Subsidies & Incentives Expert

Role Purpose

Lead the design and execution of subsidy and incentive frameworks aimed at enhancing agricultural productivity, sustainability, and farmer welfare while maintaining financial prudence, regulatory adherence, and tangible outcomes. This position is a technical lead within the Transformation Management Office (TMO) overseeing the full subsidy reform agenda.

Key Responsibilities

• Analyze and chart the current subsidy environment, including eligibility criteria, spending patterns, leakage risks, incentive misalignments, and redundancies.
• Classify beneficiary segments based on farm characteristics such as type, size, crop/livestock systems, location, and vulnerability factors.
• Develop innovative subsidy schemes such as targeted inputs subsidies (seeds, feed, fertilizer) with robust control measures; outcome-linked incentives emphasizing water efficiency, compliance, and productivity; and capital grants or co-investment models for modernization projects like irrigation and renewable energy installations.
• Create fiscal impact forecasts and trade-off analyses to support governmental decision-making.
• Set eligibility procedures, verification protocols, and audit trails integrating registries, land and farm identification, and production evidence.
• Implement mechanisms to prevent fraud and abuse, including claims validation, supplier vetting, and anomaly detection triggers.
• Establish compliance oversight and enforcement processes aligned with regulations.
• Continuously evaluate cost-benefit scenarios to refine subsidy applicability.
• Convert subsidy models into actionable plans encompassing policy drafts, operational workflows, system specifications, and vendor process adaptations.
• Collaborate with digital and data teams to integrate farmer registries, define e-voucher and digital payment logics, and manage case workflows for exceptions and appeals.
• Support procurement activities related to system integration, payment platforms, and verification services.
• Develop frameworks to monitor and assess subsidy impacts using logic models, baseline data from surveys and remote sensing, and quasi-experimental evaluation designs when feasible.
• Foster impact reporting and auditing disciplines within TMO.
• Engage with key stakeholders, including finance, audit, regulators, farmer groups, suppliers, and service providers to coordinate efforts.
• Create communication materials to facilitate program adoption and mitigate political and economic risks.

Qualifications and Experience

• Educational qualification: Bachelor’s degree in economics, public policy, agricultural economics, or related fields; advanced degrees preferred.
• Over a decade of experience in agricultural subsidies, incentive programs, social targeting, agricultural policy implementation, or development initiatives within prominent organizations.
• Proven expertise designing and managing targeting and disbursement/payment methodologies, preferably in the public sector.
• Strong quantitative skills including fiscal modeling and program evaluation techniques.
• Familiarity with international best practices, such as those established by FAO, World Bank, and IFAD, is advantageous.