Consultant on Agriculture and Food Systems Policies

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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 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Subregional Office for the Pacific Islands (SAP) is located in Apia, Samoa and covers 14 Pacific Island countries. The projects “Strengthening National Coordination and Planning for Food Security and Nutrition” and “Strengthening the enabling environment to enhance food systems in the Pacific” are Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) projects supporting the Pacific Islands countries.

Reporting Lines

The consultant will be under the overall supervision of the FAO Subregional Coordinator (SRC) for the Pacific and with close technical supervision and support provided by the Policy Officer in SAP. He/she will also liaise closely with other technical, operational, and administrative colleagues as well as other consultants who may be contracted during the same time frame to work on other food systems related policies in Nauru.

Technical Focus

The consultant is required to update the National Food System Pathway and National Agriculture Sector Strategy for Nauru to ensure alignment of the two documents as well as take into account recent global crisis affecting food systems across the globe. The consultant will also be required to complete related costed action plans and monitoring and evaluation plans for the two documents.

Tasks and responsibilities

The consultant will

• Develop a work plan for the assignment;
• Based on desk review and consultations at country level revise, update and finalize the Nauru Food Systems Document and related Nauru Agriculture Sector Strategy based on key global developments that affect Food Systems, e.g 5F crisis and any recent impacts from COVID-19.
• Based on discussions with Governed of Nauru and FAO Sub Regional Office develop and submit a structure for the costed action plans and monitoring framework for the two documents;
• Develop an updated costed action plan for the National Agriculture Sector Strategy for Nauru and based on this complete develop a costed action plan for the Nauru Food Systems Pathway;
• Draft a Monitoring and Evaluation framework to the National Agriculture Sector Strategy for Nauru and based on this complete a M&E framework for the Food Systems Pathway document and consult with CIE and relevant stakeholders for finalization;
• Hold individual online consultations with stakeholders including relevant government of Nauru personnel and FAO staff for finalization of the work;
• Organize and facilitate a virtual public presentation of the two documents and related costed action plans and monitoring frameworks for key stakeholders, and national Government to foster ownership.
• Prepare a terminal report at end of project outlining the process adopted, the tasks completed and stakeholders consulted, outputs achieved and any follow-up actions required
• Any other duties as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• University degree in any of the following areas: International Development Studies, Policy, Food Security, Food Systems, Agriculture, Fisheries, Economics, Political Sciences, or other relevant field.
• Minimum of three years of relevant experience in the international development sector and minimum of three years of relevant experience in policy related work.
• Working knowledge (level C) of English and limited knowledge (level B) of French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese or Russian is an asset. For PSA, working knowledge of English is required.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Selection Criteria

• Technical expertise in policy development, implementation and monitoring.
• Proven experience in effective participatory approaches to data and information gathering
• Capacity to effectively engage with a broad range of stakeholders (national and international) in policy development and implementation.
• Ability to prepare concise reports according to United Nations standards and donor requirements.
• Excellent oral and written skills in English.
• Experience working in the Pacific Small Islands Developing States and knowledgeable of their priorities is preferred.
• Working experiences in Nauru would be an asset

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