Project Officer

The position is located at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy, in the Agrifood Systems and Food Safety Division (ESF) of the Economic and Social Development Stream. The Division provides strategic leadership for FAO’s support to Member Nations in the development of more sustainable agrifood systems. Working in close coordination with other technical units at headquarters and the Decentralized Offices, the Division is tasked with integrating FAO’s scientific and economic analyses to provide improved policy guidance and targeted investment in agrifood systems. Bringing together FAO’s longstanding experience and capacities in strengthening food safety systems and quality control with its technical support to Member Nations in the areas of value chain development, agroindustry and agribusiness enterprise development, urban food systems and food loss and waste, the Division integrates and extends food systems support across the Organization.

ESF leads the implementation of the project Support to the work of the 10YFP Sustainable Food Systems Programme. This 3-year project aims to contribute to accelerating agrifood systems transformation in the context of the Sustainable Food Systems (SFS) Programme of the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns (10YFP). The SFS Programme is a multi-actor partnership focused on catalysing urgent transformation towards sustainable food systems, as a critical strategy to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Through a shared vision of inclusive, diverse, resilient, healthy and sustainable food systems, its members and partners collaborate on joint on-the-ground activities, research initiatives and advocacy efforts in support of more coherent and holistic policies to address complex food systems challenges. To do this, the SFS Programme promotes a ‘systems-based’ approach, which tackles the food system as a whole, taking into account the interconnections between the elements and actors of our food systems and the indispensable trade-offs. Building on the momentum of the UN Food Systems Summit+2 and Conference Of the Parties 28 and the increasing acknowledgment by leaders and stakeholders of the need to enhance pathways for food systems transformation by linking these with other national strategies and plans around climate, biodiversity, finance, and nutrition, the SFS Programme Working Group on ‘Support the Implementation of Food Systems Pathways’ is focusing its activities on supporting the connection of food systems pathways more deeply with Nationally Determined Contributions, National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans and other sector strategies and action plans at country level.

Reporting Lines:

 The Project Officer (Agrifood Systems) reports to the Policy Officer, ESF.

Technical Focus:

The Project Officer (Agrifood Systems) will provide support to the overall leadership and management of the Support to the work of the 10YFP Sustainable Food Systems Programme project, including to the leadership of the Working Group (WG) ‘Support the Implementation of Food Systems Pathways.

Key Results:

Collection and analysis of information, data and statistics and project/meeting services to support programme projects, products and services.

Key Functions:

• Collects and analyses relevant technical, social, economic, environmental, institutional and technology related information, data and/or statistics to support the delivery of programme projects, products and services.
• Undertakes analysis, provides technical input for plans and reports and edits/revises technical/scientific documents.
• Participates in the development of improved work methods, tools and systems.
• Updates databases and web pages.
• Participates in multidisciplinary project/work teams.
• Collaborates in the development of training tools and materials and the organization of workshops/seminars, etc.
• Participates in the organization, conduct, follow-up of meetings, consultations and conferences, the development/production of required materials and the provision of information and assistance to partners.

Specific Functions:

• Supports the project ‘Support to the work of the 10YFP Sustainable Food Systems Programme’, ensuring effective coordination and collaboration with relevant partners of the SFS Programme, including the COP28 Presidency and the Technical Cooperation Collaborative (TCC), the Convergence Initiative, the UN Food Systems Coordination Hub, the Coalitions and other relevant partners.
• Supports the development of annual project workplans, supports their implementation and monitoring, adapting based on lessons learned and new opportunities where needed/useful; monitors performance assessment and reports on programme activities.
• Supports the facilitation of the Working Group (WG) ‘Support the Implementation of Food Systems Pathways’, including support to organizing WG meetings, mobilizing members to deliver on the WG’s work plan, organizing learning events, workshops, trainings and seminars across all countries and regions; and coordinates information sharing.
• Supports the development of knowledge products (including an inventory of resources, case studies, technical notes, toolkits, recommendations, etc.) in collaboration with WG members and the COP28 Presidency, TCC and UN Food Systems Coordination Hub.
• Assembles and synthesizes data from workshops and learnings from the WG to help document stories and best practices and to facilitate the development of materials including briefs and technical products to document the insights.
• Provides technical support to stakeholders at global, national and local levels to strengthen capacities for decision-making about agrifood systems policies and interventions and supports the development of governance structures and institutional processes.
• Identifies individual and organizational experts in agrifood systems development to support project implementation, develops and manages contracts with them.
• Supports outreach and communication activities related to the project (including interactions with the donor partner, the Federal Office for Agriculture of Switzerland), as well as opportunities for intra- and inter-organizational dialogue and sharing of good practices.
• Supports the gender mainstreaming in all project activities and products, for the achievement of gender-related targets and objectives and for gender-sensitive monitoring and evaluation.

Candidates Will Be Assessed Against The Following:

Minimum Requirements:

• Advanced university degree in agrifood systems, political sciences, development studies, agricultural economics, social sciences, environmental sciences, sustainable agriculture, or related field.
• Three years of relevant experience in programme/project support and management in agrifood systems at a global level.
• Working knowledge (proficient – level C) of English and limited knowledge (intermediate – level B) of one of the other official FAO languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish).

Source: https://jobs.fao.org/careersection/fao_external/jobdetail.ftl?job=2402177