FAO recruits a Digital Agriculture Specialist – NIAMEY (NIGER)
- Organization: FAO – Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
- Location: Niamey
- Grade: Consultant – Contractors Agreement – Consultancy
- Occupational Groups:
- Agriculture and Forestry
- Information Technology and Computer Science
- Design (digital, product, graphics or visual design)
- Closing Date: 2019-06-17
Important notice :
Please note that Closure Date and Time displayed above are based on your personal device date and time settings . FAO is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender and nationality . People with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply .All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality . The incumbent may be re-assigned to different activities and/or duty stations depending on the evolving needs of the Organization
Organizational Setting :
Reporting Lines :
Technical Focus :
Tasks and responsibilities :
- Conduct research on the country digital agriculture environment and capacity by performing a wide range of analyses (country context, stakeholders mapping, capacity assessment, existing solutions, providers and initiatives, the policy, institutional and legislative framework) ;
- Establish local partners contact, nurture relationships, coordinating and working closely with national and local stakeholders (Ministry of Agriculture, High Commission for 3N Initiative, Ministry of ICTs, ANSI, NGOs, farming associations, private sector, startups, etc.), supporting the establishment and coordination the national working group
Identify demand areas for digital value-added services for inclusive and sustainable agriculture growth, reduce poverty and to achieve food and nutrition security ; - Plan, organize and conduct at least three e-Agriculture capacity development workshops, acting as workshop facilitator and trainer; draft workshop reports ;
- Plan and organize at least two Human centred design workshops for the validation and adaptation of the agricultural digital services ;
- Identify and assess the local user information and knowledge needs and capacities with relation to weather and climate information, crop calendars, market prices, nutrition and livestock ;
- Support the institutional stakeholders in drafting the national e-Agriculture Strategy, providing written content and comments, and ensuring that a national vision for e-Agriculture, as well as an Action Plan and M&E framework are part of the e-Agriculture Strategy, promoting a sustainable and inclusive approach to the growth in Agriculture and ICTs
- Based on the capacity assessment, contribute to the planning, implementation and design of monitoring an evaluation of impact assessment of the capacity development programme ;
- Based on the need assessment, coordinate the broad spectrum of stakeholders to feed the applications of the Digital Services Portfolio with accurate and timely advisory services ;
- Engage with local stakeholders to support the Digital Services Portfolio dissemination and uptake ;
- Manage the country project work-plan, risks and issues, including\: monitoring progress against the work-plan and communicate updates to the project team and PMO; identify and track the projects’ risks; identify and escalate issues that could affect the projects outcomes, timeline or budget to the PMO ;
Support where needed the mobile applications engagement, dissemination, usage and resource mobilization activities ; - Perform other duties as required .
Minimum Requirements :
- Advanced University degree (for COF.REG)/ University Degree (for PSA) in economics, finance, computer science, social sciences, political science, agricultural economics, environmental studies, climate, biodiversity, or a related discipline ;
- At least 3 years of relevant experience in at least two of the following areas of work (more than two would be considered a very strong profile) ;
- Digital agriculture (ICT in Agriculture or e-Agriculture), especially if working with ministries with responsibility for Agriculture to set policies or strategies within inter-institutional coordination and negotiation ;
- Capacity assessment or development of Agriculture-related issues and/or ICT-related ;
- Designing, developing and deploying digital solutions ;
- Business model innovation, innovation methods (human-centred design) ;
- Liaising partnerships ;
- Working knowledge of French (level C) is the minimum requirement to qualify for the position and to qualify as a PSA Subscriber. Additional limited knowledge of English, Spanish or Arabic, Chinese, Russian is needed in order to qualify as a Consultant.
FAO Core Competencies :
- Results Focus ;
- Teamwork ;
- Communication ;
- Building Effective Relationships ;
- Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement .
Technical/Functional Skills :
- Extent and relevance of experience in Digital Agriculture or e-Agriculture, especially within policy and/or strategy development ;
- Extent and relevance of experience in capacity development ;
- Extent and relevance of experience in project management within tech4dev (technology for development) ) and/or designing, developing and deploying digital solutions ;
- Extent and relevance of experience in digital economy and/or startups and clusters ecosystem ;
- Extent and relevance of experience in methodologies and trends of innovation ;
- Extent and relevance of experience with international liaising and partnerships with government, private sector and academia .
Selection Criteria :
- Field of work and area of specialty as per competencies and technical skills listed above ;
- Education ;
- Language ;
- Local institutional knowledge .
Please note that all candidates should adhere to FAO Values of Commitment to FAO, Respect for All and Integrity and Transparency