Senior National Project Agronomist

Organizational Setting

The crisis in northern Mozambique has rapidly deteriorated because of conflict, insecurity and violence in Cabo Delgado. Specifically, the security situation in Cabo Delgado has been progressively deteriorating since December, with numerous attacks from the Non-State Armed Groups, both targeting civilians and military forces.
This, coupled with the logistics access constraints (extreme weather, broken bridges, falling infrastructures, floods, etc) and repeated extreme climate events (floods, cyclones) puts a strain on humanitarian partners’ logistics capacity.
In this context, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is implementing its Agricultural Livelihoods Response Plan for northern Mozambique, providing support to IDPs, host communities, returnees, and population affected by the cyclones, to foster resumption of crop production, fishing and livestock rearing activities while sustainably managing the soil, forest and fish resources. Projects developed under the Agriculture Livelihoods Response Plan will contribute towards enhanced food and nutrition security of the populations, while laying the foundation to build resilient livelihoods against future climatic shocks and stressors.

Reporting Lines

Under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative (FAOR) in Mozambique, the direct supervision of the Head of Sub Office,
and the technical leadership of the project Lead Technical Officer (LTO) in the Sub-Regional Office for Southern Africa (SFS) - the
Project Agronomist will undertake the day-to-day operationalization of the project focusing on the crop production and
productivity components.

Technical Focus

Research, technical analysis, and project related services to support the delivery of programme projects, products, and services.

Tasks and responsibilities

•    Coordinate and oversee day-to-day implementation of the projects in line with the work plans elaborated; and suggest timely corrective actions on the project implementation if required;
•    Prepare annual and quarterly work plans, procurement plan, travel plan and training plan, as well as Terms of References (ToRs) for all activities foreseen under the agriculture component;
•    Liaise with the technical advisers (LTO, LTU, TCO) to obtain the requested technical clearance and support at regional and HQ levels;
•    Assist in delivering the technical and organizational elements of the related project outputs, including specific activities such as data collection and organization of consultations within respective project components;
•    Assist in selection of implementing partners among Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs), universities, research institutes, national institutions to provide trainings and carry out other project activities, and assist the development of ToRs or Letter of Agreements (LoAs), where applicable;
•    Coordinate the planning and follow up actions of implementation of training, demonstration sites, and other capacity building activities, as well as agricultural inputs distributions, the delivery of all field activities (performing regular visits to project field sites) and awareness raising activities;
•    Make sure that all necessary inputs (personnel, technical support services, sub-contracts, training, data collection, information requests, etc.), including validated technical specifications for goods, construction and services are provided in a timely manner for timely procurement and/or delivery to beneficiaries and partners;
•    Assure quality and sustainability of project activities and project outputs;
•    Ensure adequate initiatives for gender mainstreaming and transformative approach, social inclusion, protection against sexual exploitation and abuse, as well as accountability to affected population, are taken;
•    Plan and initiate regular events for better coordination among partners and stakeholders, facilitate and strengthen collaboration to ensure smooth implementation and delivery of project’s activities, as well as raising visibility and awareness related to project’s goals, activities and results; 
•    Regularly promote the projects and their outputs and findings on the provincial stage;
•    Organize the project task force meetings and Project Steering Committee meetings where required; ensure that secretariat of such meetings is properly conducted, proposing agenda topics, identifying participants, following up the preparation of documents, presentations, reports, minutes, etc.
•    Coordinate project interventions with other ongoing activities/projects of the Northern Mozambique portfolio;
•    Support the proper Monitoring & Evaluation activities of the assigned project.
•    Prepare progress reports and all monitoring reports requested;
•    Support the identification of best practices and lessons learnt, ensuring their proper documentation and dissemination; promote knowledge sharing;
•    Support the preparation of new project proposals for resource mobilisation;
•    Perform other duties as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements   

•    University degree in agriculture, Agronomy, Crop Production, Crop Science sustainable agriculture (including livestock, forestry and fisheries), or related field;
•    Five years of relevant experience in technical cooperation’s related activities, policy advice and analysis relating to food and nutrition security, agriculture and rural development, fishery, forestry, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes;
•    Working knowledge of English and Portuguese
•    Mozambican National 

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

•    Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in field positions is desirable
•    Relevance and extent of experience in in technical cooperation’s related activities, policy advice and analysis relating to food and nutrition security, agriculture and rural development, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes
•    Relevance and extent of experience in working with inter-governmental bodies and multi-disciplinary teams

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION