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Senior Agricultural Economist

Abu Dhabi

  • Organization: FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
  • Location: Abu Dhabi
  • Grade: Consultancy - Consultant - Contractors Agreement
  • Occupational Groups:
    • Economics
    • Agriculture and Forestry
    • SNGDD
  • Closing Date: Closed

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

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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

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Organizational Setting

FAO’s Subregional Office for Gulf Cooperation Council States and Yemen (SNG) is responsible for developing, promoting, overseeing and implementing agreed strategies for transforming food, agriculture and rural development priorities. It also develops and maintains relations with subregional wide institutions. The Subregional Office is a subsidiary of FAO Regional Office for Near East and North Africa region. The Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA) and SNG are implementing a 24-month project Master Plan for Sustainable Agriculture in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi Emirate, United Arab Emirates. The specific outcome of the project is to equip ADAFSA with a comprehensive planning and monitoring tool and a roadmap for the sustainable development of diversified and integrated agricultural production system in the three regions of Abu Dhabi Emirate (Al Ain, Al Dhafra and Abu Dhabi). The project will support the rollout of related investment programmes. By assisting ADAFSA to develop a Master Plan for the agricultural sector, the project contributes to the UAE’s National Food Security Strategy 2051, approved by the Council of Ministers in May 2018. The Strategy lays the foundations to transform the food and agriculture sectors in the country.

The project activities will be geared towards four outputs and will lead to the development of a Master Plan through a sequential, logical, inclusive and consultation process. The key deliverables of the project will include: (a) a Theory of Change for the Master Plan; (b) a decision support tool; (c) preparatory studies to inform the Master Plan; and (d) the Master Plan document, based on the above deliverables.

Reporting Lines

The Senior Agricultural Economist works under the overall guidance of the SNG Coordinator, direct supervision of the Project Manager and in close coordination of the Project Lead Technical Officer (LTO) and various technical departments at FAO Headquarters (HQs), in close collaboration with the ADAFSA and FAO assigned taskforces.

Technical Focus

The incumbent will be participate in, coordinate and contribute to economic quantitative and qualitative analysis on a broad range of issues in relation to the project decision support tool and the analytical studies in close coordination and collaboration with the Project Manager and the team leaders in charge of preparatory studies.

Tasks and responsibilities

  • Identify key informants and priority sites for further data collection, consistency or monitoring, and/or facilitate high-quality technical group discussions and interviews.
  • Collate and organize relevant data in the form of primary sources or liaise with ADAFSA to identify and collect data from secondary sources.
  • Provide technical inputs to a cost-benefit analysis of main crops, livestock and aquaculture production models.
  • Contribute to analyse the competitiveness and competitive advantage of Abu Dhabi production and the existing economic capacities of farms in integrating new technologies and diversifying production systems.
  • Contribute to analyse the structures and functioning of selected priority value chains and their performance from an economic, social and environmental points of view, taking into account FAO Sustainable Value Chains approach.
  • Lead and provide technical inputs to assess the public and private financing context for investments in view of identifying key investment opportunities and gaps; and contribute to the write-ups and drafting of the programmed actions to be included in the Master Plan.
  • Participate in, organize or facilitate technical quality meetings and consultative workshops and international missions, coordinating inputs and ensuring consistency of inputs from technical teams.
  • Review all relevant agricultural and economic policies and programmes in ADAFSA.
  • Contribute to the policy dialogue efforts of the project with stakeholders and identify actionable and high-quality recommendations for improving the Theory of Change; decision support tool; preparatory studies; technical reports and briefs for the Master Plan.
  • Contribute to the drafting of the project work plans and periodic progress and monitoring reports, and communication materials.
  • Participate in and contribute to the drafting of the Master Plan.
  • Provide technical inputs for the design of a monitoring system for the Master Plan and ensure that the associated training session to be provided to the ADASFA staff for this purpose is conducted timely.
  • Perform related duties as deemed necessary by the Project Manager.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

  • Advanced university degree (PhD will be preferred) in economics, agricultural economics, natural resources economics, agribusiness management or a closely related field.
  • Ten years of relevant experience in the practical application of economic and policy analysis to development issues, and/or in the formulation and implementation of food security, agriculture, rural development, agribusiness investment operations, water and natural resource management and related analytical studies.
  • Working knowledge of English and limited knowledge of one of the other FAO languages (French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Russian), preferably Arabic.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

  • Work experience in more than one location or area of work.
  • Extent and relevance of experience in developing sector studies, agricultural transformation, strategic documents or national investment plans, providing technical advice in policy analysis to governments.
  • Experience in agricultural production systems particularly in arid agro ecological regions and in the context of limited agricultural and natural resources.
  • Experience in high-level strategic studies at regional or country level.
  • Proven experience in organizing training and workshops as well as in drafting technical material and reports.
  • Ability to work in a multicultural team with national counterparts, under very tight deadlines.
  • Strong analytical skills, ability to evaluate and to appraise critically quantitative and qualitative information.
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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

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This vacancy is now closed.
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