Harare, Zimbabwe

Organization: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Country: Zimbabwe

City: Harare, Zimbabwe

Office: FAO Subregional Office for Southern Africa, Harare

Closing date: Monday, 7 June 2021

2101538

Agribusiness Specialist

Job Posting: 24/May/2021

Closure Date: 07/Jun/2021, 9:59:00 PM

Organizational Unit : SFS

Job Type: Non-staff opportunities

Type of Requisition : NPP (National Project Personnel)

Grade Level : N/A

Primary Location: Zimbabwe-Harare

Duration : 12 months renewable

Post Number : N/A

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Please note that Closure Date and Time displayed above are based on date and time settings of your personal device

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 member nations 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 our values. FAO has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and FAO, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination

All selected candidates, therefore, will undergo rigorous reference and background checks

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

FAO's work in post-disaster and emergency situations emphasizes the protection and rehabilitation of agricultural livelihoods. Following the loss of life, livelihoods and destruction caused by Cyclone Idai in March 2019, The World Bank availed USD 75 million to finance the Zimbabwe Idai Recovery Project. The ZIRP is a multi-sectoral project addressing both early and mid-term recovery needs in livelihoods, health, education, WASH and agriculture. FAO is implementing the agricultural component of the ZIRP focusing on three priority areas; (i) restoration of crop production; (ii) restoration of livestock production; (iii) rehabilitation of irrigation schemes.

Reporting Lines

Working under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative in Zimbabwe, and direct supervision of the National Project Coordinator, the Agribusiness Specialist will provide expert technical support to the project

Technical Focus

The technical areas/profiles covered will be as follows:

sustainable agricultural production and agribusiness,

value chain and food system development

Capacity building

Tasks and responsibilities

Coordinate and facilitate collaboration on market linkage aspects with the project stakeholders, in particular the private sector, in order to build public-private-community partnerships in support of project activities.

Work with the other project officers to support market linkages, develop sustainable crop input support models and facilitate commercial crop production at rehabilitated irrigation schemes and other project areas.

Contribute to the development of extension, training and advisory services related to farming as a business, private extension provision and public-private partnerships and financial literacy.

Facilitate community sensitization, mobilization and execution of participatory natural resource planning, agroecological approaches and environmental management activities in selected micro-catchments/watershed with key stakeholders.

Working with project beneficiaries (men, women, farmer groups & youth), seek and support opportunities to reduce post-harvest food losses and waste, and value addition of food products at the farm/household level.

Participate in project monitoring and drawing up lessons learnt and course corrections.

Assist in the writing and compilation of project reports.

Perform related duties, including the direct implementation of other technical activities, as required

Facilitate institutional strengthening of existing or new grower organizations for aggregation and sale of produce in the Nyahode valley

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

Advanced degree in Agribusiness, Agricultural Economics, Agronomy or related field from a recognized institution

Tags advisory services agribusiness agricultural economics agricultural production continuous improvement emergency situation environmental management farmer field school financial literacy knowledge sharing livestock natural resources participatory project management project monitoring project personnel public private partnerships value chain

At least 5 years of relevant field experience, including the commercialisation of smallholder producers, building linkages with input, output and/or financial markets, crop and livestock production, nutrition and natural resources planning

Fluent in English.

National of Zimbabwe.

FAO Core Competencies

Results Focus

Teamwork

Communication

Building Effective Relationships

Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

Understanding of the needs and challenges of agribusinesses, smallholder farmers and other agribusiness value-chain actors in Zimbabwe or similar contexts

Experience in developing farmer field schools and advising agribusiness projects

Excellent skills in Microsoft Excel and Word

Excellent skills in project management demonstrated on previous jobs

Proven track record in working effectively within multidisciplinary teams

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

FAO does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing)

Incomplete applications will not be considered. If you need help please contact: Careers@fao.org

Applications received after the closing date will not be accepted

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

For additional employment opportunities visit the FAO employment website: http://www.fao.org/employment/home/en/

FAO seeks gender, geographical and linguistic diversity in its staff and international consultants in order to best serve FAO Members in all regions.