Regional Agriculture Specialist

Organizational Setting

FAO Afghanistan is investing across all 34 provinces of Afghanistan in resilience reinforcing actions that focus on protecting agriculture livelihoods and local ecosystems, boosting local production of nutritious foods and cash-incomes, and safeguarding critical agriculture sectoral development gains achieved over the past couple of decades through revitalizing rural markets and economy. In particular, FAO provides a combination of humanitarian and basic needs/non-humanitarian assistance to female and male farmers and herders across Afghanistan in the agriculture, livestock, irrigation and natural resources sub-sectors through its projects and programs, as described in the 2024 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) and the United Nations Strategic Framework for Afghanistan (UNSFA) 2023-2027, specifically under UNSFA Priority 2 Economic Opportunities and Resilient Livelihoods.

Reporting Lines

The incumbent will work under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative (FAOR) or Deputy FAO Representative (DFAOR) in Afghanistan. S/he will work under the direct supervision of the Head of the Regional Office, and the day-to-day technical/functional guidance of the Head of Regional Office who will assign and monitor the daily tasks. The performance evaluation will be done by the direct supervisor in consultation with the Technical Supervisor.

Technical Focus

The incumbent will support the regional level agriculture sector activities and provide technical support in the seed multiplication and certification process. Also, the incumbent gives technical advice to various stakeholders, including FAO’s implementing partners (IPs), on wheat and other crops’ cultivation as per climate smart and sustainable cultivation practices.
 

Tasks and responsibilities

•     Ensure the quality, consistency and appropriateness of regional and country-specific technical communication materials, activities, processes and messages on agriculture sector shared with partners at regional level in the country;
•     Provide technical advice to various stakeholders, including FAO’s implementing partners (IPs), on wheat and other crops’ cultivation as per climate smart and sustainable cultivation practices;
•     Promote the image of FAO through advocacy of the Organization’s mandate, programmes, national priorities and activities;
•     Support the promotion of public-private sector partnerships, and facilitate the implementation and promotion of collaborative activities with UN agencies, development partners and private sectors, including NGOs/CSOs in the agriculture sector as part of FAO’s programming priorities for the respective Regions;
•     Support Regional Coordinator on coordination issues with various stakeholders including IPs and Food Security and Agriculture Cluster (FSAC);
•     Assist on management of overall projects activities as per approved work plan and budget;
•     Identify potential IPs for emergency response in the region;
•     Assist in monitoring distribution of inputs (Wheat seed, fertilizer, vegetable seeds and hand tools) to selected beneficiaries;
•     Carry out regular field visits for the monitoring of FAO emergency and resilience projects, including agriculture input distribution campaigns, plant pests and diseases management, locust control, agricultural sectoral growth and resilience building, agriculture sectoral disaster risk reduction (DRR), and such;
•     Liaise with technical staff in the FAO Representation to address project implementation and program development activities;
•     Support the Emergency and Resilience Unit planning and formulation of FAO’s Emergency and Livelihoods Response Plan (ELRP) as well as formulation of agriculture sectoral growth and resilience building plans;
•     Coordinate with relevant stakeholders, and directorates of key stakeholders including mandated departments, divisions and institutions working in agriculture sector, especially with the Cereal Crops Directorate, Agriculture Research Institute of Afghanistan (ARIA), Seed Certification Directorate and General Directorate of Extension to ensure coordination and exchange of technical information/analysis;
•     Provide technical support in the seed multiplication and certification process of improved wheat, soybean, vegetables, and other legume / oilseed crops in Afghanistan;
•     Prepare all training packages for the IPs (Implementing Partners) related to agro-technique of wheat and others crops;
•     Provide technical trainings on wheat and vegetable crops agronomy to various stakeholders;
•     Support the assessment of natural and conflict affected households and sharing the information with FAO Kabul for fund raising and response;
•     Collect, interpret, aggregate, and analyse data to assess project progress and impact against each established indicators;
•     Review and refine process of working collaboratively with partners, including meetings, information sharing, networking, organization of joint events and campaigns, etc;
•     Assist on surveys / data collection / analysis / identification of any constraints and issues in agriculture sector and support in identifying solutions to address the identified issues and constraints;
•     Provide raw data of agriculture to the technical, progress and terminal reports of the projects;
•     Prepare monthly and weekly reports as well as assist Regional Coordinator on preparation of technical report when required;
•     Perform any other related tasks assigned by Resilience team leader and/or FAO Representative in Afghanistan.

FAO Standards and guidelines:

•     Liaison with OCC will be maintained, either directly or through an agreed focal point/coordinator, to ensure compliance with OCC standards, aligned messaging, and appropriate review and clearance processes.
•     All communication materials will follow FAO clearance processes and comply with FAO standards, including:
FAO Strategic Framework 2022-31: https://www.fao.org/strategic-framework/en   
FAO social media policy and guidelines: https://www.fao.org/2/socialmedia    
Social Media Branding Guidelines: https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/cb5044en  
FAOSTYLE https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/cb8081en  
FAO terminology http://www.fao.org/faoterm  
FAO Names of Countries https://www.fao.org/nocs/en      
Story guidelines, Story template, UN map standards, FAO logo policy and related branding guidelines (available to staff). 
•     Further guidance regarding FAO communications, policies and procedures can be found through the FAO intranet, OCC section.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

•     Bachelor’s degree in agriculture 
•     7 years of relevant experience in Agronomy or seed management including the design and implementation of agricultural emergency and resilience projects
•     Working knowledge (level C) of English and working knowledge of the local language(s) (Pashto and/or Dari).
•     National of Afghanistan

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

•     Experience of working with the United Nations or other international organizations (especially those working in the field of agriculture) is preferred;
•     Ability to work independently, to organize and coordinate with demonstrated ability to write clearly and concisely in working languages;
•     Experience of work under emergency conditions is preferred; 
•     Experience organizing stakeholder meetings or workshops with various partners;
•     Strong professional command of Microsoft Office, in particular Word and Excel.

Selection Criteria

•     Experience with UN/INGO is desirable.
•     Knowledge and experience of research work is preferable.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION