Fishery Officer National Aquaculture Planning and Development

The Fisheries and Aquaculture Division (NFI) is responsible for the economic, social, institutional, governance and policy aspects of FAO’s activities related to fisheries and aquaculture and their development, with particular emphasis on human well-being, food security and poverty reduction; post-harvest utilization, marketing and trade with due regard to the protection of the environment, food security and the well-being of fishing communities; collection, compilation, validation, trend analysis and dissemination of the best available and up-to-date fishery statistics and for the syndication of the FAO information on all aspects of world fisheries and aquaculture. The Division is also responsible for FAO’s activities related to the management and conservation of the living aquatic resources used by fisheries and aquaculture, including the biodiversity and ecosystem maintenance, with particular emphasis on most vulnerable and threatened species and habitats; management of responsible fisheries and aquaculture in accordance with modern management standards and best practices; development of fisheries technology, with due regard to the protection of the environment, food security and the well-being of fishing communities, including the safety of fishers and fishing vessels.

The position is located in the National Planning and Development Support Team (NFIAN) in the Sustainable Aquaculture area and is based at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy.

The Fishery Officer (National Aquaculture Planning and Development) reports to the Senior Fishery Officer/NFIAN Team Leader in the Sustainable Aquaculture area under the overall supervision of the Deputy Director, NFI.

The Fishery Officer (National Aquaculture Planning and Development) will support the preparation and implementation of aquaculture strategies, policies, plans and programmes of work that seek to maximize the impacts of aquaculture on countries’ economic, social and environmental objectives, including food security and nutrition, and help meet Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) targets. The programme of work and activities should follow the FAO Common Vision for Sustainable Food and Agriculture and the FAO Code of Conduct on Responsible Fisheries and associated technical guidelines and seek to mitigate the impacts of climate change on aquaculture, while reducing vulnerability of the sector to climate change and other external stressors.

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

Key Functions

• Researches, analyses and provides access to fisheries and aquaculture technical, social, economic, environmental, institutional and technology related data, and information and/or related policy issues to support the delivery of fisheries and aquaculture programmes, projects, products, publications and services.
• Produces a variety of technical data, statistics, information and reports as well as input for technical documents and web pages.
• Provides technical, statistical, and/or analytical services on various studies, projects and initiatives, and/or assessments; provides technical backstopping to field projects.
• Participates in the development of improved/updated technical, statistical and/or analytical tools, methodologies, systems, databases and/or key social/economic/environmental/nutritional and/or early warning indicators, etc.
• Participates in multidisciplinary teams and/or leads working groups/teams; collaborates with other centres/divisions/offices and agencies on work groups and committees and promotes best practices.
• Collaborates in, provides technical backstopping to and ensures the quality/effectiveness of capacity development activities within Members, such as organizational development and individual learning events, including preparation of related information, learning materials and on-line tools.
• Promotes knowledge sharing and best practices at international meetings and conferences and influences partners in stakeholder consultations.
• Supports resource mobilization activities in accordance with the FAO Corporate Strategy.

Specific Functions:

• Participates in the preparation and implementation of programmes of work on marine, brackish and freshwater aquaculture designed to improve resource use efficiency and minimize environmental impacts, enhanced job opportunity and social welfare/responsibilities, as well as the integration of other associated sectors with aquaculture value chain, reducing vulnerability to climate extremes and other external stressors.
• Collaborates to the implementation of aquaculture development, governance and planning under FAO’s Blue Transformation Roadmap at regional and national levels and globally, including in Africa, Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and other priority areas, as required.
• Supports the development and implementation of initiatives to support Members in the development and implementation of national aquaculture policies, strategies and plans in the context of sustainable aquaculture, food and nutritional security and poverty eradication.
• Contributes to the support to Members in the identification, design, feasibility and viability analyses of aquaculture investment projects or business plans including studying market prospects, prices, costs and risks, and carrying out financial and economic analyses, developing the monitoring and evaluation system, the costing of investment operations, the assessment of their performance during implementation and their impact after their completion.
• Maintains close collaboration and coordination with other FAO units, FAO Representations as well as relevant national and international partners.
• Promotes NFI’s cross-cutting initiatives on SDGs, climate change, biodiversity, food security and nutrition, as required.

Candidates Will Be Assessed Against The Following:

Minimum Requirements:

• Advanced university degree in economics, applied development studies, public policy, aquaculture and fisheries or related disciplines.
• Five years of relevant experience in the planning and development of aquaculture projects, in the identification, design and conduct of feasibility study and viability analysis of aquaculture investment projects or programmes in public and/or private sectors, or in the analysis of national aquaculture development policies, strategies and plans and the sustainability of aquaculture projects.
• Working knowledge (proficient – level C) of English and limited knowledge (intermediate – level B) of another FAO official language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish).

Technical/Functional Skills:

• Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in field positions.
• Extent and relevance of experience in the development of policy and governance frameworks and strategies to effectively integrate aquaculture into local and national planning and economies to enable its effective sustainable growth.
• Extent and relevance of experience in the development and implementation of economic tools to promote and monitor sustainable aquaculture growth.
• Extent and relevance of experience in the identification, design, assessment of economic and financial feasibility, implementation support and impact evaluation of public and/or private aquaculture investment projects or programmes.
• Extent and relevance of experience in capacity development for the design and implementation of aquaculture, rural development, natural resource management and agro-processing investments in the context of food security, nutrition and economic development.
• Knowledge of current global issues, trends, constraints, and research needs related to the management and conservation of aquatic resources and ecosystems.
• Demonstrated experience in drafting technical reports, papers and other knowledge products.
• Extent and relevance of experience in organizing international meetings, seminars and training courses.

Source:  https://jobs.fao.org/careersection/fao_external/jobdetail.ftl?job=2401160