Climate-Smart Agriculture Specialist

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Please note that Closure Date and Time displayed above are based on date and time settings of your personal device

_______________________________________________________________________________________

FAO is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender and nationality

People with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply

All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality

The incumbent may be re-assigned to different activities and/or duty stations depending on the evolving needs of the Organization

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Organizational Setting

Bangladesh is a highly populated and agriculture dependent country, but climate change impacts, unsustainable agricultural practices, land degradation and over exploitation of natural resources threaten to undermine its agricultural development trajectory. To stem these trends, several projects are being implemented and formulated aimed at promoting a transition to more productive and sustainable agriculture at national and local levels. These initiatives are in alignment with the country’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s), in particular SDG indicator 2.4.1. on “proportion of agricultural area under productive and sustainable agriculture”. Identifying and scaling innovative Agroecology and Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) approaches are emphasized to deliver on multiple sustainability outcomes. This position will be responsible for implementing and formulating technical aspects of CSA in relation to project proposal formulation. The specialist will work with a team of experts in developing and scaling CSA concepts under a full-sized project.

Reporting Lines

The Climate-Smart Agriculture Specialist position is under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative in the Bangladesh and works in close consultation with the Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Team Leader at FAO in Bangladesh, and Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment at FAO Headquarters (Rome) and other members of the programme team.

Technical Focus

The Climate-Smart Agriculture Specialist will work as part of a Technical Task Team for the development of the short, medium and longer term across the agricultural sector, focusing specifically on the climate-smart agriculture portion of the work.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Lead climate smart agriculture resilience thinking and collaborate with learning and technical leads to finalize a learning agenda and design pilot activities that are coherent to country priorities and SDG’s;
• Perform desk review of existing and potential CSA and Agroecological practices that support transitions to sustainable agriculture;
• Analyze needs and adoption barriers for Agroecology and CSA approaches among farmers, producer organizations, and agribusinesses
• Co-design with government partners climate smart interventions based on context-specific farming systems;
• Ensure that cross-cutting aspects such as nutrition, gender equity, social inclusion, and water systems are included and well integrated into CSA approaches;
• Use learning to develop and scale up implementation strategy, approaches and activities; integrating agriculture resilience into additional technical areas as needed;
• Write policy briefs and guidance documents that enhance government partner understanding of CSA and Agroecology concepts;
• Lead the design of CSA assessments of farmers, extension services, government partners, and small and medium agribusinesses;
• Lead the technical formulation of CSA components of full-size project proposals (e.g. GEF/GCF);
• Assist in the design and implementation of agricultural digital services for small holder farmers and entrepreneurs along agri-food value chains;
• Assist in developing training and workshop content for farmers, government partners, small and medium agribusinesses and other stakeholders on climate smart agriculture;
• Support the integration of geo-spatial data analysis for learning, decision making and monitoring;
• Performing other tasks as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced university degree in agricultural sciences, or a related field;
• At least 10 years of demonstrated experience in climate smart agriculture. Demonstrated experience should include 5 years in a technical role on an international development program related to food security and nutrition.
• Working knowledge of English and limited knowledge of one of the other FAO languages (for COF.REG.). For PSA.SBS type of contract working knowledge of English is sufficient.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Highly developed written and oral communications skills as well as strong interpersonal communication and team building skills to ensure effective coordination within FAO
• Good understanding of project implementation, particularly for Global Environment Facility (GEF) and Green Climate Fund (GCF) projects;
• Ability to multi-task, work under pressure, and tight deadlines;
• Familiarity of working with the UN or development sector actors;
• Proven experience of working with government officials, preferably in low- or middle-income country settings;
• Good proficiency in English (written and spoken);
• The incumbent must possess teamwork spirit, ability to work under minimum supervision, and flexibility;
• Excellent communication, writing and presentation skills in English and limited knowledge of a second official language of the Organization (French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Russian);
• Familiarity with food security and agriculture indicators.
• Knowledge of agricultural policies, including ability to conduct a market, economic and financial analysis;
• Knowledge of both Agroecology and CSA concepts and practices, especially in the context of South Asia

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Please note that all candidates should adhere to FAO Values of Commitment to FAO, Respect for All and Integrity and Transparency

_______________________________________________________________________________________