Agribusiness Officer

Technical Focus

• Provide analytical and technical support on agribusiness and value chains development and functioning of agricultural support services, in close collaboration with the relevant public and private sector stakeholders, for the formulation, implementation and evaluation of investment policies, strategies, programmes and projects in food and agriculture, rural development, natural resource management and agro-processing.

Key Results

• Delivering investment and finance support solutions through the provision of technical expertise/assistance and support to capacity development, in collaboration with country stakeholders and cooperating partners, to achieve impact at scale in the transformation of agrifood systems in the scope of the FAO Strategic Framework.

Key Functions

• Participates in, and eventually leads, multidisciplinary teams to assist governments in the identification and preparation of investment and finance support initiatives in the fields of food security, agriculture, rural development, natural resource management and agro-processing, and participates in pre-appraisal and appraisal missions.
• Participates in, and eventually leads, multidisciplinary teams for the implementation support and the preparation of final evaluation of investment and finance support solutions.
• Provides technical expertise for the preparation of food and agriculture, rural development, natural resource management and agro-processing studies and strategies, in the formulation of national sector and/or sub-sector investment plans and programmes.
• Supports the development of inclusive and sustainable food systems involving producers, their organizations, other private sector actors, and civil society organizations and government.
• Formulates and delivers capacity development strategies and activities in the areas of food and agriculture, rural development, natural resource management and agro-processing investment support to government staff, non-state actors and private sector organizations.
• Prepares documents in accordance with FAO, governments and financing partners’ requirements.
• Provides support in task organization, selection of consultants, preparation of terms of reference and in ensuring the quality of outputs.
• Promotes international cooperation and collaboration leading to new investment opportunities and cooperative agreements, advocates best practices and effective policy dialogue and provides technical expertise at international meetings.
• Establishes, promotes and maintains relationships with relevant Strategic Programmes, FAO technical units and Decentralized Offices in order to ensure best synergies between investment, policy and innovation work in support to Members.
• Participates in resource mobilization activities in accordance with the FAO Strategic Framework.
• Provides guidance and advice to junior staff.

Specific Functions

• Contributes to the analysis of selected agrifood value chains, with high interaction with relevant public, private and civil society stakeholders.
• Assesses constraints and opportunities for investment along selected value chains, in relation to private sector engagement, existence and performance of support services, trade policies, risk management systems, food safety standards adoption and control systems, amongst others.
• Identifies and analyses agricultural investment-related policy issues and possible agri-business related solutions.
• Identifies options and designs country-level interventions and related investments in selected value chains in collaboration with international financial institutions, donors and local private and public sector stakeholders.
• Engages with private sector stakeholders, including upstream and downstream value chain actors, including small and medium enterprises (SMEs), farmers and their organizations, agribusiness companies, agro-industries and their associations, to strengthen and validate recommended investment and policy options.
• Contributes to the development of knowledge products, including analytical work and practical tools, related to agribusiness, marketing and value chain development.
• Develops public-private platforms and designs strategies to strengthen the enabling environment for scaling up investments along the value chain.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced university degree in agriculture, agro-industry, business administration, economics, agricultural economics or a closely related field.
• Seven years of relevant experience in the practical application of value chain analysis and development, agribusiness and market development, agro-processing, including experience in the formulation and implementation of agrifood investment operations in developing countries.
• Working knowledge (proficiency – level C) of English and intermediate knowledge (intermediate proficiency – level B) of another FAO official language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish).

Source: https://jobs.fao.org/careersection/fao_external/jobdetail.ftl?job=2500401