Agroforestry Specialists

Overview

Support agroforestry projects by developing and managing systems and policies

You have:

• University degree in forestry, agriculture, natural resources, biological and environmental sciences, GIS, administrative/financial management or related fields.
• One to four years of relevant experience for base-level consultants; at least five years for middle level consultants; at least ten years for senior-level consultants on agroforestry systems, policy, capacity development, and/or monitoring.
• Working knowledge of English, limited knowledge of another FAO language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, or Spanish) for consultants; for PSA.SBS, working knowledge of English is sufficient.
• Extent of relevant work experience on planning, design and management of agroforestry systems, and policy development.
• Extent of work experience in different parts of the world, particularly in developing countries.
• Experience in writing scientific, technical and policy documents in English.
• Experience in operations support, including technical and financial reporting.
• Familiarity with FAO activities, policies, and procedures.

Organizational Setting

The Forestry Division leads FAO’s work in promoting sustainable forest management and providing leadership on the environmental, social and economic dimensions of forestry, including its contributions to poverty reduction and food security and nutrition. It liaises with member countries, civil society and the private sector in aspects ranging from development of effective forest policies to forest conservation and management issues, and strengthens the role of forests in climate change mitigation and adaptation. The Division also collects, analyses and disseminates information on the world’s forest resources and on the production, trade and consumption of wood and non-wood forest products and ecosystem services.

The post is located in the Forest Biodiversity and Restoration Team, Forestry Division, which leads FAO’s work on agroforestry in collaboration with the Plant Protection and Production Division (NSP). In addition to providing technical support to the implementation of agroforestry projects around the world, FAO is prioritizing the development of learning and training materials, support to national agroforestry policies and strategies and improving the monitoring of trees outside forests, particularly in agriculture. These, as well as other activities, contribute to FAO’s priorities to halting deforestation due to agriculture, reversing land degradation and restoring ecosystems.

Within this context, NFO is seeking to hire consultants and/or personal service agreement (PSA) subscribers with varying profiles to provide specific inputs to ongoing agroforestry activities. These include, but are not limited to, planning, design and management of agroforestry systems; the support of agroforestry policies and strategies; as well as to the implementation of the current projects and to the development of new projects on agroforestry, including overall project management tasks (i.e. coordination, financial monitoring and reporting).

Reporting Lines

The consultants/subscribers will report to the Senior Forestry Officer, Forest Biodiversity and Restoration Team Leader with direct supervision of the Forestry Officer, Agroforestry.

Technical Focus

The assignments will support the Forestry Division in the implementation of its normative work, projects and other activities on agroforestry at global, regional and national levels in the following areas: planning, design and management of agroforestry systems, as well as the development of agroforestry-related policies, strategies and capacity development materials.

Tasks and responsibilities

The consultants/subscribers will support the work on agroforestry by (note: specific tasks for each consultant/subscriber will be agreed separately):

• gather, analyse and review latest scientific and other relevant information, including best practices and case studies;
• write syntheses of the above-mentioned analyses for upcoming publications, including graphs, tables and other data-visualization material;
• contribute to the preparation of reports, guidelines and other publications;
• contribute to the development and, if appropriate, to the delivery of capacity building and training materials;
• contribute to the coordination, implementation and management of current projects and other activities in accordance with FAO and donor rules, procedures and systems;
• contribute to the development of new projects/programmes in accordance with FAO and donor rules, procedures and systems;
• contribute to the organization of regional and/or global events; and
• Carry out any other tasks as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• University degree in forestry, agriculture, natural resources, biological and environmental sciences, GIS, administrative/financial management or related fields;
• One to four years of relevant experience for base-level consultants, at least five years for middle level consultants, and at least 10 years for senior-level consultants on issues related to the planning, design and management of agroforestry systems, agroforestry policy, capacity development and/or monitoring;
• Working knowledge of English, limited knowledge of one of the other FAO languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish for Consultants. For PSA.SBS working knowledge of English will be sufficient.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Selection Criteria

• Extent of relevant work experience on the planning, design and management of agroforestry systems; development and implementation of agroforestry policies and strategies; agroforestry-related capacity development; monitoring of trees outside forests;
• Extent of work experience in different parts of the world, particularly in developing countries and countries with economies in transition
• Experience in writing scientific, technical and policy documents in English
• Experience in operations support, i.e. technical and financial reporting.
• Familiarity with FAO activities, policies and procedures will be considered an asset

Apply now

Potential interview questions

Added 4 years ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: fao.org