Agro-Economist

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Organizational Setting

FAO's Sub-regional Office for West Africa is responsible for developing, promoting, overseeing, and implementing agreed strategies for addressing sub-regional food, agriculture, and rural development priorities. It develops and maintains relations with sub-region-wide institutions including Regional Economic Integration Organizations (REIOs). It assists the FAO Representations (FAORs) in the sub-region with addressing sub-regional food security, agriculture, and rural development issues at the country level. FAO sub-regional Office for West Africa (SFW) has a key priority in its strategic framework 2020-2024 related to “Promoting decent youth employment and women empowerment in food systems”.
The Sub regional Office is a subsidiary of FAO's Regional Office for Africa (RAF).

Agriculture is by far the single most important economic activity in Africa. It constitutes a real source of employment by hosting on average 55 % of the active population of the continent and contributes an average of 30 to 60 percent of gross domestic product and about 30 percent of the value of exports. In West Africa, it plays a predominant role in socio-economic life and is the way to fight against poverty and hunger. One of the key indicators is the agricultural market opportunities for food producers in the region, which are increasingly dynamic due to population growth, urbanization, income growth, dietary diversification, and higher output prices. To meet increasing demand, it is necessary to grow the agri-food sector and the entire food supply chain. However, the current food systems of the countries in the region have many limitations, both economic and social. . The shift towards an efficient and competitive food system must necessarily go through the massive public investment in rural agricultural policy that takes into account several components (research, infrastructure, services, etc) which will stimulate private sector interest. This importance of public investment in agriculture has been recognized by African leaders who in the Maputo Declaration called for a 10 percent budgetary allocation to agriculture to remain consistent with their commitment to Malabo Declaration and the objectives of the CAADP. Unfortunately, the level of public investment in the agricultural sector in Western African countries is still low, less than 6 percent of the national budget. In addition, a large share of public spending in agriculture goes to subsidies, which do not induce the creation of new infrastructure and other growth-generating activities.
There is a need to support the countries by assessing the public investment landscape in the Agricultural sector while providing a comprehensive and holistic analysis of their effectiveness.

Reporting Lines

Under the overall guidance and supervision of the FAO SFW Senior Policy Officer, the main function of the consultant will be to support the development of a high-level analytical note on the effectiveness of public expenditure in the Agriculture sector using data from the West African countries.

Technical Focus

The International Consultant will support analytical work of SFW and provide important information about the priorities of West African Countries National Development Plans and vision for agriculture, as well as new priorities to be considered for enabling economic recovery with increased well-being post-COVID-19. The study will provide evidence of public investments promoting agricultural productivity and current fiscal constraints .

Tasks and responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of the coordinator of the FAO sub regional office for West Africa and the technical supervision of the Senior Policy Officer, in close collaboration with the country offices and in consultation with relevant national counterparts, the consultant will be responsible for the following tasks and duties:
• Collect data on the share of public expenditure on food and agriculture in the 15 West African countries over the past 15 years
• Collect information on the source of funding, the distribution of budgets (research, development, infrastructure, subsidies, agricultural services, etc.), the levels of budget execution and the types of revision submit to parliaments during the implementation phase,
• Examine the relationship between the data collected and national agricultural performance.
• Examine policy monitoring systems and data generation for effective public investments in food and agriculture;
• Make country-specific recommendations based on findings for massive and effective public investment in Agriculture in West Africa

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• University degree in economics, agricultural economics, agribusiness management, or a closely related field
• Five years relevant experience in the practical application of economic analysis to development issues, including rural investment, analytical studies, and/or in the formulation and implementation of food security, agriculture, rural development, natural resource management and agro-processing investment strategies in developing countries
• Working knowledge of English and French.

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
• Good communication and presentation skills

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