Technical Specialist

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Description

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The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that works towards achieving sustainable agricultural development, food security, and nutrition globally. In Lebanon, FAO plays a crucial role in addressing the unique food security and nutrition challenges faced by the country. With its presence and operations in Lebanon, FAO in Lebanon (FAO-B) aims at strengthening the agricultural sector, improving food security, and enhancing the nutritional well-being of vulnerable populations. The objective is to address the challenges and promote sustainable solutions to ensure food security, improve nutrition outcomes, and enhance the resilience of food systems. 

Since 2011 in Lebanon, the contribution of the SDG-2 related sectors such as agriculture, forestry, livestock and fishing at aggregate level decreased from 3.9 percent to 3.2 percent. SDG2 related sectors are vital for peripheral governorates such as Akkar, Baalbak-Hermel, Beqaa, Nabatiyeh, South Lebanon and North Lebanon where the poverty rate is significantly higher than the national average, especially among women. Poverty rates increased from 28% in 2019 to 82% in 2021 (ESCWA, 2021).

FAO’ support in Lebanon has been focusing on agricultural and rural development, sustainable natural resources management and resilience as follows: (i) Promoting agricultural development and rural poverty alleviation through the support to agriculture production systems; (ii) Enhancing the resilience of communities hosting Syrian refugees; (iii) promoting investments in agriculture and agri-food value chains with a view to generating employment and other livelihood opportunities; and (iv) Promoting sustainable management of natural resources through the adoption of climate smart agriculture and Good Agricultural Practices and support to long-term reforestation and forest landscape restoration efforts, such as the Government’s”40 Million trees Programme’’.

Rising inflation and record high depreciation of the local currency continued to be key drivers of food insecurity impacting all the analysed population groups according to the last Integrated Phase Classification for Acute Food Insecurity carried out for May-October 2023 in Lebanon. Unemployment continued to affect a quarter of the Lebanese population, with higher impact on specific groups such as women and youth. In addition, despite high levels of humanitarian and social assistance in the first quarter of 2023, the value of assistance does not cover the minimum requirements to meet basic food needs. 

Since the onset of the Syria crisis, exacerbated by the economic and financial crises, close to one million Syrian refugees are registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Lebanon. With this high number of refugees, Lebanon has the largest concentration of refugees per capita, globally (UNHCR, 2019). According to the latest results of the Vulnerability Assessment of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon (VASyr), nine out of 10 Syrian refugee families are now living in extreme poverty (89 percent of refugees live under the extreme poverty line) and given the inflation of prices and the depreciation of the Lebanese lira, Syrian refugees in Lebanon have become economically highly vulnerable. Over two thirds of Syrian refugees did not have the economic capacity to afford the minimum essential items needed to survive (VASyR 2022-Lebanon). 

With the Syrian crisis, many refugees fled to Anjar, a village in Bekaa governorate, and now the town hosts around 14,000 Syrian refugees settled in 48 informal settlements distributed in Anjar village, and some of them reside outside these settlements. The refugee settlements, besides the croplands and forestlands of Anjar are currently exposed to several threats, mainly wildfires and floods, due to unsustainable agricultural practices, burning of agricultural waste, and mismanagement of some lands. These facts render people’s livelihoods, especially refugees, besides the unique ecosystem and agricultural areas, liable to potential shocks that affect refugees’ stability, deepen the economic downturn, and put the unique biological diversity under risk. Several wildfires erupted in Anjar during the recent years.

Anjar’s municipality and local community requested the FAO’ support in addressing the refugee crisis, while protecting the agricultural lands and forest cover; supporting local farmers; and strengthening readiness to respond to climate-related shocks. It is worth mentioning that through its Rural Development and Natural Resources Directorate (RDNRD) and the related technical staff and forest guards, MOA is responsible for all activities related to landscape restoration and forest management, including forest fire prevention. The MOA has a centre in Anjar. FAO involves the centre’s staff in the planning of activities related to agriculture and landscape restoration.

The national economic and financial collapse, coupled for a couple of years with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, had its negative impacts on Anjar. The municipality is coping with a large community of Syrian refugees and an increasingly vulnerable Lebanese community whose economic conditions pushed them to the utilization of agriculture and natural resources. The municipality and the local community expressed their need for a multidimensional support that aims to build the resilience and readiness to potential shocks that endanger the safety and wellbeing of both the refugees and host community. To promote refugee and host community stability and wellbeing.

This project will contribute to building the resilience and adaptive capacity of Anjar’s refugees and host community while sustainably managing and preserving the natural resources and croplands. On another level, the project aims to provide the municipality and the local community with increased awareness and equipment to enable it to respond to wildfires, prevent them, and prevent the risk of floods.

In light of the above, the Project Manager will be responsible for providing technical and budget monitoring support functions for the following project: “Enhancing the Resilience of Vulnerable Refugees and Host Communities”-OSRO/LEB/200/ROK in accordance with FAO’s rules and regulations and in close collaboration with the MoA focal points.

Under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative in Lebanon, the direct supervision of the Liaison and Resilience Officer, and in close collaboration with FAO staff, the Project Manager will be responsible for managing the project OSRO/LEB/200/ROK. She/he will liaise regularly with the National Project Coordinator (NPC) assigned by the Ministry of Agriculture and will work with technical guidance from the FAO Lead Technical Officer (LTO) and HQ Technical Officer (LTU).
Specifically, Specialist will carry out the following tasks: 

• Prepare and supervise the implementation of Annual Work Plan and Budget (AWP/B), the Project Implementation Plan and make adequate revisions on regular basis; 
• In accordance with the approved AWP/B, develop detailed TORs for consultants, and lead, according to FAO rules, their selection and recruitment;
• Develop procurement plan of the project and prepare Terms of Reference of the Letters of Agreements or Service Contracts; 
• Develop, with feedback and clearance of Lead Technical Officer, the technical specifications of needed inputs/equipment;
• Work in close coordination with the A/FAOR Administration in the preparation and issuance of bidding documents, monitoring of contract deliverables and payments, and preparation of financial reports;
• Monitor and supervise the work of consultants and service providers; 
• Lead, with the M&E Officer, in the set-up and implementation of the project M&E system; 
• Design and lead the delivery if training sessions to beneficiaries;
• Prepare project progress reports, including quarter reports and annual reports;
• Write the Terms of Reference of a Project Steering Committee and get them validated by FAO, the Government and the donor; 
• Develop a Communication Strategy for the project with the FAO Lebanon National Communications team;
• Prepare a final report including consolidated main findings and recommendations;
• Perform other duties as may be required to ensure that project operations proceed according to schedule and foreseen project results are achieved.

Candidates Will Be Assessed Against The Following:
Minimum Requirements:    

• Advanced university degree in agriculture, forestry, agro-forestry, or any field related to FAO expertise. 
• At least 7 years of practical experience in project implementation and follow-up related to forestry and/or related disciplines.
• Working knowledge of English and Arabic. Limited knowledge of French.
• National of the country.

Technical/Functional Skills:

• Ability to combine, synthesize and analyse information.
• Good interaction skills with people from different educational levels, and social and cultural backgrounds.
• Ability to meet tight deadlines.
• Excellent organizational, communication capacity and excellent reporting skills in English and Arabic.
• Good computer and analytical skills.  
• Ability to work efficiently and accurately with a multi-disciplinary team.     
• Good communication skills to maintain good working relationships with people from different nationalities and cultural backgrounds.
• Proven analytical, managerial, and technical skills and capacity of producing quality reports and documents.
• Ability to work efficiently and accurately with a multi-disciplinary team.

Source: https://jobs.fao.org/careersection/fao_external/jobdetail.ftl?job=2303266

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