Programme Associate ( Smallholder Agricultural Market Support) – Postharvest Management

Area of expertise : Programme & policy

Country : Mozambique

Type of contract : Short term opportunities

Closing date : 06 January 2020, 22:59 GMT

WFP seeks candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian principles.

Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis, and we are committed to promoting diversity and gender balance.

ABOUT WFP

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide.  The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetimes.  Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need.

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education:

Degree in Agriculture, Rural development, Agribusiness, Food Science or related fields.

Experience:

• At least 2 years of experience field work with community engagement, smallholder farmers, agricultural production.

• Experience in smallholder farmers marketing support is desirable.

• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with a wide range of partners with varying interests and priorities.

• Exposure to the agricultural marketing environment in Mozambique

• Understanding of the food security and nutrition context, gender inequalities and agriculture development in Mozambique.

• Understanding of the postharvest sector, with knowledge of relevant topics, such as: food production and processing, Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), food systems and value chain development.

• Proven track record in providing technical and/or business solutions to SHF, with experience implementing or advising on PHM models.

• Demonstrated understanding of gender in agriculture or market systems.

Languages:

Working knowledge (proficiency/Level C) of English is required; Fluency in Portuguese is essential.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

The World Food Programme (WFP) of the United Nations is the largest humanitarian organization engaged in the global effort to achieve Zero Hunger worldwide. In Mozambique, WFP’s Country Strategic Plan (CSP) 2017-2021 supports the national Government’s commitment to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SGD 2: end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture and SDG 17: partnership strengthening among sectors. Through implementation of its Country Strategic Plan 2017-2021, WFP in Mozambique aims to increase smallholder productivity and income (Strategic Result 3 of the CSP and SDG target 2.3) and to enhance livelihoods of targeted smallholder farmers in northern and central Mozambique (Strategic Outcome 5 of the CSP). This will be achieved through two outputs: (i) targeted smallholder farmers (SHF) benefit from WFP value chain support to improve access to profitable markets and increase their incomes; and (ii) targeted smallholder farmer households benefit from improved knowledge in food conservation including and processing, nutrition, care practices and healthy diets to improve their nutrition status.

Since 2018, WFP Mozambique is piloting the Zero Loss Initiative in Tete province. Postharvest losses (PHL) affect food security and nutrition of farmers across Africa. In Mozambique, more than 30 percent of the harvests are lost in the weeks following the harvest, due to poor crop handling and ineffective household storage which leads to higher risk of post-harvest contamination of the crops, and food poisoning. Because of this, farmers are often forced to sell their crops immediately after harvest, at low prices, and only to buy food at much higher prices. This traps them and their families in poverty. It prevents them from growing their income, and from providing food, medicine, and education to their children. It also means that staple foods are not available consistently in the market, contributing further to market price fluctuations. Mozambique committed to halve the current levels of Post-Harvest Losses, by the year 2025 (Malabo Declaration). However, no significant advances were registered in order to meet the targets (Malabo Trend Report, 2017).

JOB PURPOSE

The WFP Zero Loss Initiative mission is to tackle postharvest losses through an innovative strategy that combines value chain approach, focus on scaling of proven technologies, partnering and collaborating with Government, NGOs, UN agencies and private sector, and capacity development of farmers.

The Programme Associate will work under the direct supervision of the Activity 6 Manager, will serve the technical lead for designing, implementing and monitoring Postharvest Loss Management (PHM) activities in the country office.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

1. Plan, organize and coordinate all postharvest related activities in the program area;

2. Develop postharvest training materials, and guidelines for relevant value chains;

3. Train smallholder farmers, agricultural extension Agents, WFP staff and partners on appropriate post-harvest management prevention techniques including produce handling, sorting, drying, storage, processing for value addition, packaging to prolong shelf life;

4. Provide technical guidance and capacity building trainings for implementing partners and local institutions.

5. Supervise and monitor PHM activities by conducting regular visits to project sites;

6. Provide guidance for the establishment of demonstration trials at community and household levels;

7. Support the establishment of market linkages between smallholder farmers and other business actors in the selected value chains;

8. Facilitate the engagement and diversification value chains for WFP programmes and activities;

9. Develop or identify suitable post-harvest handling resources/information from other actors like FAO, MASA and research institutes that can benefit the farming communities.

10. Attend appropriate regular planning and coordination meetings within the program area.

11. Coordinate, provide guidance and training to field monitors, to ensure individual and team objectives are delivered to agreed standards and deadlines;

12. Carry out frequent field missions to targeted districts: assess programme outputs, and recommend best practices for project improvements;

13. Perform other functions that, within their specialty, are required

4Ps CORE ORGANISATIONAL CAPABILITIES

Purpose

• Understand and communicate the Strategic Objectives: Coaches team in the most effective ways to communicate WFP’s Strategic Objectives to WFP team and partners in the field.

•  Be a force for positive change: Implements new methods or tools to improve team’s work processes and productivity.

•  Make the mission inspiring to our team: Maps team’s activities and tasks to specific successes in beneficiary communities to showcase positive impact.

•  Make our mission visible in everyday actions: Explains to teammates how each unit contributes to the overall WFP mission.

People

• Look for ways to strengthen people’s skills: Identifies skill development opportunities such as training modules or on-the-job experiences for self, colleagues and direct reports.

•  Create an inclusive culture: Facilitates team building activities to build rapport in own unit.

•  Be a coach & provide constructive feedback: Facilitates the pairing of junior colleagues with coaches within own team.

•  Create an “I will”/”We will” spirit: Proactively anticipates potential challenges and develops mitigation plans to ensure that team meets goals and targets.

Performance

• Encourage innovation & creative solutions: Identifies opportunities to be creative in own work and to help team be more innovative and accurate in their respective tasks and areas of work.

•  Focus on getting results: Monitors team’s deliverables and provides feedback to ensure outcomes are delivered consistently and accurately.

•  Make commitments and make good on commitments: Provides accurate guidance to team on expected responsibilities and tasks, whilst also upholding own commitment to the team.

•  Be Decisive: Sets an example and provides guidance to junior team members on when to escalate issues when faced with challenging issues in the workplace or in the field.

Partnership

• Connect and share across WFP units: Facilitates partnerships with other WFP units to accomplish missions in the field.

•  Build strong external partnerships: Sets an example and provides guidance to team on how to build relationships with external partners.

•  Be politically agile & adaptable: Articulates to colleagues or direct reports the value of contributing to other WFP teams and agency partnerships in fulfilling WFP’s goals and objectives.

•  Be clear about the value WFP brings to partnerships: Organizes, monitors, and prioritizes own and team’s efforts to ensure that they will fulfil the needs of internal and external partners.

FUNCTIONAL CAPABILITIES

Capability Name Description of the behaviour expected for the proficiency level

Programme Lifecycle & Food Assistance Demonstrates ability to identify key variables and contextual factors that affect food assistance problems and programmes throughout the lifecycle to inform quality programme design or re-design.

Transfer Modalities (Food, Cash, Vouchers) Demonstrates ability to implement, under guidance, food assistance programmes deploying the full range of transfer modalities with an understanding of basic principles guiding modality selection and implementation.

Broad Knowledge of Specialized Areas Understands basic technical concepts and data and their relevance to food assistance programmes.

Emergency Programming Displays capacity to provide inputs into the development, implementation and realignment of high quality emergency programmes.

Strategic Policy Engagement w/Government Understands and applies basic principles of engagement with government counterparts at the national or local level.

OTHER SPECIFIC JOB REQUIREMENTS

• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with a wide range of partners with varying interests and priorities;

• Ability to work independently in a timely and organised manner

• Ability to develop and maintain networks with a variety of stakeholders;

• Flexibility and adaptability to shifting goal posts and evolving client needs;

• Analytical, problem solving, communication, and interpersonal skills;

• Willingness to explore and experiment with new ideas and approaches in own work

DESIRED EXPERIENCES FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE

• Excellent work planning and project management skills, ideally demonstrated in a humanitarian or development context;

• Good communication skills, and excellent ability to coordinate across multiple units and organizations;

• Understanding of food security vulnerability and ability to link analysis to programme design, in the context of WFP programmes;

• Ability to facilitate workshops, negotiate agreements and contracts, and write publishable reports;

• General knowledge of UN system policies, rules, regulations and procedures governing administration, is considered an advantage.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Duration of assignment: 12 months with possibility of renewal.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

Interested candidates should apply no later than 6th January 2020. (Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted)

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Female applicants and qualified applicants from developing countries are especially encouraged to apply

WFP has zero tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate on the basis of HIV/AIDS status.

No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.