Rural Credit Data Analyst Specialist

The Sustainable Environmental Development Unit (UDAS) of UNDP Brazil works with programme areas and partners to strengthen the environmental portfolio through technical and policy support for initiatives related to biodiversity, climate change, sustainable production, and ecological transition.

The Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) is a global programme led by UNDP to address biodiversity finance challenges. Created following COP-10 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), BIOFIN supports countries in strengthening policies, institutions, and financial mechanisms to mobilise and align public and private resources for biodiversity conservation and sustainable use. The initiative also promotes improved information on biodiversity expenditures, financing needs, and resource mobilisation, while fostering institutional arrangements for long-term biodiversity finance planning and implementation.

In Brazil, BIOFIN is jointly implemented by the Ministry of Finance and UNDP, in coordination with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change and other partners. The initiative contributes to Brazil’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP), the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), and the Ecological Transformation Plan by strengthening biodiversity finance governance and improving the alignment of financing instruments with national priorities.

Rural credit is one of the main instruments directing financial flows to Brazil’s agricultural sector. Through the National Rural Credit System (SNCR), financing reaches family farmers, medium-sized producers, and other rural businesses. Due to its scale and influence on production decisions, rural credit can play an important role in promoting sustainable production systems, supporting bioeconomy and sociobiodiversity value chains, and contributing to biodiversity conservation.

In recent years, socio-environmental criteria have been increasingly incorporated into rural credit policies through differentiated financial conditions, incentives for sustainable practices, and requirements related to environmental compliance. At the same time, Brazil has advanced monitoring systems and databases on rural credit operations and beneficiaries’ socio-environmental regularity, particularly through the Rural Credit and Proagro Operations System (SICOR). These advances are supported by a transparent regulatory framework established in the Rural Credit Manual (MCR) and by operational data provided by the Central Bank of Brazil.

Within this context, BIOFIN and the Agricultural Policy and Agro-Environmental Business Secretariat of the Ministry of Finance (SPANA/MF) are developing the “Rural Credit for Sustainable Production Systems” finance solution. The initiative seeks to assess and strengthen mechanisms that channel rural credit toward socio-environmental conditionalities, sustainable production practices, environmental compliance, and the promotion of sociobiodiversity value chains.

This assignment will support the development of a methodology to identify and characterise, using SICOR data, rural credit operations associated with sustainability, bioeconomy, and sociobiodiversity. The analysis will generate evidence to strengthen rural credit instruments and support policy design aimed at advancing sustainable development and biodiversity objectives in Brazil.

Under the direct supervision of the Programme Officers of the Sustainable Environmental Development Unit (UDAS) and the technical coordination of the Agricultural Policy and Agro-Environmental Business Secretariat of the Ministry of Finance (SPANA/MF), the UN Volunteer Specialist will contribute to strengthening Brazil's rural credit mechanisms in support of sustainable production systems, the bioeconomy and sociobiodiversity value chains, under the BIOFIN "Rural Credit for Sustainable Production Systems" finance solution.

The professional will work closely with the UNDP team, the Ministry of Finance and other strategic partners, participating regularly in coordination meetings, planning discussions and project monitoring activities.

The assignment will focus on the development and application of a methodology to identify and characterize, based on data from the Rural Credit and Proagro Operations System (SICOR), rural credit operations related to sustainability, the bioeconomy and sociobiodiversity, articulating SICOR data with the Manual de Crédito Rural (MCR), other applicable rural credit regulations, and the conceptual and normative references that establish concepts and criteria related to these topics, translating them into parameters that can be applied to rural credit operations.

Key responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

1. Methodology Development and Data Analysis
a. Support the development of a methodology to identify and characterise rural credit operations related to sustainability, the bioeconomy and sociobiodiversity, based on data from the Rural Credit and Proagro Operations System (SICOR).
b. Cross-reference SICOR data with other environmental, territorial and production-related databases, when necessary, to refine the identification and classification of rural credit operations.
c. Analyse rural credit data to identify operations with potential classification as sustainable, related to the bioeconomy, or linked to sociobiodiversity.
d. Assess the adequacy of SICOR operation records for monitoring rural credit operations related to sustainable activities, the bioeconomy and sociobiodiversity, identifying gaps, inconsistencies and limitations in existing fields and classifications.

2. Regulatory and Conceptual Review
a. Review the Manual de Crédito Rural (MCR) and other applicable rural credit regulations to identify provisions related to socio-environmental conditionalities, sustainability, the bioeconomy and sociobiodiversity.
b. Analyse conceptual and normative references that establish concepts and criteria related to sustainability, the bioeconomy and sociobiodiversity, such as national strategies and frameworks relevant to rural credit.
c. Translate normative and conceptual references into practical parameters and criteria that can be applied to rural credit operations.

3. Knowledge Products and Technical Support
a. Prepare technical notes, methodological documents and analytical products summarising findings and proposed classification criteria.
b. Support the preparation of presentations, reports and other knowledge products for the Ministry of Finance (SPANA/MF), UNDP and other stakeholders.
c. Contribute to the identification of gaps, opportunities and recommendations for the regulatory or operational improvement of rural credit instruments.

4. Coordination and Institutional Engagement
a. Participate regularly in coordination meetings, technical discussions and monitoring activities with UNDP, SPANA/MF and other strategic partners.
b. Support engagement with relevant institutions involved in rural credit policy and data, such as the Central Bank of Brazil and financial institutions, as needed.
c. Contribute to the incorporation of social inclusion considerations into the analysis, including the characterisation of rural credit operations carried out by women, indigenous peoples and traditional communities, especially in sociobiodiversity value chains.