Organizational Setting

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that focuses on 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.

FAO is actively engaging in UN country level repositioning for SDG achievement, participating in the negotiation and formulation, as well as in the annual updates, of Common Country Analysis (CCA) and United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks (UNSDCF). In this context, the Organization, under the technical leadership of the Economic and Social Development stream and in close coordination with other headquarters technical units and regional offices, is implementing a mechanism for scaling up the needed human resource analytical and technical expertise in support of the CCA/UNSDCF process at country level. The mechanism will leverage ongoing processes and initiatives already identified within the Organization and draw upon the most sophisticated tools available, including advanced geo-spatial modeling and analytics. The effort will draw upon FAO’s specialized tools and analytical methodologies, including sectoral, to propose specific solutions tailored to the country needs and potentials, to ensure a robust UNSDCF Theory of Change that positions FAO as the premier agrifood systems player in the UN system.

As part of the CCA/UNSDCF regional analytical support mechanism, technical assistance is required to conduct economic scenario analyses. These analyses aim to support proposals for implementing appropriate policy instruments, defining their optimal mix of and develop investment recommendations tailored to specific contexts. The quantitative assessment will ultimately support countries in selecting the most appropriate pathways to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Reporting lines

The macroeconomist reports to the Director of the Agrifood Economics and Policy Division (ESA Director) at FAO Headquarters, under the overall guidance of the relevant Regional Programme Leaders (RPL).

Technical focus

Under the overall guidance and supervision of the ESA Director, the global senior coordinator of the initiative and the relevant Regional Program Leader (RPL), he/she will support the FAO regional office and the country offices by coordinating technical support on macroeconomic modelling and forecasting as part of the CCA/UNSDCF analytical support mechanism. In particular, FAO is looking for experts in the following areas of expertise:

•    Modelling of the multidimensional sustainability of agrifood systems at the national, regional and global level
•    Research and/or policy support experience in scenario analyses, socioeconomic research; applied statistics; data science, data analysis, big data, and novel data sources
•    Projections or foresight quantitative analysis
•    Preparation of technical documentation
•    Experience with numerical computing languages (e.g. Python, R, GAMS).

Tasks and responsibilities

•    As an input into the CCA and UNSDCF process and in coordination with the Agrifood Economics Division of FAO, leverage existing modelling and forecasting tools at the regional and country level to i) Analyse the macroeconomic and/or multisectoral implications (employment, income, cost of living, fiscal consequences) and economy-wide trade-offs or synergies of the needed regional and national agrifood systems transformations to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; ii) Grasp the dynamic evolutions of regional and national agrifood systems and their environment, particularly in terms of economic growth, inequalities, demographic pressure and climate change; iii) Assess the impact of different future scenarios and policies on national economic systems and the environment, the trade-offs and interplays between the two domains, as well as possible synergies between policies and interventions; iv) Estimate the cost of action and inaction to accelerate progress to achieve the Agenda 2030 objectives via Agrifood system transformation
•    At a global scale, leverage global modelling tools to understand the interactions that occur between the plurality of regional and national agrifood systems, though the flow of goods, services, capital, people and knowledge; recognizing that the transformation of national agrifood systems will have external environmental footprints, and that global production and consumption involve trade-offs that require international cooperation;
•    Identify and retrieve national and regional macro, meso and micro-data needed to perform macro-economic analyses or for the estimation of key macro-economic parameters (e.g. build new social accounting matrices (SAMs) or update existing ones for countries)
•    Work jointly with the data specialist, microeconomist and the policy analyst of the regional support mechanism, ESA experts and other FAO technical units to develop integrated analytical approach
•    Provide support to FAO Country and Regional Offices in their efforts to collect, organize and analyse data for economic scenario analyses contained in the CCA, in order to position the Organization as a focal point in the field of agrifood systems transformation within the UN system;
•    Act as a technical lead for developing country-level demand-driven studies focusing on key issues specific to a given country. These could focus on proposing specific targeted investments and/or policy and program innovations on the part of national and international stakeholders that can contribute to achieving transformational change and ensuring No One is Left Behind in the spirit of the UNDS reform in the 2030 agenda.
•    Provide technical backstopping on macroeconomic aspects, modelling and forecasting of agrifood systems to FAO country representatives that are participating in CCA and UNSDCF processes;
•    Identify support requirements for country offices in terms of CCA and UNSDCF and propose solutions in coordination with the global coordinator and the RPL;
•    Other tasks assigned by the immediate supervisor, according to the contractual objectives.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

•    Advanced university degree (PhD, MS or equivalent) in economics, agricultural economics, international trade, environmental sciences, public policy, data sciences or related fields.
•    Relevant experience in policy and economic analysis of food and agricultural issues using economy-wide modelling, in particular computable general equilibrium (CGE):
Category B – at least 5 years of relevant experience
Category A – for COF A, at least 12 years/ for PSA A, 15 years of relevant experience
•    Working knowledge (level C) of English and limited knowledge (level B) of another FAO official language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish). For PSA, working knowledge of English.

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
•    Extent and relevance of experience in undertaking macroeconomic analysis and assessments, using quantitative approaches of agrifood systems;
•    Extent and relevance of experience and knowledge of FAO’s specialized tools and modelling methodologies in partial and general equilibrium;
•    Proficiency and flexibility in using statistical and modelling software, especially GAMS, R, Python and similar software;
•    Extent of knowledge about the situation of agrifood systems in the region and local specificities;
•    Demonstrated experience in drafting technical reports/documents in English and an additional UN language is considered a strong asset.
•    Analytical skills and ability to express and synthesize ideas clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing, and demonstrated communication skills;