Technical Specialist (Environmental, Agricultural, and Land Formalization)

Organizational Setting

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) contributes to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda through the FAO Strategic Framework by supporting the transformation to more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems, for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no-one behind. The main aim of the FAO Representation in Cambodia is to assist the Government to develop policies, programmes and projects to achieve food security and to reduce hunger and malnutrition, to help develop the agricultural, fisheries and forestry sectors, and to use their environmental and natural resources in a sustainable manner.

The FAO Representation in Cambodia is implementing FAO’s Country Programming Framework (CPF) 2024-2028 as well as contributing to the development of United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) 2024 – 2028 and providing technical assistance to the Government counterparts to develop relevant strategies and action plans. FAO Representation in Cambodia is implementing several projects and programmes under the six thematic areas, namely Food Systems, Agriculture Value Chains, One Health and Livestock Production, Fisheries, Forest, Land and Water, Data, Knowledge and Policy.

Under the Forest, Land, Water, Climate Change, and Climate Finance portfolio, FAO is implementing a Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) project titled “Strengthening Sustainable Forest Landscape Management and Commodity Production Decoupled from Deforestation in Agriculture-Forest Frontiers for People and Climate.”

The project focuses on Cambodia’s agriculture-forest frontier landscapes to reduce deforestation, enhance climate resilience, and improve rural livelihoods. It promotes forest-positive agricultural practices—such as agroforestry and sustainable commodity production—to support national commitments under Cambodia’s NDCs, REDD strategy, and NBSAP.

In response to emerging global deforestation-free supply chains, the initiative aims to promote sustainable production systems decoupled from deforestation in agriculture-forest frontier landscape. It also supports forest restoration and sustainable land-use planning, contributing to forest cover increases, emission reductions, and resilient market systems.

To support the above-mentioned project, a Technical Specialist (Environmental, Agricultural, and Land Formalization) will be recruited to coordinate with government focal points to map national land-use, agro-forestry tenure and commodity practices and conduct a gap analysis, to assess readiness for forest-positive and deforestation-free market alignment.

Reporting Lines

Under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative to Cambodia, Assistant FAO Representative (Programme), and Programme Advisor (Forest, Land and Water), with technical guidance from the Forestry officer (Hqs), the lead Technical Officer and project team and FAO Agriculture-Forest Nexus Team, the Technical Specialist (Environmental, Agricultural, and Land Formalization) will work closely with government focal points to map existing national instruments and practices related to agro-forestry land uses (including land use planning, land use governance instruments & decision-making and land formalization aspects) and commodity prioritized production. A gap analysis will then be conducted to assess the country’s readiness for forest-positive practices and its alignment with global deforestation-free international trends.

The Technical Specialist (Environmental, Agricultural, and Land Formalization) will be responsible for delivering the technical focus and tasks outlined below.

Technical Focus

The assignment focuses on mapping tenure in targeted areas, take stock of policy and institutional instruments that govern land-use decisions, tenure practices and commodity production in Cambodia, likely for cashew and other targeted commodities to be confirmed with government focal points.  The analysis will evaluate the enabling environment for inclusive, climate-resilient production systems and due diligence compliance. Findings will be informed by national repositories, existing analysis, and stakeholder consultations. The objective is to provide actionable recommendations for improving land governance, land formalization and agro-forestry tenure practices while supporting deforestation-free commodity supply chains.

Tasks and responsibilities

The Technical Specialist (Environmental, Agricultural, and Land Formalization) will:
•     Work Planning: develop a detailed work plan for the consultancy, including methodology, timeline, and stakeholder engagement approach. 
•     Policy and Institutional Mapping: Collect and assess relevant international, national policy, institutional, and local tenure related instruments & practices. 
•     Focus on instruments related to: (I) forest-positive and sustainable production systems (cashew, other targeted commodities to be confirmed  etc..).  (II) country’s readiness in deforestation free -based instruments, focusing on land tenure considerations.
•     Complement desk research with national repositories, past assessments, and key stakeholder interviews.
•     Compliance and Verification Analysis
•     Map responsible institutional entities. 
•     Assess availability of data, documents, and systems to support due diligence. 
•     Take stock of traceability efforts and systems for the targeted commodities.
•     Gap Analysis & Solutions
•     Identify key tenure, policy and institutional gaps, overlaps, and challenges targeting agricultural and community forestry land practices.  
•     Propose actionable short- and medium-term solutions to strengthen the enabling environment & policy coherence.
•     Drafting of Policy Gap Assessment Report 
•     Prepare Detailed Report Outline: Collaborate with NFO to develop a structured outline guiding the drafting of the policy report.
•     Draft Policy Report: Summarize key findings from the analysis, including recommendations to promote positive commodity production and deforestation-free practices.
•     Consultation and Validation Process 
•     Organize and facilitate a validation meeting with key stakeholders. 
•     Present findings and gather technical inputs. 
•     Revise and finalize the report based on feedback. 
•     Perform related duties as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements   

•      Bachelor’s degree in forestry, agriculture policy, tenure, economics or related matters 
•     At least 5 years of professional experience in a relevant field related to environmental, agriculture-forestry nexus and tenure, natural resources and/or forestry policy in Cambodia  
•     Good knowledge of the international context related to forests, and of the major international and regional environmental instruments   
•     Working knowledge of English
•     National of Cambodia

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  
•     Demonstrated capacities to draft texts/reports            
•     Very good sense of organization and ability to meet tight deadlines          
•     Ability to prioritize tasks            
•     Ability to work in a harmonious and effective way in a multicultural team   
•     Ability to work closely with national institutions and governmental entities  
 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION