Agriculture Extension Specialist

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FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

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Application deadline 3 years ago: Thursday 15 Oct 2020 at 21:59 UTC

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Organizational Setting

The main aim of the FAO country offices, which are headed by an FAO Representative, is to assist governments to develop policies, programmes and projects to achieve food security and to reduce hunger and malnutrition, to help develop the agricultural , fisheries and forestry sectors and to use their environmental and natural resources in a sustainable manner.

This position is located in Karachi, Sindh, where the FAO program includes a number of projects focused on food security, land tenure governance, disaster preparedness, livelihood restoration, sustainable agriculture and fisheries, resilience, climate responsive agriculture, value-chain development and analysis of the policy environment for food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture (FNSSA).

Reporting Lines

Under the overall supervision of FAO Representative in Pakistan and in direct supervision of Provincial International Program Coordinator, this position will report on a day to day basis to the Project Coordinator and will work closely with Program Officer Resilience and Agriculture Market Value Chain Specialist in performing the following functions:

Technical Focus

Participatory extension methods and practice, ‘Farmer Field School’ approach, adult learning, dryland agriculture systems, gender equality in agriculture.

Tasks and responsibilities:

  • Provide advice and guidance to the field teams on formation and facilitation of farmer groups/farmer marketing groups in the project targeted area for dissemination of set of sustainable agriculture practices for adaptive research and participative learning in the target districts;
  • Participate in identification of project villages in consultation with M&E and GIS specialists within the FAO team.
  • Work on identification/development of Sustainable Agriculture Practices together with the Dryland Farming Adviser and Resilience Officer
  • Contribute to the development of training program to strengthen the capacity of men and women beneficiary farmers, non-beneficiaries, and other stakeholders.
  • Train the technical field facilitator teams and provide technical backstopping in planning, management and delivery of trainings on assigned cropping system; and prepare relevant manuals to farmers on the best sustainable agriculture management practices
  • Provide hand on assistance during the course of implementation of farmers training program through close collaboration and coordination with the field facilitators;
  • Prepare and compile relevant information, communication and education materials for use by the field-based farmer field school facilitators.
  • Support and facilitate FAO field teams in implementing and rolling out the sustainable agriculture practices and climate smart intervention;
  • Facilitate field days and demonstrations, and prepare relevant manuals to farmers on the best sustainable agriculture management practices;
  • Develop, document and disseminate appropriate best-practices in community-based approaches to natural resource management;
  • Submit periodic progress reports as required;

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

  • Master’s degree in plant/crop sciences or agriculture related technical disciplines, with expertise in the smallholder production systems of drought areas of Sindh;
  • 8 years of extensive experience as a technical adviser of integrated agricultural and natural resource management projects focusing on smallholder farming systems in Pakistan;
  • Excellent communication skills in English, Urdu, Sindhi and other local languages of Sindh, with demonstrated conceptual, analytical and report writing skills
  • National o Pakistan

FAO Core Competencies

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

Functional Skills

  • Knowledge of United Nations and International Organizations’ administrative policies and procedures.
  • Good knowledge of common administrative and financial rules and regulations
  • Good knowledge of communication and documentation standards
  • Knowledge and understanding of sourcing within the procurement function.
  • Strong research skills, ability to conduct benchmarking analysis in support of vendor identification, selection and performance management.
  • Display initiative and take responsibility for achieving agreed outputs within set deadlines and closely follow-up until successful outputs are achieved.
  • Continue to seek new, innovative and improved methods and systems for accomplishing the work assigned.
  • Identify and recommend remedial measures to address problems in systems design or implementation

Selection Criteria

Candidates will be assessed against the requirements listed above.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

  • FAO does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing)
  • Incomplete applications will not be considered. If you need help please contact: [email protected]
  • Applications received after the closing date will not be accepted
  • Only language proficiency certificates from UN accredited external providers and/or FAO language official examinations (LPE, ILE, LRT) will be accepted as proof of the level of knowledge of languages indicated in the online applications
  • For additional employment opportunities visit the FAO employment website: http://www.fao.org/employment/home/en/
Added 3 years ago - Updated 3 years ago - Source: fao.org