Food Systems Regional Specialist for Africa

Organizational Setting

The Food Systems Summit (hereinafter FSS), held during the 2021 UN General Assembly, set the stage for global food systems transformation to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Under the leadership of the Secretary-General, the FSS made it clear that transformative action in food systems is fundamental to achieving the SDGs. As a follow up to the Summit, the UN Secretary-General has committed the UN system to establish a UN Food Systems Coordination Hub (hereafter the Hub) to support countries implementing food system transformation pathways towards the achievement of the 2030 Agenda. The hub is hosted by FAO in Rome on behalf of the UN System. 

The Hub has a coordinating and connector role drawing on the capacities of the UN system and leveraging on the advice and expertise from a wider ecosystem of support, serving countries, by incentivizing existing institutions to deliver on their mandates in a systemic way. In this context, the Hub covers six key functions: 
•    Facilitate Implementation of National Pathways 
•    Strengthen Strategic Thought Leadership 
•    Engage Collective Ecosystem of Support 
•    Leverage Means of Implementation 
•    Communicate & Advocate Food Systems Approach 
•    Prepare for the 2023 Stocktaking Moment 

Reporting Lines

The Food Systems Regional Specialist for Africa will report to the Deputy Director of the of the Hub, Office of Sustainable Development Goals.

Technical Focus 

The assignment will provide state-of-the-art advisory services and technical support to the Hub Director and Deputy Director and the various Hub workstreams, in relation to food systems transformation challenges and opportunities in Africa region, in order to support the effective roll-out and implementation of the Hub mandate and workplan in the region. 
The specialist will develop an annual regional strategy for Africa region as well contribute to the overall Hub regional strategy to feed into the Hub biennial workplan 2024-2025. 

Tasks and responsibilities

Policy and Technical input 

•    Provide advice to inform the policy, governance, finance and science-related priority activities of the Hub. 
•    Ensure appropriate follow-up to requests for technical support on policy matters coming from countries and partners in the region. 
•    Produce comprehensive written outputs on regional policy issues e.g., draft background papers, briefing notes, analysis including foresight, sections of reports and studies, inputs to publications, concept notes, etc. as well as background notes, talking points and relevant material for the Director and Deputy Director of the Hub’s participation in meetings and events. 
•    Support the Hub’s engagement in global policy discussions to ensure regional dimensions are duly covered. 
•    Facilitate and support policy alignment and coherence in fostering integrated capacities to cope with current and emerging trends and interests including environment and climate change, demographic, health care and nutrition, social protection and prosperity, as well as across all related SDGs. 

Partnership 

•    Identify strategic regional partners and create a channel of communication with key regional organizations with the goal of sharing strategic information between the Hub and the region and vice versa. 
•    Liaises and maintains strong working relationships with National Convenors, UN Resident Coordinators, UN Regional Directors and UN Representatives, regional bodies, coalitions and key food systems partners and actors in the region; create and leverage opportunities for new strategic partnerships. 
•    Facilitate knowledge management, exchange of lessons-learned and best practices, peer learning and south-south cooperation amongst countries in the region; support capacity building initiatives at regional level. 
•    Support regional inter-agency coordination and networking as well as collaboration across regions, enable the inclusion of food systems-related issues in the work of the United Nations Regional Collaborative Platform. Facilitate the Hub’s collaborative linkages on the AU food systems programs and initiatives (along the Agenda 2063, the post-CAADP-Malabo strategy and the 2021 African Common Position on food systems) through technical and policy alignment support to the AUC and specifically, the AUC Commissioner – Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment and to the Africa Union Special Envoy for Food Systems, including a special focus on the development and launch of the Continental action plan for rolling out and integrating the Africa Common Position on Food Systems into National Development Plans, national agriculture investment and other related national development plans and strategies. 

UNFSS 4 

•    Support the Hub Director and Deputy Director in articulating and communicating the Hub’s unique value proportion, in general, and specifically in collective and integrated advances towards the UNFSS 4 
•    Lead the preparation of regional touchpoints, workshops, annual regional meetings and other Hub-led meetings and engagements in the region; consolidate and report on inputs received from Member States during those meetings. Ensure that the results of Hub activities in the region are documented, shared and known across countries to demonstrate the impact of the interventions, support outreach, advocacy, communication and visibility, donor relations and resource mobilization. 
•    Collaborate with other Hub staff to support the effective implementation, monitoring, reporting and widespread and accessible dissemination on all Hub-led activities in the region. 
•    Collaborates effectively with the other Hub Regional Focal Points 
•    Participates on behalf of the Hub in events relevant to the region. 
•    Performs other related duties, as required. 

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

•    University degree in sustainable development, environment, economics, law, social studies or other area related to UN FS Coordination Hub work. 
•    At least 10 years of relevant experience providing advisory services in the area of sustainable development policy, partnerships and or governance.
•    Working knowledge of English and limited knowledge of one of the other FAO languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish). For PSAs: working knowledge of English.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills 

•    Familiarity with the work of UN FS Coordination Hub or other multilateral organizations 
•    Knowledge of the content of global agendas such as the 2030 Agenda, the Paris Agreement and Agenda 2063. 
•    Excellent writing skills, excellent interpersonal skills with liaising with different stakeholders and presenting ideas and exchanges