Evaluation Specialists ( Team Leader and Team Members) for the Evaluation of FAO’s Country Programme in Ghana

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• 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

Organizational Setting

The Office of Evaluation (OED) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is launching an evaluation of FAO's country programme in Ghana. OED is seeking qualified regional and national consultants to join the evaluation team.

Candidates should have demonstrated evaluation experience and a background in sectors related to FAO’s areas of work in Ghana (including food systems, agricultural policies, value chain development, animal health, social inclusion approaches and gender; agricultural advisory services, resilience building, early warning and disaster risk reduction; natural resource management).

Reporting Lines

The evaluation consultants will work under the direct supervision and close guidance of the Evaluation Manager and under the overall responsibility of the Director of the Office of Evaluation (OED).

Technical Focus

The Republic of Ghana became a Member State of FAO in 1957. In 1959, the Organization established the FAO Regional Office for Africa in Accra and subsequently established the Country Representation in 1977. FAO's collaboration with Ghana is guided by the priorities set out in the Country Programming Framework (CPF), a document jointly developed by FAO and the Government of Ghana.

The current CPF, covering the period 2018-2022, identifies as main priority areas for cooperation the following:

1. Sustainable Agriculture drives agro-industrialization and economic growth
2. Sustainable natural resource management for a safe, secure and productive environment
3. Resilient livelihoods for reduced vulnerability and rural poverty

Purpose and Objectives of the evaluation:

This evaluation is part of a series of Country programme evaluations (CPEs) conducted by the Office of Evaluation of FAO. Its purpose is to assess the contributions made by FAO to the achievement of agreed CPF objectives, FAO’s strategic relevance to the needs and priorities of each country and draw lessons and recommendations that could inform planning of FAO’s future engagement in a given country.

The objectives of the evaluation are to assess:

• the relevance of the FAO Country programme in responding to country needs;
• the strategic positioning of the Organization in relation to other actors;
• FAO’s contributions to the three priority areas of the CPF; and
• FAO’s approach and capacity in Ghana;

The results of the evaluation will contribute to FAO’s next programming cycle in Ghana.

The evaluation will be conducted between December 2021 and August 2022. The data collection and field visits will be carried out in March-April 2022.

Composition and profile of the evaluation team:

OED is looking for consultants with expertise in the at least one of the following areas:

• Agricultural economics, value chain development and food systems
• Agricultural policies, advisory services and regulatory frameworks
• Veterinary medicine, transboundary animal disease management and epidemio-surveillance;
• Equity, gender and social inclusion approaches;
• Resilience building, early warning and disaster risk reduction;
• Natural resource management, climate change and biodiversity.

Candidates should have not been involved in the design, implementation or backstopping of FAO’s projects in Ghana.

Tasks and responsibilities:

• Review documents concerning FAO’s activities in Ghana relating to their areas of expertise;
• Contribute to the development of the evaluation methodology and tools, such as evaluation matrix, checklists and data collection tools.
• Participate actively in the collection of primary and secondary data through face-to-face or virtual interviews with FAO concerned officers and stakeholders including government, civil society and the private sector, as appropriate.
• Participate in field missions to selected project sites to meet with local partners and beneficiaries;
• Consolidate and analyse information collected; and
• Contribute to the drafting of the evaluation report according to specifications provided by OED.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• University degree in a relevant discipline: evaluations, agricultural sciences, environmental sciences, natural resource management food and nutrition security, economics, development studies;
• A minimum of 10 years of relevant experience in evaluation or respective field of specialization;
• Working knowledge of English and limited knowledge of another FAO official language (French, Spanish, Chinese, Russian or Arabic). For PSA.SBS working knowledge of English is sufficient.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Previous experience in conducting/taking part in (independent) strategic-level evaluations.
• Strong stakeholder engagement, facilitation skills and interviewing skills
• Demonstrated experience of working in Ghana and/or of conducting evaluations in the country
• Demonstrated experience in evaluation. In particular, good experience in conducting evaluation interviews and focus groups and in report writing. Knowledge of participatory evaluation techniques is strongly desired;
• Excelled knowledge of the Ghanaian context.

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