Call for interest for Consultant - Community of Practice Analyst, 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.

Post's organizational accountability

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 IFAD, the European Commission (EC), Agence Française de Développement (AFD), Italian Development Cooperation (DGCS) and German cooperation (BMZ and KfW), in strategic partnership with NEPAD. 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). Also the KM and Capacity development component will be scaled up and activities intensified.

Given the ambitious and demanding plan of activities expected from the PARM Horizon 2, the maintenance of a strong and efficient KM strategy is crucial to ensure that PARM continues to build awareness on ARM and maintain its role as global knowledge platform in PARM Horizon 2.

In particular, the recent agreement with the World Bank to hand over the FARM-D Community of Practice (CoP) under the PARM management, will required further efforts to manage and develop ad hoc strategy in order to ensure the successful re-launch and maintenance of the CoP from 2020 and beyond. The new online platform aims at providing practitioners with an improved experience on ARM and access to various resources and webinars spaces.

Launched in 2010, FARM-D, or the Forum for Agricultural Risk Management and Development, has become the leading knowledge repository and dissemination platform for all ARM related issues and a virtual meeting place for a growing and vibrant global Community of Practice of thousands of members. The World Bank’s Agricultural Risk Management Team played a critical role in coordinating initial members’ interactions and the activities leading to the consolidation of the forum, with the Swiss Government, through its State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs as main partners.

Key results expected / Major functional activities

Under the overall coordination of the Knowledge Management Officer and in collaboration with the other colleagues from the PARM Secretariat, the consultant  will be responsible for ongoing the evolution of the FARM-D CoP by supporting continual learning, collaboration and delivering of high quality, relevant and engaging content across global, regional and local networks of ARM-focused practitioners. He/she will play a vital role in supporting the practical working of the CoP, its content, tools, events and logistics.

Responsibilities

• Help to stimulate online and face-to-face participation and contributions between members by positing messages, asking questions and sharing relevant content;
• Work "behind the scenes" to engage members;
• Support participants in making the best use of the technology platform;
• Promote the community in order to recruit new members;
• Assist in the organization of meetings and functions related to the advancement of the CoPs work including meeting materials, agendas and communication with practitioners;
• Plan and support as required for CoP webinars, workshops and other knowledge transfer activities;
• Assist in the testing and setting up technology support: webinars,  voice and video conferences;
• Support the website maintenance including updates and content development of the online CoP portal;
• Attend all CoP meetings and document concise, accurate notes and action items;
• Provide research support and surveys for environmental scans to identify CoP needs and opportunities to support an active and engaged membership;
• Support in the management and monitoring of members' database;
• Support in outreach and communication activities to help keep CoP members and PARM's partners informed;
• Support in collecting, curating, and disseminating content of the FARMD and PARM online platforms;
• Support the creation and maintenance of CoP resources, materials, and tools;
• Assist in the development and distribution of communication materials, including but not restricted to, letters, briefs, reports, presentations, web-based communication, newsletters and emails;
• Support on other related KM activities, as needed.

Competencies

Technical and functional

• Advanced computer literacy and internet usage skills, including social media and the management of online content;
• Excellent communication, writing, editing and analytic skills;
• Strong organisational/project planning and time management skills;
• Strong interpersonal and networking skills;
• Ability to think creatively and innovatively while meeting the needs of a diverse professional audience;
• Familiarity and understating of agriculture-related topics and agricultural risk management is an asset.

Minimum recruitment qualifications

Education

• An advanced university degree in a relevant field such as communications sciences, social, behavioural sciences or adult education.

Experience

• At least 3 years relevant experience in building and maintaining CoPs, communications and outreach activities and content management for online platform and social media.
• Experience managing online learning systems or websites would be beneficial
• A working knowledge of agriculture-related topics and agricultural risk management will be a significant advantage

Language requirements

• Full command, both written and spoken in English is required.
• Written and oral 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. Applicants who do not receive any feedback within three months should consider their application unsuccessful.