Communications and Outreach Specialist

Organizational Setting

The project “Responding to the Economic Crisis: Protecting smallholder farmer livelihoods with safe and efficient use of fertilizer and quality seed for better productivity in paddy farming” GCP/SRL/080/EC aims to enhance income and strengthen livelihoods of Sri Lankan smallholder farmers. In addition, to ensure food and nutrition security through increased productivity and production of paddy by applying appropriate fertilizer and seed technology. The project promotes transition of Sri Lankan agriculture towards more sustainable farming inputs including integrating use of organic fertilizer through IPNM.

The specific objectives are:

1. Ensuring food and nutrition security of targeted smallholder farmers through productivity and production increase Providing smallholder farmers having land holdings up of 0 to ½ ha with 50 kg bag of urea to enable them to cultivate successfully over the 2022/23 Maha and 2023 Yala cropping season. Starved of chemical fertilizers these farmers have suffered immensely due to a major crop failure over the previous two cropping seasons, affecting their ability to provide for their essential needs, including food. It is expected that Integrated Plant Nutrient Management (IPNM) training to these farmers will help them spread the use of urea supplied to them over two consecutive seasons.
2. Enhancing fertilizer use efficiency in paddy cultivation through capacity building, knowledge transfer and training on IPNM strategy. Training and educating the extension workers and farmers in the use of IPNM strategy along with the supply of fertilizers to farmers. IPNM is the sustenance or adjustment of soil fertility level while achieving the optimum productivity of crops with all possible sources of plant nutrients in an integrated manner.
3. Increasing capacity of Sri Lankan farmers to grow quality paddy seeds for meeting the country’s requirement and strengthening government owned farms in growing and processing certified paddy seeds. Enabling increased production of seed paddy from 1200 ha of new seed paddy farms to increase current formal seed supply from 19,200 tons to 24,000 tons (16 percent to 20 percent) per year through supply of urea and other inputs on priority to those taking to paddy seed cultivation. Further, the capacity of four government seed farms on seed processing and drying will be upgraded to absorb the seed processing needs of these new seed farmers. This would encourage public private partnership with medium to large farmers to adopt commercial seed paddy production.

Reporting Lines

The incumbent will provide technical leadership and backup in order for the project to communicate the project components, achievements, learning and visibility and appropriate branding. He/ She will be under the overall administrative leadership and supervision of the AFAOR (Programme) and will work in close coordination with the Project Manager and the Communication Analyst.

Technical Focus

Specifically, National Communication and Outreach Specialist will be responsible for developing the national outreach/communication strategy of the project by taking into considerations outlines in the project document.

Tasks and responsibilities

- Development of the communication and outreach strategy for the project “Responding to the Economic Crisis: Protecting smallholder farmer livelihoods with safe and efficient use of fertilizer and quality seed for better productivity in paddy farming” by taking into consideration the following requirements. - Development of an communication & outreach plan for the wider outreach of IPNM strategy,; - Development of training material and related communication products and tools in partnership with IPNM experts and communication and outreach service providers; - Design and sharing training and communication material over e-platforms; - Adequate visibility to the project through appropriate branding will be ensured; - Development of training materials and related communication products and tools in partnership with IPNM experts and communication and outreach service providers. - Ensure effective and timely communication among stakeholders including relevant public and private institutions. - Strategies to ensure that lessons learned during project implementation are captured and communicated amongst project partners and key audiences. - Strategies to enhance general understanding of ‘“Responding to the Economic Crisis: Protecting smallholder farmer livelihoods with safe and efficient use of fertilizer and quality seed for better productivity in paddy farming” amongst farmers - Strategies to ensure adequate visibility of the project interventions and donor requirements of publicity; - Strategies to communicate with the beneficiary farmers and non-beneficiary farmers on necessary messages and information; - Knowledge management framework to document lessons learnt from the project - Strategies to coordinate publication of relevant posters, articles, and reports and sharing among relevant parties; - Ensure human interest stories are captured with good quality photos and videos to highlight the impact of the project - Draft media releases and other promotional material to communicate the impact of the project - Any other task assigned by FAOR; - Liaison with the Office of Communication (OCC) will be maintained, either directly or through an agreed focal point/coordinator, to ensure compliance with OCC standards, appropriate review and clearance processes; - All communication materials will follow FAO clearance processes and comply with FAO standards, including: - FAOSTYLE (English: https://www.fao.org/3/cb8081en/cb8081en.pdf; French: https://www.fao.org/3/AC339FR/ac339fr.pdf; Spanish: https://www.fao.org/3/ac339s/ac339s.pdf; Arabic: https://www.fao.org/3/ac339a/ac339a.pdf; Chinese: https://www.fao.org/3/ac339c/ac339c.pdf); - FAO terminology http://www.fao.org/faoterm; - FAO Names Of Countries https://www.fao.org/nocs/en; - Story guidelines http://intranet.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/occ/Quick_Guides/UPDATED-Digital-Storytelling-Guide-EN-FINAL.pdf; - Story template http://intranet.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/occ/Quick_Guides/FAO-Stories-Template-UPDATED.pdf; - UN map standards (available to staff); - FAO Brand and policy book (available to staff); - Further guidance regarding FAO communications, policies and procedures can be found through the FAO intranet, OCC section.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• University degree in Social Science, Journalism, communications, Public relations or related fields • At least five years of relevant experience in developing media and communication material, especially relevant for web and mobile platforms. • Excellent command of oral and written English and working knowledge of Sinhala/Tamil • A Sri Lankan national.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Experience in preparing press releases, op-eds, news articles, interviews and advocacy messages for relevant media houses and outlets, including publishing, newspaper, online news, radio and television mediums. • Excellent communication, reporting and presentation skills in English, Tamil/Sinhala. • Experience in Web content management, Photoshop software and tools related to web and desktop publishing. • Experience with photography and photo editing; and knowledge of photo editing software is an advantage. • Experience of working in the context of projects would be an added advantage • Ability to work efficiently with minimal direct supervision and to coordinate and supervise the communication and information. • Ability to handle stress and meet deadlines. • Experience of working with UN agencies and familiarity with UN rules and regulations is an asset. • Ability to work in multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams is essential.

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
• Please note that FAO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http://www.whed.net/
• For additional employment opportunities visit the FAO employment website: http://www.fao.org/employment/home/en/
• Appointment will be subject to certification that the candidate is medically fit for appointment, accreditation, any residency or visa requirements, and security clearances.