NATIONAL CONSULTANT – PEST MANAGEMENT

FAO Bangladesh assists the Government to formulate policies, programmes and projects to address the root causes of hunger and malnutrition, develop the agricultural, fisheries and forestry sectors, and utilize environmental and natural resources in a sustainable way. It contributes to the development of FAO’s field programme projects in the country and implements them in the sectors of food security, agriculture and rural development.

The Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) project of FAO to Establish Solar Energy Based e-Pest Surveillance System (TCP/BGD/3701) will\:
• involve machine learning based on detection and recognition of plant disease and insect pests providing clues to identify and treat the plant disease and insect pests at early stages;
• process recognition methods looking for fast, automatic, less expensive and accurate method to detect plant disease and insect pest cases, which is of great realistic significance;
• use method of data acquisition and transmission would use several kinds of sensors to collect, analyze, transmit and manage the whole data related to plant diseases and insect pests;

Reporting Lines

The national consultant will be under the overall managerial, administrative leadership and supervision of the FAO Representative in Bangladesh and direct supervision of the Assistant FAO Representative (Programme) and close collaboration with the Government counterpart as well as other project staff in the various project in FAO Bangladesh.

Technical Focus

Support the development and implementation of a e-surveillance pest management system for faster and accurate monitoring of pest diseases and pest using the solar energy.

Tasks and responsibilities

- In collaboration with the National Project Coordinator (NPC) work toward achieving the overall objective of the establishment of the solar-based surveillance system.
- Collect and analyze relevant technical, social, economic, environmental, institutional and technology related information, data and/ or statistics to support the delivery of programme/ project products and services;
- Undertake data analysis, provide technical input for plans and reports and edit/ revise technical/ scientific documents;
- Participate in the development of improved work methods, tools and systems and work with the IT expert to ensure the database is updated as agreed.
- Participate in multi-disciplinary project/work teams;
- Collaborate in the development of training tools and materials and organization of workshops/ seminars etc;
- Participate in the organization, facilitation and follow-up of meetings, consultations and conferences, development/ production of required materials and provisions of information and assistance to partners;
- Work with the other consultants and in collaboration with various government departments for the establishment of the solar-based pest management system;
- Identify interested farmers for testing a set of the most promising alternatives. implement and supervise piloting activities for the identified technologies in one or more pilot areas and ensure dissemination of the lessons learned, the methods and results;
- Perform any other duty as may be assigned by the supervisor.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

- Advanced University Degree, preferably PD. in one of the following\: Plant Pathology, Crop Science, Plant Disease Epidemiology, Host Plant Resistance, Crop Protection, and knowledge in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an added advantage.
- National of Bangladesh or resident in the country.
- Five years of relevant experience in transboundary plant-disease management in developing countries.

FAO Core Competencies

- Results Focus
- Teamwork
- Communication
- Building Effective Relationships
- Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

- Excellent knowledge of English is essential and well computer literate.
- Good organizational capability and teamwork skills are required.
- Depth of knowledge and extent of working experience in transboundary plant-disease management in developing countries.
- Demonstrated ability to work, coordinate and motivate multidisciplinary teams.
- Demonstrated ability to provide coordination in inter-institutional and inter-cultural collaborative research and development.
- Ability to interpret and analyze field information.
- Demonstrated advisory skills and excellent oral and written communications skills (including ability to write concise reports).
- Willingness and fitness to travel.