National Project Consultant (Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, North Macedonia, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine)

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FAO seeks gender, geographical and linguistic diversity in its staff and international consultants in order to best serve FAO Members in all regions.
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Qualified female applicants and qualified nationals of non-and under-represented member countries are encouraged to apply.

Persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply.

All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.
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Organizational Setting

The Sub-Regional Office for Central Asia of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO-SEC) is responsible for developing, promoting, overseeing and implementing strategies for addressing food security, agriculture and rural development priorities in the sub-region. The Organization’s technical assistance includes institution building, development of knowledge and competencies, and exchange of experience among countries facing the challenges of transition.

FAO SEC is the implementing agency for the Black See Economic Cooperation (BSEC) - Regional Cooperation Centre for Sustainable Food Systems (CSFS), a four-year project (1^st August 2020 to 31^st July 2024). Under this project, a Regional Cooperation Centre for Sustainable Food Systems (BSEC-CSFS) has been set up for the BSEC Member States, which are represented by the Permanent International Secretariat of BSEC (PERMIS). The BSEC-CSFS is located in Ankara at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) of the Government of Turkey, and is equipped with a clear mandate, relevant institutional framework and technical capacity to enhance the sustainability of the whole food value chain from farm to fork among BSEC member countries.

The objective of the BSEC-CSFS is to provide the BSEC member states with advice, guidance and information for making food systems more sustainable. By the end of the project, the BSEC member states should be able to analyze and monitor food systems for sustainability and implement actions to build food systems that are more resilient to future shocks and crises. This investment is also necessary to recover from the short- and long-term impacts of COVID-19 on food and nutrition security and to rebuild BSEC economies.

This Vacancy Announcement (VA) refers to the recruitment of 13 National Consultants, one for each of the BSEC Member State - Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, North Macedonia, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine. The recruitment of 13 National Consultants is foreseen for 75 working days over the project duration. This VA is for the activities to be developed during the first semester of the 1^st project year (1st August 2020 to 31 August 2021).

Reporting Lines

The National Consultants will work under the overall supervision of the FAO Sub-regional Coordinator for Central Asia (SRC, SEC), and under the guidance and technical supervision of the Lead Technical Officer (LTO) of the BSEC-CSFS Project and operational guidance from SEC Field Programme Unit (FPU). He/she will work under the technical guidance of international consultants and the project Technical Officer (TO) at SEC, and cooperate closely with the Regional Project Coordinator, relevant national authorities and the FAO SEC Technical Unit.

Technical Focus

• Compile a variety of technical information, data, statistics and reports as well as inputs for technical documents and produce country profile reports on food systems assessment
• Analyze economic, social, environmental and institutional information, data and statistics and/or related policy issues
• Conduct semi-structured interviews and participate in multidisciplinary meetings with other agencies, governments, non-governmental organızatıons and private sector
• Promote knowledge sharing and good practices at meetings, conferences, websites

Tasks and responsibilities

The objective of the national consultants’ assignment is to provide an initial broad understanding of the state of the national food system - with respect to the core sustainable food system (SFS) goals and considering territorial differences- highlighting current performance, trends, challenges and opportunities. Under the guidance of the LTO, the international consultants (on rapid assessments of national/sub-national food systems, on Food Systems and on Food System Sustainability), and the Regional Programme Coordinator, each national consultant will provide support to the project implementation by performing the following main duties:

• Collect and compile (secondary) data on the national food system to which the consultant belongs, process it to make it consistent with data from other countries and provide it to the International Consultants on Food Systems.
• Conduct a series of individual interviews with key informants on relevant topics: food security, nutrition, health, environment and natural resources, poverty, employment, livelihoods, mid-stream segments and markets, and stability, risks, territories, and governance issues.
• Work with the international consultants in processing and analysing this data and drafting Review Reports on current state of sustainable food systems in the BSEC Region.
• Support the International Consultant on Food System Sustainability in identifying capacity and resource gaps in the analysis of food systems.
• Support the project team and the international consultant on Food System Sustainability in examining BSEC Member States’ legislation on sustainable food systems.
• Support the International Consultant on Food System Sustainability in developing training materials adapted to the needs of countries in the BSEC region.
• Perform other related duties as required.

National consultants will receive methodological guidance including training and support from external experts, as well as a methodological guide and tool kit to conduct the above-mentioned activities.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• University degree (advanced university degree preferred) in economics, development studies, agriculture, rural development or other related fields in the social sciences, political science or public administration
• 3 years of relevant experience in analysis of (i) quantitative international and national databases, (ii) semi-structure interviews; (iii) socio-economic issues in agriculture/food sector and food security (micro), (iii) environmental issues, (iv) politics and governance (macro)
• Working knowledge of English
• National of the BSEC Member State (e.g. Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, North Macedonia, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine)

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

Selection Criteria

• Demonstrated ability to liaise with multiple stakeholders including national governments and regional organizations, effectively building an understanding and partnership with them
• Excellent communication skills in English, both orally and in writing, and ability to draft technical reports in English

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