FAO recruits 01 Digital Agriculture Specialist
Job Description
CALL FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST – VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT: 1901298
Digital Agriculture Specialist
Closure Date: 17/Jun/2019, 9:59:00 PM
Organizational Unit: IT DIVISION, FAO
Job Type: Non-staff opportunities
Type of Requisition: Consultant / PSA (Personal Services Agreement)
Grade Level: N/A
Primary Location: Niger-Niamey
Duration: Up to 11 months
Post Number: N/A
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Please note that Closure Date and Time displayed above are based on your personal device date and time settings
FAO is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender and nationality
People with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply
All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality
The incumbent may be re-assigned to different activities and/or duty stations depending on the evolving needs of the Organization
Organizational Setting
The Information Technology Division (CIO) is responsible for all IT activities within the Organization. CIO performs on behalf of the Organization the following critical roles: defining FAO IT policies and providing strategic advice on IT architecture and standards, governance, policy and operational matters while monitoring organizational compliance; defining the mechanisms for managing FAO’s information and data; protecting FAO’s information assets and ensuring confidentiality, integrity and availability; ensuring provision of IT services that are core for the Organization’s global operations and supporting the information and business processes; coordinating organization-wide IT activities in order to reduce duplication and fragmentation and to increase integration of information data, systems and platforms, mobilizing IT resources from across the Organization.
The Digital Innovation Unit is responsible for leading digital solutions and processes in FAO in addition to address innovative approaches and partnerships related to ICTs for development and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The transformed Digital Agriculture Strategy will support the overall Unit achieving these goals and synergies with other work streams.
Reporting Lines
Under the managerial oversight of the FAO Representative in Niger and the supervision of the Senior IT Officer, the incumbent will execute activities to scaleup the FAO Digital Services Portfolio in the Niger Smart Villages and to provide support in the development of a national e- Agriculture Strategy in close collaboration with ANSI, the Ministry of Agriculture, 3N, the Ministry of ICTs and relevant government ministries/institutions.
Technical Focus
The work is part of a broader initiative that leverages the knowledge of FAO and its strategic partners in the mobile world, promoting digital inclusion for smallholders and family farmers, tackling the digital divide, rural poverty and malnutrition. Through adoption of mobile applications, information, transactional and advisory services are deployed directly in the field, aiming to change the way rural households do business, manage their assets and access essential information for their daily needs and opportunities. It contributes directly to the reducing poverty, ending hunger, and family farming. The activities are closely linked to the Niger Smart Village initiative and a multi-sector whole-of-Government Approach for Rural Development. Piloted in Senegal and Rwanda, the Digital Portfolio aims to bring digital solutions closer to the needs of poor households in Africa. The portfolio is composed of mobile applications, including Çure and Feed your livesetock’, ‘e-Nutrifood’, ‘Weather and Crop Calendar’ and ‘Agrimarketplace’, which provide timely and localized digital advisory services and early warnings on weather, climate and agrometeorological information, animal and plant diseases, nutrition and food prices.
The e-Agriculture Strategy guide and toolkit, jointly prepared by FAORAP and ITU, has been produced to assist countries in Asia Pacific region both in developing or revitalizing their national e-agriculture strategy to mainstream ICTs in agriculture and develop an ecosystem to foster innovation in a systematic way. In 2018, CIO has presented and approved a proposal to the FAO Capex Board named “Developing the Global e-Agriculture Strategy”, which, among other activities, aims at developing capacity of e-Agriculture Strategy following a business model approach. Local Government agencies, such as the Ministry of Agriculture, High Commission for 3N Initiative, Ministry of ICTs and ANSI (Agence Nationale de la Société de l’Information), and the broad spectrum of stakeholders (farming associations, NGOs, young entrepreneurs, private sector, etc.) represent the key actors to coordinate to delivery of a National e- Agriculture Strategy for Niger.
Tasks and responsibilities
• Conduct research on the country digital agriculture environment and capacity by performing a wide range of analyses (country context, stakeholders mapping, capacity assessment, existing solutions, providers and initiatives, the policy, institutional and legislative framework)
• Establish local partners contact, nurture relationships, coordinating and working closely with national and local stakeholders (Ministry of Agriculture, High Commission for 3N Initiative, Ministry of ICTs, ANSI, NGOs, farming associations, private sector, startups, etc.), supporting the establishment and coordination the national working group
• Identify demand areas for digital value-added services for inclusive and sustainable agriculture growth, reduce poverty and to achieve food and nutrition security;
• Plan, organize and conduct at least three e-Agriculture capacity development workshops, acting as workshop facilitator and trainer; draft workshop reports
• Plan and organize at least two Human centred design workshops for the validation and adaptation of the agricultural digital services.
• Identify and assess the local user information and knowledge needs and capacities with relation to weather and climate information, crop calendars, market prices, nutrition and livestock.
• Support the institutional stakeholders in drafting the national e-Agriculture Strategy, providing written content and comments, and ensuring that a national vision for e-Agriculture, as well as an Action Plan and M&E framework are part of the e-Agriculture Strategy, promoting a sustainable and inclusive approach to the growth in Agriculture and ICTs
• Based on the capacity assessment, contribute to the planning, implementation and design of monitoring an evaluation of impact assessment of the capacity development programme
• Based on the need assessment, coordinate the broad spectrum of stakeholders to feed the applications of the Digital Services Portfolio with accurate and timely advisory services
• Engage with local stakeholders to support the Digital Services Portfolio dissemination and uptake
• Manage the country project work-plan, risks and issues, including: monitoring progress against the work-plan and communicate updates to the project team and PMO; identify and track the projects’ risks; identify and escalate issues that could affect the projects outcomes, timeline or budget to the PMO.
• Support where needed the mobile applications engagement, dissemination, usage and resource mobilization activities;
• Perform other duties as required.
CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING
Minimum Requirements
• Advanced University degree (for COF.REG)/ University Degree (for PSA) in economics, finance, computer science, social sciences, political science, agricultural economics, environmental studies, climate, biodiversity, or a related discipline;
• At least 3 years of relevant experience in at least two of the following areas of work (more than two would be considered a very strong profile):
o Digital agriculture (ICT in Agriculture or e-Agriculture), especially if working with ministries with responsibility for Agriculture to set policies or strategies within inter-institutional coordination and negotiation
o Capacity assessment or development of Agriculture-related issues and/or ICT-related
o Designing, developing and deploying digital solutions
o Business model innovation, innovation methods (human-centred design)
o Liaising partnerships
• Working knowledge of French (level C) is the minimum requirement to qualify for the position and to qualify as a PSA Subscriber. Additional limited knowledge of English, Spanish or Arabic, Chinese, Russian is needed in order to qualify as a Consultant.
FAO Core Competencies
• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement
Technical/Functional Skills
• Extent and relevance of experience in Digital Agriculture or e-Agriculture, especially within policy and/or strategy development
• Extent and relevance of experience in capacity development
• Extent and relevance of experience in project management within tech4dev (technology for development) ) and/or designing, developing and deploying digital solutions
• Extent and relevance of experience in digital economy and/or startups and clusters ecosystem
• Extent and relevance of experience in methodologies and trends of innovation
• Extent and relevance of experience with international liaising and partnerships with government, private sector and academia
Selection Criteria
• Field of work and area of specialty as per competencies and technical skills listed above
• Education
• Language
• Local institutional knowledge
Please note that all candidates should adhere to FAO Values of Commitment to FAO, Respect for All and Integrity and Transparency
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
FAO does not charge any fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview, processing)
Please note that FAO will only consider academic credentials or degrees obtained from an educational institution recognized in the IAU/UNESCO list
Only language proficiency certificates from UN accredited external providers and/or FAO language official examinations (LPE, ILE, LRT) will be accepted as proof of the level of knowledge of languages indicated in the online applications
Candidates should upload language certificate/s when submitting their application.
For more information, visit the FAO employment website
HOW TO APPLY
To apply, visit the recruitment website at Jobs at FAO and complete your online profile. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Only applications received through the recruitment portal will be considered.
Vacancies will be removed from the recruitment portal at 23:59 Central European Time (CET) on the deadline for applications date. We encourage applicants to submit the application well before the deadline
If you need help please contact: Careers@fao.org
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