Consultant as New Food Economy Analyst, Food Land and Water Program

This is a hybrid position which requires 8 days per month in the office. You can be based in our office in WRI Indonesia, Jakarta. Existing work authorization is required at the time of application submission as WRI is unable to sponsor any visa work sponsorship for this position.

Program Overview

With Indonesia’s new government setting an ambitious high-growth agenda, the country stands at a pivotal moment in redefining how land, food systems, natural resources, and the wider economy interact. Long-standing extractive economic structures, combined with population growth and uneven regional development, continue to place pressure on forests, peatlands, and ecologically sensitive landscapes, despite recent progress in reducing deforestation.

Climate-related disasters are also increasing in frequency and intensity, placing acute stress on agriculture, coastal systems, and rural livelihoods. This is critical for the agricultural sector, which contributes 14 percent of GDP and employs 30 percent of the national workforce. The way food is produced and managed also shapes land use decisions and ecological pressures, influencing emissions and competing with sectors such as energy, mining, and infrastructure.

These dynamics reveal the increasingly complex interactions across economy, food, climate, and livelihood systems. They highlight the need for a more integrated and systems-based understanding of how these sectors interact and reinforce one another, and how governance, regulatory frameworks, and institutional capacity must shift to catalyze sustainable and inclusive development. This is particularly important in Indonesia, where deep socio-cultural diversity and contrasting ecological landscapes create significant variation in how policies unfold on the ground. Approaches that succeed in certain eastern jurisdictions may not work in western regions, which underscores the need for context specific, legally grounded, and systems oriented solutions.

Under its new flagship initiative, Indonesia’s New Food Economy, WRI Indonesia aims to address such challenges by building a bottom-up evidence base for alternative food economy models that, once adopted in their respective jurisdictions, can catalyze green and inclusive economic growth. The initiative examines how food ecosystems, including production, distribution, and consumption, as well as local food resources, diversified farming systems, and community-driven innovations, can contribute to stronger livelihoods, more resilient local economies, and long-term socio-economic welfare. These approaches are expected to generate wider benefits across community health, education outcomes, and broader social welfare, while protecting natural capital and sustaining local cultures.

The initiative focuses on two guiding questions. First, how can the food sector serve as a lever for green and sustainable economic growth across diverse jurisdictions, considering their trade-offs and opportunities. Second, how can polycentric governance arrangements, through the interactions of government, communities, and private actors at multiple levels, work together to achieve these objectives and support coherent policy and institutional transformation. The work will help improve national and local policies and clarify how legal frameworks, institutional roles, and governance systems can align to make the food sector a powerful lever for building a more resilient and fair development path for communities across Indonesia.

Job Highlight

The New Food Economy Analyst will support the Indonesia’s New Food Economy initiative by delivering place-based research and coordinating field-level engagement across diverse districts in Indonesia. The role requires to design research inquiries under the guidance of senior researchers, gather evidence from varied socio-ecological contexts, and translate field insights into structured analytical outputs. A central responsibility is to understand how food ecosystems operate within specific jurisdictions, how local actors shape these systems, and how socio-economic opportunities emerge from distinct cultural, ecological, and production landscapes. The role also involves synthesizing findings into clear reports and analytical notes that inform modelling scenarios, governance analysis, and the development of the New Food Economy blueprint.

The Analyst will contribute to multi-stakeholder processes, help translate community perspectives into actionable insights, and support efforts to ensure that research and engagement activities reflect WRI’s commitments to inclusion and participatory approaches. The New Food Economy Analyst reports to the Senior Lead for Economics Policy and Governance and will collaborate closely with multidisciplinary teams. The position is based in Jakarta with an office-flex arrangement and requires periodic travel to support field research and engagement.

In support of WRI’s DEI commitment, the Analyst is responsible for integrating equity, cultural sensitivity, and respect for Indigenous knowledge into all aspects of their work and interactions.

What You Will Do

Research (60%)

• Develop place-based research questions and approaches under the guidance of senior researchers.

• Conduct field and desk research to document food ecosystems, socio-economic patterns, local value chains, and community-level innovations across districts.

• Compile, organize, and analyse qualitative and quantitative data from varied socio-ecological contexts.

• Assess how production systems, market structures, cultural practices, and actor interactions shape district-level food economies and economic opportunities.

• Prepare analytical notes, district profiles, and research outputs that inform scenario modelling, governance studies, and the New Food Economy blueprint.

• Provide clear, evidence-based inputs to internal analytical teams by articulating district realities and validating assumptions relevant to modelling and policy work.

Stakeholder Coordination (30%)

• Plan field engagements by identifying relevant stakeholders such as community groups, SMEs, farmer organizations, and district agencies.

• Conduct interviews, focus group discussions, and on-site observations to gather local perspectives and validate research findings.

• Document stakeholder insights in a structured way that supports program analysis and decision-making.

• Support district-level workshops, dialogues, and collaborative learning processes associated with the New Food Economy initiative.

• Adapt engagement approaches to reflect diverse cultural and ecological contexts across eastern and western Indonesia.

Program Management (10%)

• Coordinate with internal teams to align research schedules, field visits, and analytical workflows.

• Prepare TORs, briefing notes, and internal documents that support smooth implementation of research and engagement activities.

• Maintain accurate documentation of field missions, research activities, and stakeholder interactions.

• Support reporting requirements, including inputs for donor reports, internal updates, and program reviews.

• Contribute to a collaborative and inclusive working environment in line with WRI’s DEI principles.

What You Will Need

• Bachelor’s degree in forestry, environmental management, environmental science, public policy, development studies, or a related field. A Master’s degree is preferred, particularly with a research or applied policy focus.

• Minimum of 3 (three) years of proven experience in designing and executing applied research related to food systems, land-use change, or rural socio-economics using qualitative and mixed-methods approaches.

• Competence in socio-cultural field inquiry, including the use of ethnographic or community-based methods to interpret local institutions, cultural practices, and community perspectives that shape food and land-use decisions.

• Strong understanding of Indonesia’s forest and food policy landscape, including key regulatory frameworks, licensing systems, development planning processes, and the governance actors involved at national and subnational levels.

• Understanding of Indonesia’s forest and climate change issues, sustainability agendas, and the policy debates shaping land-use and food-system transitions.

• Ability to analyze local food ecosystems, value chains, institutional dynamics, and district-level socio-economic patterns, and to synthesize complex findings into clear, actionable insights.

• Experience working with subnational governments, community groups, customary institutions, SMEs, or civil society organizations in research or multi-stakeholder settings.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in Bahasa Indonesia and English, including the ability to prepare analytical notes, briefings, and research reports.

• Strong collaborative skills, with the ability to work across multidisciplinary teams such as modelling, governance, policy, and field teams.

• Willingness and ability to travel across Indonesia, including to remote or culturally diverse districts, while ensuring respectful, inclusive engagement practices.

• Legally eligible to work in Indonesia.

Duration

January – December 2026

Deliverables

• District Research Plan: A structured plan that outlines research questions, data needs, stakeholder mapping, and field inquiry methods for selected jurisdictions within the New Food Economy initiative.

• Field Evidence and Documentation: Well-organized qualitative and quantitative evidence gathered from district visits, including interview notes, observations, socio-economic profiles, value-chain descriptions, and community insights that support transparent and reproducible analysis.

• Analytical Outputs and Knowledge Products: Contributions to district diagnostics, food ecosystem assessments, technical notes, policy briefs, and analytical memos that translate field findings into insights for modelling teams, governance analysts, and policy stakeholders.

• Inputs for Scenario Modelling and Policy Pathways: Validated research inputs for economic and systems modelling, including context-specific assumptions, behavioural drivers, food-system dynamics, and district-level variables relevant to scenario development.

• Support for Multi-Stakeholder Engagements: Documentation and analytical summaries from workshops, dialogues, and validation sessions with district governments, community actors, SMEs, and civil society partners, ensuring that local perspectives are reflected in program outputs.

• Project Documentation and Reporting: Accurate and timely documentation of research activities, field missions, stakeholder interactions, and internal coordination, including synthesis of emerging insights and implications for food-system transformation.

• Monthly Progress Reports: Clear updates summarizing completed research activities, field engagement, analytical progress, challenges, and next steps for advancing the New Food Economy initiative.

Terms of Payment

Daily-rate consultant with a maximum of 216 (two hundred sixteen) working days for the whole contract period or 18 (eighteen) working days per month on average.

How to Apply:

• Please submit a resume with a cover letter by 27 December 2025. You must apply through the WRI Careers portal to be considered. We may close for applications sooner if we receive a high volume of applications from qualified candidates.

• Must have authorization to work in Indonesia to be eligible for this position.

• Final candidates might be required to take a certain test and/or to produce/share writing samples when needed.

• This is a locally engaged position, Indonesian nationals are encouraged to apply.

What we offer:

• Consultant rate that is commensurate with experience and skill.

• Travel insurance for both domestic and international for any travel duty as assigned by WRI Indonesia

• Access to the WRI global network with the opportunity to exchange with and learn from passionate colleagues working at the cutting edge of their fields.

• A workplace that strives to put diversity and inclusion at the heart of our work

• The opportunity to join and get involved in different working groups and affinity groups to shape the future of WRI

• Commitment to hybrid working model with flexible working hours

About Us:

World Resources Institute works to improve people’s lives, protect and restore nature and stabilize the climate. As an independent research organization, we leverage our data, expertise and global reach to influence policy and catalyze change across systems like food, land and water; energy; and cities. Our 2,000+ staff work on the ground in more than a dozen focus countries and with partners in over 50 nations.

Our mission and values:

WRI’s mission is to move human society to live in ways that protect Earth’s environment and its capacity to provide for the needs and aspirations of current and future generations.

Our values are shared ideals that bind us together: Independence, Integrity, Impact, Partnership, and Care.

Our culture:

WRI is committed to advancing gender and social equity for human well-being in our mission including equal opportunities in employment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, caste, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disability, or protected Veteran status.

Our Human Resources Team carefully reviews all applications.

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