Organizational Setting
The Animal Production and Health Division (NSA) promotes and facilitates the sustainable development of the livestock sector, integrating scientific, technical expertise and policy advice. It hosts technical networks in areas of animal genetics, feed and pastoralism, among others. It provides analysis and technical assistance, and facilitates policy dialogue (incl. intergovernmental bodies).
The consultancy is located in the Animal Production and Genetics Branch (NSAG). The Unit generates information and manages knowledge, facilitates the development and implementation of innovative solutions and provides technical expertise to improve productivity, efficiency and resilience of livestock production. The activities of the Unit cover all production systems, from pastoralism to industrial, including crop-livestock integrated systems; and aim to enhance their sustainability.
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Reporting Lines
Under the direct supervision of the NSAG Animal Production Officer, and in close consultation and collaboration with relevant colleagues in FAO HQ and decentralized offices and partners, the incumbent will support NSAGโs work related to data collection for the Domestic Animal Diversity Information System (DAD-IS).
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Technical Focusย
Population size is a valuable indicator of a breedโs risk of extinction, which is used for the computation of SDG Indicator 2.5.2. Breed-based censuses and to a certain extent herdbooks for pedigree registration are accurate tools for monitoring breed population sizes, but are generally costly, require important logistic and governance capacities, and are not available for most breed populations in developing countries and for many breeds in developed countries, especially for certain species.ย
Estimating population size by sampling and/or other approaches is a relatively inexpensive approach that, when properly applied, still yields reasonably accurate results. FAO has already developed some methods for estimating population sizes of breeds and tested them in several countries. However, these methods are not appropriate in all circumstances, and further innovation is needed. Methods for estimating colony numbers are also needed to monitor the diversity of managed honey bees. The technical focus is on developing low-cost and cost-effective methods for estimating the size of breed populations in livestock species and the number of bee-colonies.
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Tasks and responsibilities
โขย ย ย Provide a literature and technical review of methods on estimation of breed population sizes including the one developed by FAO based on stratified-sampling considering the desired precision of estimates, the degree of accuracy and related costs.
โขย ย ย Participate in one mission to FAO HQ to meet relevant colleagues and partners.
โขย ย ย Develop a structured questionnaire that helps to collect information on implementation constraints, challenges experienced, and solutions found related to collection/estimation of breed population size data. This should be based on the literature review developed under the first bullet.
โขย ย ย Conduct structured interviews (online or onsite) to gather information on implementation constraints, challenges experienced, and solutions found related to collection/estimation of breed population size data.
โขย ย ย Based on the literature review and through the analysis of the information collected through the task above, prepare a document presenting alternative methods to estimate population sizes of breeds and the number of bee colonies for monitoring purpose, describing prerequisites for implementation and costs in relation to precision and degree of accuracy of the estimates.
โขย ย ย Draft a step-by-step guide on the implementation of selected alternative low-cost methods in the field.
โขย ย ย Assist in identifying countries and Service Providers for testing the proposed methods in the field.
โขย ย ย Perform other duties as required.
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CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING
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Minimum Requirements
โขย ย ย University degree in statistics, mathematics, economics, agricultural economics, or a related field with training in statistics.
โขย ย ย Five years of relevant field experience in statistical surveys and censuses.
โขย ย ย For Consultants: working knowledge of English and limited knowledge of French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese or Russian. For PSAs: working knowledge of English. ย
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FAO Core Competencies
โขย ย ย Results Focus
โขย ย ย Teamwork
โขย ย ย Communication
โขย ย ย Building Effective Relationships
โขย ย ย Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement
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Technical/Functionalย
โขย ย ย Extent and relevance of knowledge and experience in census and survey methodology.
โขย ย ย Extent and relevance of experience in designing, planning and managing large-scale surveys and/or censuses.
โขย ย ย Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in low and middle-income countries.
โขย ย ย Extent and relevance of experience in the preparation, editing and revision of technical/scientific/project documents;
โขย ย ย Extent and relevance of knowledge and experience in software used for processing and analysing census/survey data;
โขย ย ย Extent of experience in providing support to countries for technical assistance in statistics;
โขย ย ย Demonstrated capacity to write technical content in English;
โขย ย ย Excellent communication and inter-personal skills;
โขย ย ย Familiarity with the Domestic Animal Diversity Information System (DAD-IS) and the SDG indicators under SDG target 2.5 is an asset.
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