Food Security and Livelihoods Coordinator

FAO Uganda supports extremely vulnerable populations throughout Uganda, with a particular emphasis on refugee-hosting districts, to achieve sustainable food, nutrition and income security through resilient agricultural livelihoods.

As the immediate needs of refugees and other extremely vulnerable populations experiencing acute instances of economic crisis and food insecurity is met, the focus necessarily turns to the medium and long-term needs for support to livelihoods to achieve self-reliance through sustainable and resilient livelihood strategies. This need is reflected in the recent role allocated to FAO as the co-chair of the Livelihoods and Resilience Sector for the refugee response.

Reporting Lines

The Candidate will work under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative and the direct supervision of the Deputy FAO Representative and in close collaboration with Team Leads of other programme units and Operations/Administrative units.

Technical Focus

The Candidate will provide guidance in planning, implementing and monitoring FAO’s food security and livelihoods portfolio of interventions in Uganda.

• Conduct analysis of livelihoods needs based on Resilience Index Measurement and Assessment (RIMA) and other recent studies
• Develop and present FAO’s position on livelihoods development for refugees, refugee hosting communities and other marginalized and vulnerable populations in Uganda at various meetings of government, UN and development partners at national level
• Identify possible resource mobilization opportunities and draft concept notes and programme documents
• Coordinate within FAO to ensure that livelihoods programming is coherent across the FAO portfolio in Uganda, with a special emphasis on the refugee response, aligned to FAO’s commitment to the SDG, notably SDG 1 (End poverty) and SDG 2 (End hunger).
• Liaise with FAO HQ staff from the Strategic Programmes teams on sustainable agriculture, poverty reduction and resilience
• Ensure effective project monitoring and management and timely delivery of activities under FAO’s refugee response portfolio
• Coordinate the work of a small team of international and national consultants to ensure timely project delivery
• Represent FAO (and lead/facilitate where required) in key coordination fora such as, but not limited to, the Livelihoods and Resilience Sector Working Group under the refugee response coordination structure (only for COF.REG)
• Perform any other duty as required

• Master’s degree in agricultural economics, rural development, development economics, agricultural science, agronomy or related subject.
• Minimum of five years professional experience in developing countries working in resource mobilization, sector coordination, programme development and project management/delivery in both humanitarian and development contexts. Experience in Uganda would be an asset.
• Working knowledge of English and limited knowledge of one of the other FAO Official languages (French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Russian).

• Results focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building effective relationships
• Knowledge sharing and continuous improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

• Understanding of the humanitarian-development nexus and associated challenges in the context of refugee‑related programming is desirable.
• Excellent coordination, team management and team leadership skills.
• Experience in applying technical principles and concepts in food security and livelihoods. Cross-sectoral experience and understanding of food security and livelihood activities.
• Experience in project design and proposal development in food security and livelihoods, including technical writing.
• Experience in providing technical support to and/or managing projects.
• Strategic thinking and analytical skills.
• Fundraising experience is desirable.
• Work experience with the UN and with FAO in particular is an asset.
• Excellent communications (both written and verbal), presentation and advocacy skills.