National Specialist on Agri-Food Markets

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 Members 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 FAO's values
• FAO, as a Specialized Agency of the United Nations, has a zero-tolerance policy for conduct that is incompatible with its status, objectives and mandate, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination　　
• All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks
• All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality
• FAO staff are subject to the authority of the Director-General, who may assign them to any of the activities or offices of the Organization.

Organizational Setting:

The main aim of the FAO Operating Unit (REU) 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.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has been implementing development projects in Belarus for decades. Recently, FAO has engaged in a wide range of activities to support value chains in the country through the promotion of inclusive agricultural value chains that seek to increase smallholder farmers’ income. FAO is formulating interventions that contribute to a better alignment with the Government delivery mechanisms, increasingly involving the private sector and taking advantage of the digital transformation that is taking place in the country.
For all these reasons, FAO is looking for a National Specialist on Agri-Food Markets to support the Lead National Expert on Local Food Markets in the implementation of a two-year project that will explores and pilot the use digital platforms to support the development of local food markets.

Reporting Lines:

This position is under the overall supervision of the Project`s Budget Holder (BH) and the direct supervision of the Lead National Expert on Local Food Markets, and the technical supervision of the Lead Technical Officer (LTO), Economist – Value Chains officer in FAO’s Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia..

Technical Focus:

The incumbent will support the Lead National Expert in the implementation of the Project, including support in the collection and processing of data and information for the background document, and National Strategy for Belarus. The incumbent will coordinate project activities with other ongoing national projects, and will be involved in mainstreaming gender and youth in the various stages of project implementation.

Tasks and responsibilities:

• Support the Lead National Expert in project management and implementation, including the preparation of meetings and field trips;
• Support the Lead National Expert in the preparation of the National Strategy on Online Local Markets;
• Collect and analyse information from the Pilots for monitoring and evaluation purposes;
• Provide technical advice and expertise on agri-food market functionality in the context of online platforms;
• Coordinate and support capacity building activities in the context of the platform;
• Perform other activities as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Candidate should be national of Belarus or resident in the country with a regular work permit.
• Advanced University degree in agriculture, agricultural economics, rural development, livelihood, or related discipline, or any area related to the work of the Organization;
• Minimum of 5 years of relevant experience working in rural development, agri-business development, or local food markets;
• Working knowledge of English and good knowledge of the local language (Russian/Belorussian) 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

• Experience with rural development projects with strong agricultural market components;
• Proven capacity to collect, compile and process data and information from agri-food markets;
• Practical experience in the provision of extension and advisory services;
• Possession of a cooperative spirit, flexibility and openness to work in an international environment, including tact and courtesy and a strong capacity for establishing and maintain effective working relationships with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.

Selection Criteria

• Proven experience data collection and research in rural areas, notably for food market studies;
• Extent and relevance of experience in technical fields related to agri-food markets and rural development;
• Experience participating in national initiatives or platforms for the development of local food markets;
• Capacity to write documents and reports in a clear and concise manner;
• English is the official language used for communication within the country. Therefore, working knowledge of English (level C) is desirable to liaise with FAO offices.

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