About the Market Development Facility
The Market Development Facility (MDF) is an Australian Government funded multi-country initiative that promotes sustainable economic development, through higher incomes for women and men, in our partner countries. We connect individuals, businesses, governments and NGOs with each other, and with markets at home and abroad. This enhances investment and coordination and allows partnerships to flourish, strengthening inclusive economic growth.
MDF is funded by the Australian Government. It is implemented by Palladium in partnership with Swisscontact. In Sri Lanka, MDF works in sustainable tourism, agricultural inputs and speciality coffee, with cross-cutting investments to promote inclusivity and climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Department of Export Agriculture
The Sri Lanka Government’s Department of Export Agriculture (DOEA) supports development of export agricultural crops, including coffee. It has engaged in research and development to increase production, productivity and quality of export agricultural crops. It increases sapling availability by supporting nurseries and expands cultivation by providing subsidies for coffee planting. It disseminates knowledge to farmers through its extension network. The DOEA also provides grants to coffee farmers for machinery and other support.
The Role
Since 2017, MDF has been collaborating with stakeholders to develop Sri Lanka’s specialty coffee market, aiming to improve industry coordination and promotion. They plan to create a ‘Specialty Coffee Roadmap’ with the DOEA to guide industry growth, influence policy, attract investment, and enhance coordination. A national consultant, supported by an international expert, will lead this effort, ensuring the roadmap outlines steps to make Sri Lanka’s coffee a competitive export crop. The consultant will work closely with MDF and DOEA, and cannot subcontract without approval. The main output will be a report on global specialty coffee trends and recommendations for Sri Lanka.
The consultant will be responsible for:
- • Analyse current and future global specialty coffee market trends and the opportunities they present for Sri Lanka’s specialty coffee industry.
- • Collaborating with the national consultant, MDF and DOEA to gain a thorough understanding of the Sri Lanka specialty coffee industry.
- • Advising the national consultant on global specialty coffee trends and how the Sri Lankan specialty coffee industry might penetrate the global specialty coffee market. This will include practical steps that can be undertaken by domestic coffee firms to enter new markets and develop relationships with potential buyers.
- • Reviewing and providing input for the roadmap being developed by the national consultant.
- • Preparing and presenting a concise report summarising these findings and recommendations, in consultation with the national consultant, MDF and DOEA.
Requirements
We are seeking an individual who will bring:
- • Extensive experience in international coffee business, working in or with global coffee companies in senior management or advisory.
- • Extensive experience in international speciality coffee sourcing supply chains, including marketing of speciality coffee to international buyers (B2B).
- • Extensive industry network encompassing large-scale international coffee business.
- • Demonstrated capacity to constructively engage with the private and public sector stakeholders to obtain data and understand sector dynamics.
- • Demonstrated analytical skills, including the ability to conduct primary and secondary research.
- • Excellent written and spoken English language skills, and the ability to summarise findings concisely and present them to key stakeholders.
- • Experience in developing policy and strategy for the private or public sector will be considered an advantage.
Join us and be a part of a team that’s making a real difference in economic development across MDF’s diverse and dynamic portfolio!
How to Apply
For full details on role requirements,read the Terms of Reference linked above. Please submit your CVs indicating relevant experience, along with a brief proposal (maximum of 2 pages) explaining their approach to the assignment, and a financial proposal based on the deliverables described above.
MDF is open to applications from individual consultants and companies for this position.
Closing date: Midnight 16th May, 2025- Colombo Time
This position is open to residents with authority to live and work in Sri Lanka.