Economist

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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 Markets and Trade Division monitors and analyses developments and trends in international, regional and national agricultural commodity markets and the factors affecting them, collecting and disseminating up-to-date and comprehensive market and policy information for the major traded commodities and those important to food security. It also undertakes forward-looking outlook studies. The Division analyses issues that affect global food and agricultural markets and trade, including analysis of trade policies and agreements, and provides technical support and capacity development to FAO Members in all these areas and acts as the FAO focal point for the Organization’s engagement in the G20 and G7 plurilateral processes. Through its Global Information and Early Warning System on Food and Agriculture (GIEWS), the Division is responsible for FAO’s early warnings on food shortfalls and food security problems. The Division houses the secretariats of the Committee on Commodity Problems (CCP) and its subsidiary Intergovernmental Groups (IGGs), the G20 Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) and the World Banana Forum (WBF). The Division is responsible for the FAO flagship publication The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets (SOCO) that examines and presents food and agricultural market and trade issues in an objective and accessible manner to policymakers and explores the linkages between agricultural markets and trade policies, food security and nutrition, and sustainable development.

The position is located in the Commodity Markets and Development Team, Markets and Trade Division, at FAO headquarters in Rome.

Reporting Lines

The Consultant will report to the Senior Economist, Commodity Markets and Development, under the overall guidance of the Division Director.

Technical Focus

The Consultant will work in one or more of the following areas: (i) exploring the underlying economic relationships between trade and dimensions of sustainable development, including economic growth, food security, resilience, poverty and inequality, natural resources and climate change, and healthy diets and nutrition; (ii) advanced quantitative economic analysis related to markets, trade and sustainable development at global and regional level using appropriate analytical tools and databases; (iii) building and communicating the evidence base on issues in food and agricultural markets and trade to inform policy dialogue and decision-makers in international policy fora.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Review the relevant literature on issues related to international food and agricultural markets and trade, including trade and domestic policy, and their linkages with various dimensions of sustainable development (e.g., resilience, food security and nutrition, economic growth, environmental, health and social impacts).
• Collect, manage and analyse data from multiple global, regional and national databases.
• Collect, organize and analyse policy information from various national and international sources.
• Develop and apply state-of-the-art analytical tools and models for advanced quantitative analysis of issues and policies related to food and agricultural markets, trade and sustainable development.
• Prepare technical notes and working papers providing the evidence base and contribute to FAO reports to inform policy makers and general public about the results.
• Present the results in consultations and technical meetings organized by FAO.
• Perform other related duties as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• University degree in Agricultural Economics, Development Economics, Economics, Econometrics or related field;
• At least 5 years of relevant experience in policy advice and quantitative economic analysis related to trade, markets and sustainable development;
• Working knowledge (proficient – level C) of English, French or Spanish and limited knowledge (intermediate – level B) of one of the other two or Arabic, Chinese, Russian. For PSA only working knowledge of English is required.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Experience in applied economics in the context of food, agriculture, markets and trade;
• Experience in statistical and programming software using GAMS, GAUSS, MATLAB, Python, R, STATA or other relevant programming languages;
• Proven ability to analyse policy issues, generate policy scenarios and articulate policy options with a view to inform policy decisions;
• Demonstrated experience in writing policy reports and scientific papers;
• Broad knowledge of current trends and challenges in global agricultural markets and trade and a good understanding of the international policy arena; and,
• Experience in synthesizing and communicating key analytical findings to a broad audience including government officials and the general public and ability to present key results in a concise manner.
• A PhD is desirable.

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