Farmer - Livestock Field School Specialist

Organizational Setting

FAO Afghanistan is investing, across all 34 provinces, in resilience reinforcing actions that focus on protecting agriculture livelihoods and local ecosystems, boosting local production of nutritious foods and cash-incomes, and safeguarding critical agriculture sectoral development gains achieved over the past couple of decades through revitalizing rural markets and economy. In 2022-2023, FAO will, under the life-saving assistance Outcome (1) of the UN Transitional Engagement Framework (TEF), focus on the following four priority actions: (i) Safeguarding Wheat Seed Security, (ii) Enhancing Local Production of Nutritious Food, (iii) Livestock Protection and Dairy Sector Support, and (iv) Restoring Irrigation Structures to Boost Cash Incomes. Additionally, FAO will contribute towards resilience building activities under Outcome 2 of the TEF.

FAO Afghanistan has recently started a new four-year project, titled ‘Strengthening Rural Livelihoods and Food Security Program in Afghanistan’, supported by the USAID. This project will be implemented in over eight provinces of Afghanistan through four components and has the following four outcomes. Outcome 1: Increased production and processing of nutritious food through adoption of environmentally sustainable practices by smallholders; Outcome 2: Improved economic resilience of smallholders to shocks through enhanced rural diversification of agriculture-based livelihoods and income generation activities; Outcome 3: Enhanced enabling environment especially on enhancing the availability of quality seeds and other inputs at national level and making the same available at sub-national levels along with other extension services to smallholders; Outcome 4: Increased availability of information, learning, and analysis on food cultivation, harvesting, processing, storage and overall security and resilience building of smallholders.

Reporting Lines

The Farmer / Livestock Field School Specialist will work under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative (FAOR), the direct supervision of the Project Management Expert and the technical guidance and oversight of the Lead Technical Officers (LTO) in RAP and HQ for the relevant components of the project, supported by the relevant Divisions at FAO Headquarters as the Lead Technical Units.

Technical Focus

The Farmer / Livestock Field School Specialist will lead the technical team of the Farmer Field Schools (FFS) and in close cooperation with the stakeholders and other national and international staff; the incumbent will be responsible for the timely and effective implementation of the FFS work plan especially to ensure the technical quality and timely delivery of the activities.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Ensure the contribution of the project to the food security, nutrition and resilience in environmentally sustainable ways of vulnerable smallholder households in Afghanistan; • Lead the work and related teams on Farmer Field Schools (FFS) and Livestock Field School (LFS) as part of the project in Afghanistan; • Plan and implement the participatory FFS and LFS approach in Afghanistan and provide the necessary training and technical guidance to the project team at central, regional and local levels to transfer skills and knowledge to the farmers and livestock keepers; • Lead the development of the strategy and work-plan for implementation related to the FFS and LFS components, scaling up and quality control of the FFS and LFS approach in Afghanistan, including gender issues; • Identify specific training requirements of individuals and specific materials needed to expedite implementation strategy and to make the implementation process indigenous as quickly as possible; • Through the creation of a multidisciplinary task force ensure that all pertinent stakeholders are informed of the development of the FFS and LFS work under this project; • Work closely with the training team and take lead in conducting season-long Training of Trainers (TOT) courses focusing on climate smart and environmentally sustainable crop cultivation practices, environmentally sustainable livestock management practices, animal husbandry, fodder and silage making and such topics as needed within the FFS and LFS work-plans; • Design, organize, monitor and facilitate TOT sessions for effective season-;long learning, providing tailored and individual support as required., and support trainees’ in effectively conducting FFS and LFS; • Identify all necessary training materials, equipment and inputs needed to conduct the training and establish field studies and experiments in advance and coordinate with the logistic person to ensure their availability on timely assessment and evaluations with the participants to identify areas for improvement, both for TOT and FFS activities; • Prepare a comprehensive training/capacity-building report at the end of the training; • Contribute to the project planning, reports and documentation, including Quarterly Project Implementation Reports, semi-annual Progress Reports, technical reports and the Terminal Report; • Lead field missions, including the provision of guidance to external specialized technical consultants, and other parties; • Perform other duties as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced (Master’s) university degree in veterinary, animal husbandry, rural development, sustainable agriculture (including agronomy, farm management, etc.), social science, adult education or closely related fields; • A minimum of 8 years of relevant work experience in participatory extension and training approaches connected with Farmer/Livestock Field Schools, livestock development; • Working knowledge (level C) of English and limited knowledge (level B) of one of the other FAO languages (French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese or Russian) for Consultants. For PSA working knowledge of English.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Farmer Field School and/or Livestock Field School certification is highly desirable. • Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in field positions is essential. • Work experience in Afghanistan or developing countries is preferred. • Practical knowledge of the social mobilization process and community organization skills • Relevant experience in establishing and maintaining partnership with local private sector, farmer groups and their organizations, UN agencies, NGOs as well as donors. • Relevant experience in organizing international meetings, seminars and training courses. • Familiarity and understanding of Afghanistan’s geography, security sensitivity, climate, and local customs is a strong advantage.