CIFOR-ICRAF
The Forest, Agriculture, and Commodity Trade (FACT) Dialogue was initiated in response to escalating global challenges such as deforestation, biodiversity loss, and climate change, which are deeply intertwined with unsustainable commodity production and trade. Launched by the UK Prime Minister and Indonesian President at the COP26 World Leaders Summit on Forests and Land Use in November 2021, the FACT Dialogue aims to foster collaborative efforts among major producer and consumer countries of internationally traded agricultural and forest commodities. The initiative seeks to promote sustainable practices by facilitating the sharing of best practices, developing policy actions, and encouraging the use of innovative technologies and voluntary approaches.
FACT was originally envisioned to be a five-year dialogue process, culminating at COP30 and finishing up in Spring 2026. This initiative primarily focused on establishing a collaborative platform that brought together 28 key producer and consumer countries to address the systemic challenges hindering the transition to sustainable commodity production and trade. These challenges included divergent perspectives across the commodity value chain, limited market access for smallholder farmers, insufficient research and development collaboration, fragmented governance, and a lack of data transparency and traceability in sustainable production systems. To address these issues, the FACT Roadmap of Action was developed, targeting four key thematic areas: Trade & Markets, Support for Smallholders, Traceability & Transparency, and Research Development & Innovation.
Early on, the FACT Dialogue successfully established an independent secretariat to coordinate the initiative’s activities, support the implementation of the roadmap, and facilitate engagement among member countries. This phase saw increasing levels of country engagement, alignment, and trust, culminating in a significant political momentum observed at the FACT Forum held in Ubud, Bali, in March 2024. The progress made in the first years of the initiative emphasized the importance of continued collaboration to achieve the long-term goals of the initiative.
The overarching goal of the FACT Dialogue is to ensure that globally traded commodities increasingly originate from sustainable sources, contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Therefore, it emphasizes the need for greater alignment, trust, and international collaboration, with specific outcomes aimed at enhancing political salience, participation diversity, and coherence within the global sustainable commodity policy agenda. By 2026, the initiative seeks to contribute to a more coherent international system, characterized by neutral facilitation, open and constructive dialogue, knowledge exchange, and the identification of common priorities among FACT members.
To achieve these outcomes, the FACT Dialogue focuses on several key objectives, including the provision of a structured and neutral space for collaboration, transparent dissemination of relevant information, promotion of best practices, and the collaboration with transnational multi-stakeholder coalitions and platforms. These efforts aim to build trust, facilitate knowledge sharing, and drive collective action towards the sustainable production, trade, and consumption of commodities, ultimately contributing to a more equitable, resilient, and sustainable global economy.
Duties and responsibilities
The evaluation team will be required to conduct an externally-led,
summative evaluative and strategic review of the FACT-Dialogue (2021-2026). The
evaluation will examine the extent to which FACT effectively achieved its
outcomes as well as determine and assess factors, enabling conditions, and
lessons learnt in achieving these goals (cf. supra).
The evaluation shall include, but not be limited to, the following
four phases: planning, data collection, analysis and reporting. In the section
below is an outline of the specific responsibilities of the evaluation team in
each phase. These 4 phases break into two large blocks:
Inception block (planning of the evaluation). The review team will work independently to design an evaluation plan,
data collection tools and analytic frameworks, and present it to
FACT-Secretariat (CIFOR, RA), the FACT-Dialogue co-chairs (UK, Malaysia [tbc])
for feedback before its finalization (inception phase).?
Review block (data collection, analysis and reporting). The review team will be required to collect and synthesize existing
information against the key evaluation questions, assess the need for then
further remote or face-to-face data collection to address information gaps as
needed before compiling the evaluation report, as well as generate a learning
process based on sharing preliminary findings and obtaining feedback from
others. CIFOR’s project team, members of CIFOR’s Quality for Impact team (Q4I) and
core partners will support the evaluation team to understand the structure of
the FACT-Dialogue and assist with the collection of all data needed. It is
expected that key representatives of FACT member countries will be interviewed
by the evaluation team.
Education, knowledge and experience
Educational background:
• A Master’s degree minimum in fields such as International Development, Public Policy, Environmental Studies, Forestry, Environmental Science, Climate, Trade, Biodiversity Conservation, or related disciplines.
Evaluation and strategic review expertise:
• At least 10 years of proven experience leading and conducting strategic reviews and evaluations of complex international development, environmental conservation, trade, and/or climate-related programs.
• Demonstrated capacity to apply theory-based and participatory evaluation approaches, ensuring strategic alignment of findings with broader organizational goals.
• Experience assessing multi-phase, interdisciplinary initiatives, with a focus on sustainability, impact, and future strategic directions.
Sector-specific knowledge and experience:
• In-depth understanding of the thematic areas relevant to FACT, including forestry, climate adaptation and mitigation, trade-related environmental issues, biodiversity conservation, and gender-inclusive approaches to environmental management.
• Familiarity with the policy and operational landscape within which FACT operates, including key stakeholders, beneficiaries, and governance structures.
• Proven track record of integrating nature-based solutions, climate governance considerations, and community-level insights into strategic evaluations.
Analytical and communication skills:
• Strong analytical capabilities, including the ability to handle complex, multi-source data sets and synthesize insights into actionable recommendations.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with a demonstrated ability to engage effectively with high-level stakeholders, present findings clearly and concisely, and produce high-quality, coherent reports.
• Advanced proficiency in English (required), with French, Spanish and/or Portuguese language skills considered an asset.
Terms and conditions
• This is a consultancy position.
• Period of the consultancy in total is 3 months.
• Work location: Home-based
• Please submit a letter of interest, technical and financial proposal of no more than 15 pages (annexes can include company profile, CVs of the proposed technical expert(s), workplan, etc.) including contact information to cifor-icraf-pmu@cifor-icraf.org
• Any clarifying questions can be directed to: j.rouge@cifor-icraf.org
To apply, please visit our career site at:
To learn more about CIFOR-ICRAF, please visit our websites at: https://www.cifor-icraf.org
CIFOR-ICRAF promotes Gender Diversity – Applications from women professionals are encouraged.
CIFOR-ICRAF is an equal opportunity employer. It fosters a multicultural work environment that values gender equality, teamwork, and respect for diversity.