National Senior Economist

FAO seeks gender, geographical and linguistic diversity in its staff and international consultants in order to best serve FAO Members in all regions.

• FAO is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality, background, and culture
• Qualified female applicants, qualified nationals of non-and under-represented member nations, and person with disabilities are encouraged to apply
• Everyone who works for FAO is required to adhere to the highest standards of integrity and professional conduct and to uphold our values. FAO has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and FAO, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination
• All selected candidates, therefore, will undergo rigorous reference and background checks
• 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

The main aim of the FAO country offices, which are headed by an FAO Representative, is to assist governments to develop policies, programs and projects to achieve food security and to reduce hunger and malnutrition, to help develop the agricultural, fisheries and forestry sectors, and to use their environmental and natural resources in a sustainable manner.

In Ethiopia, the Integrated Agro-Industrial Park (IAIP) development is expected to drive the structural transformation of the economy, including modernization of the agriculture sector, by creating permanent linkages between agriculture and industry, fostering improved production and productivity (quantity and quality), as well as increasing commercialization of strategic agro-commodities. The Agro-Commodity Procurement Zones (ACPZs) are the area intended to supply the IAIP parks with agricultural raw materials. In 2019, FAO prepared investment plans for the four pilot ACPZs through the support of a European Union (EU) grant. Each plan includes: (i) the ACPZ development results framework; (ii) the mapping of public initiatives and investments; and (iii) the gap analysis of public investment and its costing. Its timeframe covers the 2020-2025 period.

While number of partners support the GoE to achieve the agro-industrialization programme (ACPZ development included), the Government of Ethiopia (GoE), as well as development experts and partners, have expressed some concerns regarding the investment plans implementation. The pace of production and productivity improvement is still slow, hence lagging the marketable surplus increase. The ACPZ development offers great opportunity to foster inclusion of vulnerable household and smallholder farmers, which should be promoted. The coordination of projects needs an enhancement to ensure a better predication of their contribution to the ACPZ development outcomes and greater synergy. The Monitoring and Evaluation system of the investment plans is not yet operational.

Under the Hand in Hand (HiH) initiative, launched by the FAO Director-General, FAO agreed with the GoE to develop a Technical Cooperation Program (TCP) under TCP/ETH/3802 project. Its objective is to enhance the ACPZ development implementation efficiency for increased productivity and marketed surplus through the following outputs: (i) bottlenecks inhibiting enhanced productivity and production of marketable surplus identified and addressed; (ii) institutional setting for ACPZ development strengthened and implementation, coordination and monitoring plans/tools developed.

Among others constraints identified during the first mission in Oromia and Sidama - SNNPR, the poor coordination of existing projects and the poor reference to the ACPZs investment plans; which is considered as main guiding document for orientation of interventions and evaluation of progress made towards the achievement of agro industrialization program in general and increasing of the production surplus in particular.

It is under this context that FAO Ethiopia is seeking to recruit a national economist to perform the below mentioned tasks.

Reporting Lines

The consultant will work under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative (FAOR) in Ethiopia the direct supervision of the International Agribusiness Consultant in close coordination and technical guidance of the Agribusiness Officer/project's Lead Technical Officer (LTO).

Technical Focus

Supporting the TCP in analyzing the current institutional and coordination constraints inhibiting the implementation of the ACPZ development plans.

Tasks and responsibilities

The incumbent will be in charge of the following specific tasks:

• Prepare an abridged version of the Investment Plan (with a focus on lead commodities selected for Bulbula and Yirgalem IAIPs) to make the document easier to read and more useful for policy makers;
• Assist the MoA to set up, at regional and federal level, coordination structures in charge of tracking and provision of guidance on how to reach the targets set in the ACPZs Investment plans to increase the commercial surplus. The consultant should collaborate closely with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) to make profit and articulation to the existing institutional and coordination structures already operational for the IAIPs and ACPZs. This will involve meetings with Federal level steering committees (SC) and the technical committees (TCs) for the IAIPs under the federal structure; as well existing structures at regional level;
• Assess the effectiveness of the planning, coordination, M&E process and mechanisms of the investment plans and propose solutions for their enhancement; Collaborate with existing initiative undertaken by UNIDO on the M&E system; Explore options for institutional arrangements to be developed at regional level;
• In collaboration with the HiH team members, assist MOA to initiate the process for establishment of a dedicated unit for ACPZ coordination and M&E;
• Propose required technical assistance to implement agreed recommendations such as support to regional structures;
• Collaborate with UNIDO to elaborate a communication strategy for ACPZs interventions;
• Collaborate with UNIDO to elaborate a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) for IAIPS programs;
• Perform other related/relevant duties as required

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Candidate should be a national of Ethiopia or resident in the country with a regular work permit.
• Advanced university degree in economics or any rural development based sciences or closely related field
• 10 years of relevant experience in value chain development programme, Agro commodities procurement zones development, contacts and knowledge of stakeholders and institutions in IAIP and related works
• Working knowledge of English and good knowledge of the local language(s) used at the duty station is required.

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 IAIP initiative
• Familiarity with FAO Ethiopia rules and ongoing activities

Selection Criteria

• Extent and relevance of experience and knowledge of works execution and supervision;
• Familiarity to work with UN agencies in general and FAO similar assignment, Government and other partners;
• Ability to work under pressure and willingness to travel frequently to rural areas of Ethiopia (Sidama SNNPR and Oromia);

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