procurement modalities, eligibility criteria, documentation requirements, delivery conditions, and payment arrangements.
Identify procurement features that constrain or enable participation of smallholder farmers and cooperatives and recommend practical advisory inputs for WFP engagement with government on procurement approaches that better align institutional requirements with farmer readiness, within existing regulatory frameworks.
Clarify the critical functions and minimum conditions required for hot meals delivery under different implementation models.
Analyze how farmer participation pathways vary depending on farmer profile, production systems, volume, geography, infrastructure, and market readiness.
Identify realistic arrangements for aggregation, clustering, intermediation, logistics, and coordination that can broaden and stabilize smallholder participation.
Support the development of smallholder farmer traceability tool and recommendations for its integration into Government processes.
Operational risks and mitigation
Assess how risks vary across different supply models and procurement modalities.
Support WFP teams to identify key operational risks related to sourcing, aggregation, logistics, traceability, quality assurance, and payment processes.
Propose practical and institutionally feasible risk mitigation measures that can be incorporated into operational guidance and advisory support to government.
Emphasize risk management approaches that are realistic within current systems and capacity constraints.
DELIVERABLES
Inception note outlining the technical assistance approach, priority focus areas, methodology and workplan.
Landscape assessment of existing delivery and supply models being used in the HGSF modelling and in the SBFP.
Diagram of food supply and delivery models and process flow outlining demand side and supply side requirements to support the Government’s transition toward nutritious hot meals, including operational implications for sourcing from smallholder farmers, aggregation, and delivery. Include:
o the recommended delivery model options for DepEd, MBHTE, SDOs, and LGUs;
o the contexts in which each model is most viable;
o the enabling conditions and trade-offs associated with each model;
o the key Government decisions required; and
o recommendations for WFP support and SAMS roadmap implementation.
Analysis and advisory on procurement modalities for school feeding, identifying practical options to expand smallholder and cooperative participation, including women farmers, within existing regulatory frameworks.
Operational guidance on aggregation, logistics, traceability, quality assurance, and risk management to inform WFP advisory support to government partners.
Targeted inputs to inform the refinement and operationalization of WFP’s SAMS roadmap, based on findings and analysis.
Final synthesis note with actionable recommendations to strengthen WFP’s advisory support on delivery and supply models, procurement modalities, and inclusive access to school feeding.
Presentation materials summarizing key findings, options, and recommendations for use in internal and joint discussions with government counterparts.
ESSENTIAL MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
Education: Advanced university degree in economics, agriculture, business administration, development studies, public policy, or a related field. A first level university degree with additional relevant professional experience may be considered.
Experience:
A minimum of five to ten years of professional experience in food systems, market development, institutional food procurement, school feeding, agricultural supply chains, or related areas.
Demonstrated experience providing technical assistance or advisory support to government institutions.
Strong applied experience in assessing and advising on food supply models, value chains, aggregation arrangements, or procurement approaches in low capacity or developing country contexts.
Experience working with smallholder farmers, cooperatives, and local markets, preferably linked to institutional demand.
Experience in the Philippines or comparable contexts is an asset.
Knowledge and skills:
· Strong understanding of market analysis.
· Demonstrated ability to translate policy objectives into practical and implementable operational guidance.
· Experience addressing operational issues related to aggregation, logistics, traceability, quality assurance, and risk management.
· Strong analytical, writing, and presentation skills.
· Ability to work collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams and engage effectively with government counterparts.
Language: Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
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REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION
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REMINDERS BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION
All applications must be submitted exclusively through our online recruiting system. We do not consider CVs or applications sent by email, LinkedIn, or any other channel.
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Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and invited to proceed to the next stage of the recruitment process.
All employment decisions are made on the basis of organizational needs, job requirements, merit, and individual qualifications. WFP is committed to providing an inclusive work environment free of sexual exploitation and abuse, all forms of discrimination, any kind of harassment, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. Therefore, all selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.
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