Institutional Development Specialist

Organizational Setting

FAO Pakistan is implementing a Green Climate Fund funded project “Transforming Indus Basin with Climate Resilient Agriculture and Water Management”. The project aims to develop the country’s capacity to get and use the information it needs to cope with the impacts of climate change on agriculture and water management. The overall goal of the projects is to enhance the capacity of agricultural and pastoral sectors to cope with climate change, by up scaling farmers’ adoption of climate change adaptation technologies and practices through a network of already established Farmers Field Schools, and by mainstreaming climate change adaptation concerns and strategies into on-going agricultural development initiatives, policies and programming.
Modelling of climate change scenarios for Pakistan shows that if agriculture and water management in the Indus River Basin continue along a ‘business as usual’ pathway, increasing temperatures and changes in precipitation will pose serious threats to the future livelihoods of farmers and to the Pakistani agricultural sector. In response to this challenge, the project will help shift Pakistan and Indus Basin agriculture from its current situation of high vulnerability toward an alternative paradigm wherein better information and farming practices will significantly increase resilience to climate change. To do this, the project will develop the country’s capacity to get and use the information to cope with the impacts of climate change on agriculture and water management by putting in place state-of-the art technology (Component 1); building farmers resilience to climate change through skills, knowledge and technology (Component 2), and creating a wider enabling environment for continuous adaptation and expanded sustainable uptake of climate-resilient approaches (Component 3).
The project activities are described in the project document available at

https://www.greenclimate.fund/document/transforming-indus-basin-climate-resilient-agriculture-and-water-management

capacities and institutional coordination at all levels for adopting climate resilient agriculture and water management practices at scale, beyond the project sites through: 1) Improving Information and Awareness Raising Campaigns (sub-component 3.1) that amongst others, promotes climate resilient practices and shares knowledge developed under Component 1 and 2; 2) Supporting Policy Implementation by Federal and Provincial Governments (sub-component 3.2) and 3) Developing Services that Enable Farmers to Adopt Climate Resilient Practices (sub-component 3.3).

The Specialist will also support relevant institutional capacity building activities under Component 1 and 2. Specifically, activity 1.3.3 – Set up a coordination mechanism for governance and collaboration in the operation of the Agriculture, Climate and Water (ACWA) Portal where available data and information produced from the project will be uploaded. This activity also links with Activity 3.1.1 - Organize and launch a multimedia information and awareness raising campaign on climate change, Climate Resilient Agriculture and On farm Water Management. The Specialist will mainly develop the institutional structure for this ACWA portal that is expected to be led by a Consortium of government and academic institutions in Pakistan.

The duty station can be: Lahore, Multan or Hyderabad

The position is at SB3-SC6 level

Reporting Lines

Under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative, direct supervision of the technical Advisor and guidance of Lead technical Officers and in close coordination with concerned Technical officer, the Program management Unit(PMU) and implementing units at Provincial and District levels.

Technical Focus

• Institutional coordination and development
• IT/Web portal management
• Agriculture, climate or water data management

Tasks and responsibilities

• Develop detailed workplan for the implementation of the Component.
• Provide technical inputs and lead the preparation of contract documents and concept notes for activities under Component 3
• Regular update Component 3 implementation, budget, contract, and human resources plans, and provide updates upon request from the supervisor and other relevant FAO personnel.
• Carry out an institutional assessment, an update of the baseline for Component 3, assessed during the project preparation that includes: (i) an updated overview of institutions and their mandates related to climate change adaptation in water and agriculture sectors and related policies, regulations and programmes, (ii) an assessment of the extent to which the climate change adaptation policies in water and agriculture are implemented and regulations are enforced, and the related challenges and opportunities and (iii) identification of gaps
• Based on assessment, provide recommendations for detailed implementation of Component 3 activities including necessary adjustments with a focus on making the project technical support, skills and knowledge strengthening for the respective national and/or provincial government departments will be relevant and effective
• In implementing Component 3 activities, the Specialist will make recommendations and establish mechanism for strengthening institutional collaboration such as:
a. Multi-sectoral technical/advisory committees for the project, comprised of members from all relevant departments with TOR, workplan and regular meetings and secretariat functions;
b. An inter-ministerial coordination mechanism for project implementation and communication; and
c. A mechanism that mandates emergency coordination meetings during times of severe water shortage (involving provincial and national actors).
• Establish an annual climate policy forum, carefully timed to feed directly into existing budgeting and/or reform processes; Draft a proposal of the inter-agency agreement for the Consortium and ACWA portal
• Organize a workshop and present the proposed institutional structure and agreement at provincial and national levels
• Based on the feedback from stakeholders, revise the institutional structure and agreement if needed.
• Coordinate with Consortium member organizations to reach an agreement on the institutional arrangement, obtaining official approval letters/signatures on the agreement.
• Support coordination to organize periodical Consortium meetings and participate in the meetings/discussions.
• Participate in the launching event for ACWA portal version 1, re-discuss with participants on the roles of each organization in operationalizing the portal management, and have follow-up bilateral meetings with Consortium members. Also develop the workshop report in collaboration with IT experts.
• After the portal lunching event, develop a final proposal on the institutional framework showing the governance structure and roles of each Consortium member.
• Amend the draft inter-agency agreement if necessary reflecting feedback from stakeholders after the portal launching event.
• Develop the end-of-assignment report summarizing activities needed in the coming quarter
• Take any other duties related to institutional coordination
• The specialist is expected to travel frequently to Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Hyderabad, and Multan.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Master’s degree in public administration, governance, information management, water resources management or agricultural policies
• 08 years of experience in inter-agency coordination on information/data sharing
• Working knowledge of Urdu and English.
• National of Pakistan

Technical/Functional Skills

• Knowledge and familiarity in water, agriculture, climate, data science and/or web information portal are desirable
• Experience in working with/for government organization, especially on inter-agency collaboration and agreement is desirable
• Experience in developing inter-agency agreement climate change, agriculture, and water along with IT skills.
• High level of competence in community engagement and communication
• Ability to write clear and concise proposal and report
• Ability to work independently and within a team to achieve project targets.
• Experience of engaging actively with key stakeholders
• Excellent communication and presentation skills and working in multicultural environment

FAO Core Competencies

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

Selection Criteria

Candidates will be assessed against the requirements listed above.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION