Economist (Policy Analysis)

Organizational Setting The Agrifood Economics and Policy Division (ESA) conducts economic research and policy analysis and provides evidence-based support to national, regional and global policy processes and initiatives related to monitoring and analysing food and agricultural policies, agribusiness and value chain development, rural transformation and poverty, food security and nutrition information and analysis, resilience, bioeconomy and climate-smart agriculture. The Division also leads the production of two FAO flagship publications: the State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) and the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI).

This post is to support ESA's policy monitoring and analysis activities, in particular - albeit not uniquely - those implemented as part of the Monitoring and Analysing Food and Agricultural Policies (MAFAP) programme. These activities aim at establishing country-owned and sustainable systems to monitor, analyse and reform food and agricultural policies to enable more effective, efficient and inclusive policy frameworks across a wide range of agricultural value chains in developing and emerging economies, with a focus on Sub-Saharan African countries. One of the pillars of these activities is the development, monitoring and analysis of price incentives and public expenditure indicators. In implementing these activities, ESA teams work with government institutions, research organizations and other partners to pursue this mission. It supports FAO's Strategic Framework 2022-2031, in particular its priority programme areas: Transparent markets and trade (BN5), Inclusive rural transformation (BL2) and Innovation for sustainable agricultural production (BP1).

The position is located in ESA at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy.

Reporting Lines The Economist (Policy Analysis) reports to the Deputy Directory of ESA, under the overall supervision of the Director of ESA.

Technical Focus Within the framework of ESA's policy monitoring and analysis activities and those of the MAFAP programme in particular, the Economist will contribute to implementing policy monitoring by estimating and updating price incentives and public expenditure indicators and duly analysing and documenting them through analytical products, in particular policy monitoring reviews. Through rigorous monitoring and analysis of indicators, the Economist will also play a leading role in identifying policy issues that governments may need to be aware of and may request ESA to further analyse in-depth to inform policy reforms. The Economist will then heavily engage with government counterparts and other actors in implementing these activities.

Key Results Research and analysis of information, data and statistics, and the maintenance and updating of related tools, methodologies, and/or databases to support the delivery of programme products, projects, publications, and services.

Key Functions • Researches and analyses agricultural, economic, trade, market, social, environmental, nutrition/food composition and/or gender related data, statistics and information to provide technical, statistical and/or policy related information and analysis to support the delivery of economic and social development programmes work, products, projects, publications and services. • Produces a variety of technical reports and input for technical documents, divisional publications and/or web pages. • Provides technical, statistical and/or analytical services on various studies, projects and/or assessments and provides technical backstopping to field projects. • Participates in the development of improved/updated technical, statistical and/or analytical tools, methodologies, systems, databases and/or key social/economic/environmental/nutritional and/or early warning indicators, etc. • Participates in multidisciplinary teams, collaborates with other departments and agencies on work groups and committees and promotes best practices. • Collaborates in capacity development activities involving the planning and organizing of training workshops, seminars and major meetings and the preparation of related information, materials, on-line tools and information kits. • Promotes knowledge sharing and best practices at international meetings and conferences and influences partners in stakeholder consultations. • Participates in resource mobilization activities.

Specific Functions • Delivers, revises and finalizes Price Incentives (PI) and Public Expenditure (PE) indicators updates for selected countries. • Supports the dissemination at country level of analytical products related to policy monitoring indicators through the identified channels in selected countries. • Drafts and/or reviews analytical dashboards and country synthesis notes for selected countries, before publication. • Supports the production of policy monitoring indicators analyses, in particular global analysis and/or cross-country comparisons studies on agricultural policy support, as required. • Supports the definition and validation of the refinements and consistent applications of the methodological guidelines for PI and PE analysis. • Contributes to the effective implementation of other strategic partnerships with development partners involved in policy monitoring activities (OECD, IFPRI, World Bank, etc.) concerning the focus countries. • Identifies, in collaboration with country stakeholders, the main policy constraints limiting agricultural development in the selected countries. • Supports and contributes to the research work plan on policy options and initiates preliminary analyses of alternative policy options, as identified and agreed with the government, by applying specific ex post and/or ex ante analysis methodologies, in coordination with ESA teams. • Facilitates the articulation of priority policy reform options through dissemination of analytical results, policy dialogue and high-level consultations with key government partners/institutions. • Supervises the work of consultants. • Provides support to the policy support work of the ESA division, in particular in the framework of corporate initiatives. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements • Advanced university degree in economics, agricultural economics, development studies, international relations or a related field. • Five years of relevant experience in policy and quantitative analysis of food and agricultural issues. • Working knowledge (proficient – level C) of English and limited knowledge (intermediate – level B) of another FAO official language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish).

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

Technical/Functional Skills • Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in field positions, is desirable. • Extent and relevance of experience and knowledge in conducting quantitative economic analysis, including analysis of agricultural policy distortions and public expenditure for the food and agricultural sector. • Extent and relevance of experience in formulating and implementing analytical and policy studies such as policy monitoring indicators analyses, in particular global analysis and/or cross-country comparisons studies on agricultural policy support. • Familiarity with relevant quantitative methods to assess the impact of trade, input subsidies, market policies and public expenditures on the food and agricultural sector. • Ability to analyse complex policy issues and supervise the work of experts engaged in such kind of analyses. • Demonstrated experience in drafting technical reports and papers in English is considered a strong asset. • Working knowledge (proficient - level C) of French is considered a strong asset.