Individual Consultant, Diagnostic of Livestock Financial Intermediaries, Mexico

Please note that the deadline is based on Korean Standard Time Zone (KST, UTC+9)

INTRODUCTION TO GGGI

The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) is a treaty-based international, inter-governmental organization dedicated to supporting and promoting strong, inclusive and sustainable economic growth in developing countries and emerging economies. To learn more please visit about GGGI web page. 

• Project output: ROB029-E1-2

• Duty Station: Remote, Mexico

• Contract Duration: 3 months (From July 13^th to October 13^th, 2026)

• Consultant Level: Level 3

• Total Fees: 15,000 USD

 

Mexico has committed, under the Global Methane Pledge, to cut 30% of methane emissions by 2030 compared to 2020 levels, and the livestock sub-sector is central to meeting that target. FIRA’s Methane Reduction Strategy responds to this agenda from the financial side, seeking to guide credit and investment toward lower-emission production models across the value chain.

The strategy prioritizes the bovine sector, covering the dairy, beef and dual-purpose chains across their upstream and downstream segments, because it concentrates the largest mitigation potential and represents one of the largest proportions of FIRA's overall financing portfolio. Interventions in this sector therefore deliver the highest methane abatement per unit of financing.

FIRA operates as a second-tier development bank, channeling its financing through accredited financial intermediaries (banking and non-banking) rather than lending directly to producers. This structure limits its traceability over the final use of the funds: institutional reporting remains at a process and administrative level and does not reveal how financing reaches the final borrower or how it is applied. A category such as feeding expenses, for instance, does not distinguish between concentrates, forage, supplements, wet or dry matter, even though that level of detail would be decisive for estimating methane emissions. Financial intermediaries are unlikely to hold that full granularity either, but they do capture information closer to the production reality, such as the production system, herd size and location, which is highly relevant for tracing financing and linking it to mitigation.

Within the design of FIRA’s Methane Reduction Strategy, knowing the intermediaries that stand between FIRA and the producer, the financial products they offer for livestock, and the information they hold along the chain is valuable for refining the analytical frameworks used to estimate financed emissions. This assignment provides a diagnostic by building the evidence base the strategy needs to ground those calculations.

 

To achieve the project objectives, GGGI seeks to map the financial intermediaries that channel FIRA's financing to bovine livestock (dairy, beef and dual-purpose) and to trace, in detail, how that financing moves through them: the financial products they design around it, how they receive and then disburse the resources, and how it is ultimately used once it reaches the producer. The diagnostic should reveal what production practices and inputs the credit funds, and how far the information these intermediaries hold can support that level of detail.

This evidence will feed the analytical framework GGGI is building to classify FIRA's investment concepts as methane-smart or not, to develop traceability tools for financed methane emissions, and to inform the design of methane-focused financial instruments.

 

Activities

• Develop a detailed workplan defining activities, methodology, data sources, the approach strategy for engaging FIRA and the intermediaries, and a timeline.

• Identify the financial intermediaries channeling FIRA’s financing to the bovine sector and propose a sampling methodology to select up to 15 of them. The methodology, agreed with GGGI and FIRA, must ensure coverage across the relevant criteria: type (banking/non-banking), size, livestock-portfolio relevance, chain segment, and presence within Mexico's main livestock regions (based on official sources such as SIAP and INEGI). The sample should represent at least 50% of FIRA's bovine livestock financing portfolio.

• Design a mixed-methods (qualitative and quantitative) research approach, including in-depth interviews, questionnaires and working sessions for data collection, with the corresponding instruments.

• Trace how FIRA's financing reaches the producer through the intermediaries' financial products, from disbursement to its application on the ground, focusing on what the credit funds in productive terms (inputs, practices, infrastructure) so its use can be linked to sustainability and methane-smart criteria. This involves documenting the supporting financial and process information, such as loan purpose, product conditions and disbursement records, which is what makes the traceability possible.

• Analyze the barriers, challenges and opportunities of these financial products for the adoption of sustainable practices, looking ahead to what it would take to mobilize sustainable, methane-focused financing: the conditions, incentives and constraints that would shape its future uptake by intermediaries and the livestock sector.

• Develop a typology of financial intermediaries according to their business model, livestock specialization, degree of proximity to producers, information availability and potential role in methane-smart finance.

• Consolidate the findings into a final diagnostic report on how FIRA's financing operates through intermediaries and what it implies for the strategy's analytical framework, traceability tools and instrument design.

 

Deliverables and Payment Schedule

 

Deliverable 1. Workplan.

Activities, methodology, data sources, the approach strategy for engaging FIRA and the intermediaries, and a timeline. Serves as the operational reference for monitoring progress and coordinating with GGGI.

 

Deliverable 2. One sample selection report, with an annexed intermediary database and a research design proposal.

The report presents the resulting sample of up to 15 intermediaries and the methodology behind it; the annexed database consolidates the identified intermediaries; and the research design sets out the mixed-methods approach and its instruments, ready for application and approved by GGGI and FIRA before fieldwork begins.

 

Deliverable 3. One document that integrates a diagnostic matrix, a comparative analysis report, and an intermediary typology.

The matrix will structure data at the intermediary level, capturing institution type; livestock financial products; disbursement and distribution mechanisms; the productive use of credit funds (inputs, practices, infrastructure); data recorded throughout the process; granularity of the credit's end use; and identified traceability gaps. The accompanying report will benchmark intermediaries across these variables, analyzing the barriers, challenges, and opportunities for sustainable practice adoption, alongside the feasibility and anticipated uptake of future methane-smart financial solutions. The document also includes an annexed database typology that classifies the intermediaries by business model, livestock specialization, proximity to producers, information availability and potential role in methane-smart finance.

 

Deliverable 4. Final diagnostic report, supporting datasets, and executive presentation.

This consolidated report integrates all diagnostic findings regarding the flow of FIRA's financing through intermediaries down to the producer level. Backed by the underlying datasets, the report translates these insights into actionable implications for the strategy's analytical framework, traceability, and instrument design. Specifically, it delivers a proposed minimum data set to enable the estimation of financed methane emissions and feeds the methane-smart classification of FIRA's investment concepts. The deliverable concludes with an executive presentation summarizing the consultancy's key outcomes.

 

OUTPUT / DELIVERABLE	PERCENTAGE OF MAXIMUM AMOUNT	DUE DATE
Deliverable 1. One workplan developed.	10%	2 weeks after the start date
Deliverable 2. One sample selection report, with an annexed intermediary database and a research design proposal.	30%	6 weeks after the start date
Deliverable 3. One document that integrates a diagnostic matrix, a comparative analysis report, and an intermediary typology.	35%	11 weeks after the start date
Deliverable 4. Final diagnostic report, supporting datasets, and executive presentation.	25%	13 weeks after the start date

 

All products (databases, documents with their annexes, tables, diagrams, and other graphic materials) will be delivered in digital media, in open and editable files.

The total fee is all-inclusive: it covers all travel, per-diem and working-session expenses required to conduct the assignment; GGGI will not reimburse or cover any cost directly.

The consultant will be supervised by GGGI's Mexico Program Sustainable Production Senior Associate. The consultancy will be monitored and coordinated mainly through periodic review and planning meetings, with details to be agreed in a kick-off meeting once the consultancy starts and the schedule defined in coordination with the same supervisor. These meetings will address the strategic direction of activities, the coordination of actors, and progress reporting on the consultancy's objective and deliverables.

Deliverables may be submitted in Spanish; the final executive presentation, however, must be delivered in English, in accordance with GGGI's formatting requirements. Fieldwork, interviews, and stakeholder consultation will be conducted in Spanish, and all products must be sent in electronic copy together with the detail of the items associated with each deliverable.

 

• (REQUIRED) Mexican citizen or a foreign resident with a current work visa.

• (REQUIRED) Master’s Degree in Business Administration, Economics, Agricultural Economics, Finance, or a related field. Postgraduate studies related to the field are desirable.

• (REQUIRED) At least five (5) years of proven experience in agricultural or development finance, and with the livestock sector, including familiarity with sustainable / low-emission livestock management.

• (REQUIRED) Experience with mixed-methods research, including the design and application of interviews, questionnaires, and working sessions.

• (REQUIRED) Fluent in written and spoken English.

• (PLUS) Knowledge of FIRA, second-tier banking, and the ecosystem of agricultural financial intermediaries.

• (PLUS) Established relationships across the bovine value chain (dairy, beef and dual-purpose).

• (PLUS) Experience with greenhouse-gas / methane mitigation in livestock systems.

• (PLUS) Prior work with the Government of Mexico (GoM), FIRA, international organizations, academia or corporate actors related to the sector.

• Excellent skills in data analysis and critical thinking.

• Strong skills in assertive communication.

• Functional

• A proactive attitude, with an ability to find workable solutions promptly.

• Punctual, professional, and ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines.

• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work with multicultural and interdisciplinary teams.

• Corporate

• Understands and actively supports GGGI’s mission, vision, and values.

• Commits to team goals and works effectively across the organization with individuals of different views, cultures, nationality, gender, and age.

• Excellent problem solver.

• Exemplifies the highest standard of honesty, integrity, and professionalism.

 

Administrative information

• Selection Method: Competitive Selection (CS)

• Timeline of selection: 15 days

• Interested consultants shall submit the following documentation:  

• Cover letter.

• Curriculum vitae (CV).

Date to close is Korean Standard Time (KST). Applications submitted after the deadline will not be considered. Application, cover letter, and CV must be sent in English. A consortium or a firm may not be engaged for the individual consultant assignment. 

 

Child protection – GGGI is committed to child protection, irrespective of whether any specific area of work involves direct contact with children. GGGI’s Child Protection Policy is written in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child.