Call for interest for Consultant - Capacity Development Specialist, PARM, PMI Division

Organizational context

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is an international financial institution and a specialized United Nations agency dedicated to eradicating rural poverty and hunger. It does so by investing in rural people. IFAD finances programmes and projects that increase agricultural productivity and raise rural incomes, and  advocates at the local, national and international level for policies that contribute to rural transformation.

IFAD hosts the Platform for Agricultural Risk Management (PARM), a G20-initiative created in 2013 with the mandate to enable the integration of a holistic agricultural risk management (ARM) approach into policy planning, institutional capacities and investment in the agricultural sector of Least Developed Countries and Lower Middle-Income Countries to move away from a culture of coping with disasters towards a smart management of risk, and support building resilience in the agricultural sector. The Platform represents a unique and strategic global multi-stakeholder partnership in the area of agricultural risk management guided and supported by the EC, AFD, Italy, IFAD and Germany (through NEPAD of the AU for Africa). It also benefits from the technical assistance of a pool of international and regional multilateral partners (World Bank Group, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Food Programme (WFP), African Risk Capacity (ARC); knowledge partners (Agrinatura, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), etc.); farmers organizations (ROPPA, EAFF); and private sector (CARGILL, MUNICH RE), among others.

PARM implementation is done in phases, with phase one (PARM Horizon 1) spanning over 2013-2019. The objective of this phase was to mainstream ARM at global level and enable the integration of a holistic agricultural risk management into the policy planning and investment plans in 8 African countries from Sub-Saharan Africa. The very positive results achieved by PARM during the first phase brought to the development of PARM Horizon 2 (2019-2024). During that time frame PARM will continue to bring evidence and build capacities on ARM at global and country level, but investing more resources in the design of ARM programs for investments, with a more structured involvement of public-private-partnerships and in direct support to meso-level players (extension services, financial intermediaries, women's and youth’s groups, NGOs, farmers’ enterprises and organizations).

One of the main outcomes of PARM is to ensure the inclusion of the technical analysis and feasibility studies into the national strategies and investment plans in some sub-Saharan countries. To achieve this challenging result PARM is also investing significant resources to reinforce the capacities of national and international stakeholders on ARM through its capacity development (CD) actions. Capacity development represents one of the main pillars of PARM at global and country level and is integral part of PARM Knowledge Management strategy.

In this frame a consultancy is requested to implement, with the support of PARM team, the Capacity Development (CD) strategy of PARM Horizon 2, carrying out all the required activities, including organizing and delivery ARM CD seminars and training in PARM countries and ensuring that ARM CD component is included into the national agricultural policy and investment projects.

Post's organizational accountability

Key results expected / Major functional activities

Under the supervision of the PARM Lead Technical Specialist and the support of the Secretariat, the consultant will be requested to:

• Implement the Capacity Development strategy and plan of PARM Horizon 2. The brand-new CD strategy for PARM Horizon 2 is built upon the successful outcomes of PARM Horizon 1 and contain new elements to adapt CD activities to the new project design of PARM Horizon 2. It should aim to maximize: i) PARM internal synergies with other core activities in particular with the KM Strategy and the country operations; ii) external synergies with existing and prospective initiatives at local, national, regional and global level and iii) contribute to the identification of new dissemination tools and approaches (Farmer Field School…) of PARM experience and material developed during the phase 1; iv) implementation of the new identified CD tools (trainings and seminars…) in the selected countries and regions;
• Monitor the results of all CD activities and adjust the strategy (if required) according to performance and needs, including the identification of upcoming capacity development needs (and consequent design of CD activities) at different level (local, national and regional) in consultation with PARM team, national and regional stakeholders and various experts. The identification of ARM CD gaps in each country and/or different level should be done along the overall PARM process, also in collaboration with PARM pool of experts/consultants;
• Get familiar with all the (P)ARM learning resources on agricultural risk management. During PARM Horizon 1, a full set of training material has been developed to carry out various CD activities (i.e., 2-day seminar, 5-day training, e-learning courses, etc.) and it is essential to learn and therefore be able to convey to different audience the content of such material;
• Collaborate with PARM team and PARM pool of experts/consultants to develop and design CD modules and material for specific ARM tools, subsector and/or value chain activities. The modules will have to be fully adjusted to the demand or investments plans of various countries and/or sub-sector;
• Organize and implement CD seminars or training in each PARM country as planned in the Capacity Development strategy and based on upcoming needs. These events include both ARM seminars delivered to a generic audience, ARM training courses targeting service providers and/or agricultural experts (in collaboration with local Universities, research and training centres) and training on specific ARM tools subsector and/or value chain activities. Some of these CD events could be also undertaken at regional level and in partnership with other stakeholders. The activities include the following of the entire process (organization, contact with local stakeholders, choice of the venues, etc.), preparation of the ToRs, selection of trainees, selection and evaluation of stakeholders in charge of CD activities, etc.;
• Ensure the inclusion of ARM CD component into the national agricultural policy, extension services plans and investment projects. In collaboration with PARM team and the different experts recruited to undertake the technical studies, facilitate and provide recommendations to mainstream Capacity Development on ARM in the national agricultural policy and investment plan of PARM countries;
• In collaboration with KM Officer, implement the dissemination plan of the PARM knowledge and learning resources through the appropriate platform (i.e. FARM-D, etc.), stakeholders’ interactions (i.e. Farmers’ Organizations, NGOs, National and International stakeholders, etc.) and supports to facilitate access by different potential beneficiaries of all the PARM products. The material is all available as a public good in formats that are accessible and useful for the larger group of potential individuals in the targeted audience for CD activities and beyond;
• Participate in PARM experience capitalization process to identify successful areas of PARM previous work and areas of improvement for PARM Horizon 2;
• Follow-up on country CD strategies and partnerships built during PARM Horizon 1 with several stakeholders (such as regional or national institutions/research centres/Universities, private sector, etc.) to enhance the sustainability of the ARM knowledge dissemination and development at national, regional and global level;
• Provide technical and operational support to KM and other PARM activities as required.

Impact of Key results / Key performance indicators

Representation / Work relationships

Competencies

Technical and functional

• Good communication and facilitation skills and capacity to work with a multi-national team and to work with government institutions;•
• Good understanding of agricultural risk management and related topics will be considered an asset ;
• Field experience related to agricultural and rural development is desirable.
• Availability to travel on regular basis.
• Communication skills: write clearly, succinctly and convincingly, listen and communicate to engage others.
• Computer skills: full command of Microsoft applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and common Internet applications

Minimum recruitment qualifications

Education

•   Advanced university degree in agriculture, rural development, development economics or related fields;

Experience

• At least 6 years of professional experience within international institutions in capacity development, vocational trainings, curriculum development including teaching materials.
• Experience in the use and development of creative and pragmatic approaches to deliver institutional trainings to strengthening local capacities and ability to adapt it to specific situation needs will be considered an asset.

Language requirements

• Full command, both written and verbal communication, in English.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in French are an asset.

Other information

It must be noted that consultants are not staff of IFAD, and that this consultancy does not carry any expectation of employment with the Fund. Remuneration will be in line with the standards set for UN consultants.In the interest of making most cost effective use of funds and resources, we are only able to respond to applicants who are short-listed for interview. Candidates who do not receive any feedback within three months should consider their application unsuccessfulCandidates may be required to take a written test and to deliver a presentation as well as participate in interviews.