Livestock Services & Farmer Field School Specialist

Organizational Setting

FAO Afghanistan is investing across all 34 provinces of Afghanistan in resilience reinforcing actions that focus on protecting agriculture livelihoods and local ecosystems, boosting local production of nutritious foods and cash-incomes, and safeguarding critical agriculture sectoral development gains achieved over the past couple of decades through revitalizing rural markets and economy. In particular, FAO provides a combination of humanitarian and basic needs/non-humanitarian assistance to female and male farmers and herders across Afghanistan in the agriculture, livestock, irrigation and natural resources sub-sectors through its projects and programs, as described in the 2024 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) and the United Nations Strategic Framework for Afghanistan (UNSFA) 2023-2025, specifically under UNSFA Priority 2 Economic Opportunities and Resilient Livelihoods

Reporting Lines

The incumbent will work under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative (FAOR) or Deputy FAO Representative (DFAOR) in Afghanistan. S/he will work under the direct supervision of the Animal Production & Health Team Leader and the overall guidance of the Head of Programme Unit. The direct supervisor or as assigned, will be responsible for all day-to-day supervision, technical guidance and the performance evaluation.

Technical Focus

The Livestock Service and FFS Specialist will provide relevant technical assistance for efficient implementation of the Livestock Team to develop animal health, feed, fodder crop and AI data collection network and help in analysing the data to prepare recommendations for farmers.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Assist the Head of the Livestock Team and partners to develop commercial milk production in the project area.
• Assist the Head of the Livestock Team to develop animal health, feed, fodder crop and AI data collection network and help in analysing the data to prepare recommendations for farmers;
• Directly supervise and guide dairy stakeholders and private sector for dairy development activities related to animal feeding, dairy husbandry, breeding and genetic improvement, and overall management of dairy farms.
• Design and develop training modules tailored to Livestock Farmer Field Schools LFFS on local livestock farming practices, including animal health, nutrition, breeding, and waste management.
• Prepare extension material and other technical themes as needed to LFFS.
• Conduct regular assessments of livestock practices and LFFS in the field to identify challenges and opportunities for improvement.
• Coordinate with local IP, agricultural organizations, extension workers, and community leaders to promote the LFFS initiative and encourage participation.
• Develop and implement monitoring and evaluation frameworks to assess the impact of training on farmer productivity and livelihoods.
• Provide training and supervision for field staff in extension work, especially on animal feeding, fodder crops, rearing of calves and heifers, animal health, cattle housing and genetic potential base of dairy cows.
• Synthesize lessons learned and best practices gained during the program implementation in collaboration with the program team and feed those into the discussions with other stakeholders.
• Report on the progress of work/program and signal in advance problems that may hamper such progress.
• Ensure the implementation of the Project activities according to the work plan.
• Report to the Team Leader – Livestock on all activities related to the dairy production programme and compile and summarize the monthly reports from the field staff.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced degree (Masters) or University degree (Bachelor) in veterinary science/livestock production or related areas.
• For advanced degree a minimum of four (4) years of professional experience in veterinary science/livestock production.
• For university degree minimum of six (6) years professional experience in veterinary science/livestock production.
• Working knowledge (level C) of English and the local languages (Pashto and/or Dari).
• National of Afghanistan.

FAO Core Competencies

• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

• Have knowledge of finalizing the scope of works with the timeline needed for the implementation.
• Experience in LFFS training, and livestock extension services.
• Proven skill to coordinate with the implementing partner NGO to get the desired outputs.
• Have skill to develop technical documents based on national and international standards and codes of practice and based on the mandatory safety and health requirements.
• Proven skill to coordinate with the relevant institutions and the communities.
• Having skill to contribute towards the preparation of various reports on the status of implementation/progress with irrigation works.
• Excellent knowledge, MS Office package, Internet etc.
• Experience in developing training materials and conducting workshops
• Strong communication and facilitation skills.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION