The CLIC knowledge product team is seeking a consultant to research and develop a playbook highlighting the spectrum of blended finance instruments that hold the most potential to support climate and nature transitions across agrifood systems.
The playbook should be a practical, action-oriented report which outlines the key steps required to achieve the effective construction of blended finance tools. It should map out existing instruments, understand what allows them to work, when they work best, and provide examples to susbtantiate the analysis.
To do so, the consultant should leverage external resources and summarize internal research from CPI programs and from relevant CLIC members. The playbook will build on CPI’s existing learning and frameworks, pushing forward the organization’s knowledge base on the topic of blended finance.
Scope
The agrifood sector (AFS) holds immense potential for sustainable growth and development. However, it faces persistent challenges, including limited access to finance, high vulnerability to climate change, and environmental degradation. While the AFS is a key economic driver, traditional financial sources have been insufficient in meeting the sector's financing needs. The CLIC team is interested in instrument practices that can be effectively deployed in emerging markets, in particular Latin America and the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia.
Blended finance has shown to be, at times, a viable solution to address risks and bridge this gap, particularly for financing small- and medium-sized agricultural enterprises. Analyzing existing blended finance flows and the appropriate enabling conditions as well as identifying key players within this landscape can provide actionable insights to scale up financing and support a sustainable agricultural transition.
Tasks
Task 1: Overview of existing blended finance mechanisms in use in the agrifood sector space and summary of in-house knowledge
The consultant should identify various types of blended finance instruments and their role in reducing investment risk and attracting private capital for climate mitigation, adaptation and/or nature outcomes. The instruments should be defined as based on the definitions used by Convergence and CPI.
Blended finance refers to financial instruments or strategies that leverage public, philanthropic, or concessional capital to de-risk and mobilize private investment. By combining these sources, blended finance aims to address market gaps and encourage private sector participation in projects that deliver social, environmental, or economic impact, particularly in underserved or high-risk areas. The consultant should analyse how these mechanisms address specific financing gaps and risks in the agrifood sector. The agrifood sector classification should follow existing CLIC work, such as the recent CPI-FAO report on finance needs for agrifood systems, which lays out a definition of the agrifood sector.
Of particular interest are mechanisms supporting financing of agriculture and smallholders, but we are also interested in those funding other actors in the supply chain. Blended finance instruments will look different depending on which sections of the agrifood supply chain is being targeted. The consultant should look to map out relevant blended finance mechanisms for different section of the supply chain, as well as their beneficiaries and unique attributes.
The consultant should leverage CPI resources - such as the Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance, which has over 10 years’ experience in developing blended climate finance instruments, the Catalytic Climate Finance Facility, and CLIC itself - and CLIC members such as, ISF, Convergence, and BII, as well as any other outside source deemed fit, to support the results of task 1, and provide more insights on leading methods used for blended finance practices.
The blended finance research should build on existing CPI frameworks, such as our work on leveraging policy tools to improve financial instruments in sustainable agriculture, our toolbox on financing nature-based solutions, successful blended finance lab instruments, our landscape of global concessional finance, and more.
Key aspects to summarise could include:
Key blended structure elements of instrument design for de-risking
Perceived and real risks that prevent private capital from flowing to the agrifood sector in emerging markets, as addressed by the BF instrument
Examples (2-4 per instrument group) detailing the involved actors, current status, investment volume (both direct and leveraged), and the targeted outcomes
Take-up to date – how successful the mechanism has been, in which contexts, the types and and volumes of capital, from whom and for whom
Impact they delivering or seeking to deliver
Section of the agrifood supply chain targeted
Key limitations or challenges
Level of concessionality
For each relevant blended finance mechanism, the consultant should:
Analyse case studies of successful projects to identify factors that contributed to their success, such as effective risk-sharing, public-private partnerships, supportive policy frameworks, and so on
Provide key takeaways and recommendations regarding replicability and scalability of these approaches
The CPI team will provide a package of materials from relevant in-house programs.
Task 2: Synthesis and Policy Recommendations
The consultant should provide 3-5 detailed case studies of successful blended finance projects in the agrifood sector, highlighting key factors that enabled their success. They should also specify the primary enabling conditions and actionable steps that public and private sector agents must take to foster growth in the agrifood sector using blended finance.
The consultant should also offer targeted recommendations for policy makers, financial institutions, accelerators, and NGOs. This should be limited to 2-3 actionable recommendations per stakeholder group, focusing on high-impact areas. The aim of this report is to provide a comprehensive overview, for all relevant actors, of the potential of blended finance instruments and the requirements for their success.
Final deliverable: A playbook (~6000-8000 words) with accompanying case studies that CPI/CLIC can publish, combining the learnings of steps 1 and 2.
Background Material
CLIC will provide the following materials to the consultant(s):
CLIC taxonomies for agrifood systems, and existing research on flows, needs, and gaps for agrifood systems
The Lab taxonomy for blended finance instruments
A list of all Lab-developed or endorsed agrifood systems instruments
A forthcoming CPI report on building financial instruments for climate adaptation
An instrument analysis reports for sustainable agriculture-related instruments developed and endorsed by the Lab, which includes instrument mechanics graphics
Lab impact reports
Toolbox on Financing NbS as well as other relevant mapping and interview notes done by the CPI team responsible for the report
Understanding Global Concessional Climate Finance 2024 report
Other transaction and deal information found in the Convergence Historic Deal Database (HDD)
Interviews with CPI analysts familiar with blended finance for agrifood systems, including those that have supported the Lab and the CC Facility
Outputs and Timelines
Outputs will be delivered to the CLIC Secretariat team. The precise scope, structure and length of outputs will be agreed with the consultant(s) during the assignment kick-off meeting and where appropriate, amended during regular check-in meetings between the consultant(s) and the CLIC Secretariat team.
All changes to the agreed scope, structure, and length of outputs of outputs following the kick-off meeting must be approved in writing over email by the CLIC Secretariat team.
The table below sets out a possible sequencing of outputs.
Milestone 1: Internal meeting discussing the findings of step 1 | 20/03/2025
Milestone 2: Internal report with findings of step 1 | 08/04/2025
Milestone 3: Playbook detailed in step 2 | 31/04/2025
Proposal Requirements
The consultant(s) must be able to demonstrate the following areas of expertise:
Knowledge of financial products, investment trends, and capital flows within AFS, as well as experience working with agricultural SMEs and understanding their financing needs
Understanding of blended finance models and mechanisms along with experience in designing financial instruments for sustainable agriculture
Experience in climate finance, green finance, and mechanisms that promote environmental sustainability
Knowledge of policy frameworks and regulations affecting agricultural finance, and experience developing policy recommendations to promote sustainable finance and green investment in agriculture
Skills in gathering, analyzing, and interpreting financial data and market trends, including estimating financial flows and assessing potential for greening, with proficiency in quantitative analysis, financial modeling, or impact measurement
Understanding of the economic, environmental, and social challenges and opportunities within the agrifood sector, as well as familiarity with regional development goals, policy environments, and socio-economic dynamics affecting agricultural financing
Proposals for this work will need to set out:
CVs of all proposed experts.
Technical proposal (5 pages maximum): should include consultant or consultancy team skills/experience and how these meet the above requirements; a proposed methodology for the work, including any suggestions for adjustments to these TORs where appropriate; a proposed work-plan and timeframe for delivery of the outputs.
Budget proposal: a milestone-based budget proposal in accordance with the CLIC pro-forma. Download the CLIC budget template.