GEF Project Design Specialist

Organizational Setting

FAOSEC aims at enhancing the agricultural productivity and advancing the sustainable use of land and water resources through their improved tenure, management, development and conservation. It addresses the challenges member countries face in ensuring productive and efficient use of land and water resources in order to meet present and future demands for agricultural products, while ensuring the long-term sustainability of the land and water quantity and quality. It promotes equitable access to these natural resources with a view to enhancing productivity, livelihoods and ecosystem services. It provides assistance to member nations in developing policies, programmes, best practices and tools in the fields of irrigation and drainage, soil conservation, drought mitigation, water rights, access to natural resources, and improvement of land markets.

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is a resource partner that is growing in importance for FAO’s work in the region of Europe and Central Asia. With the start of the GEF-8 cycle in July 2022; a project “Catalyzing the Nature-Positive Transformation of the Agricultural Sector in Turkmenistan towards Enhanced Resilience to Climate Change” preparation was approved by GEF.

The project in the Lebap Province of Turkmenistan (TKM) aims to enhance the resilience of watershed ecosystems and promote sustainable agricultural practices in response to climate change and resource degradation. The project's activities are multifaceted and grounded in a WLN approach that integrates land and water management. It supports Turkmenistan's national frameworks for sustainable development, climate change mitigation, biodiversity preservation, and land and water management, focusing on capacity building and infrastructure development. Community engagement and stakeholder participation are crucial components of the project, with a strong commitment to gender integration and empowerment.

The project will work with government bodies to foster a transformative shift in the agricultural sector towards climate-resilient and nature-positive practices. This includes enhancing regulatory frameworks, institutional capacities, and awareness, establishing councils for project oversight, and implementing pilot projects to demonstrate sustainable practices. It will create an agricultural landscape resilient to climate shocks and sustain food production and it will increase climate change resilience, contribute to achieving LDN, enhance IWM approach, and reduce GHG emissions and it is expected to deliver substantial environmental benefits by promoting nature-positive transformation at the local level and long-term strategies at the institutional level and to foster systemic change in Turkmenistan's agricultural sector.

Reporting Lines

The incumbent will work under the overall supervision of the FAO Sub-regional Coordinator for Central Asia, direct supervision and policy and technical guidance of the project’s Lead Technical Officer (LTO) , Natural Resources Officer, the operational guidance from SEC Project Implementing Unit and in close cooperation with FAO country teams, Project Task Force.

Technical Focus

Supporting the formulation, drafting, development, and submission of the full project proposal for Turkmenistan with the focus on NBS, WLN, IWM, LDN.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Provide assessment for climate change adaptation and disaster readiness activities, with focus on adaptation strategies as they relate to land and water governance, natural resources management, regional climate change and water networking, and environmental governance activities through the review of current national strategies in Turkmenistan; • Conduct research and develop a summary on the existing projects led by the international organizations and to make the assessment of the national strategies relevant; • Support strengthening the working relationships with key partners, including national ministries, local governments, international organizations, other donors, the private sector, NGOs, universities, and the media in order to identify and implement efforts to increase synergy among the key stakeholders via identification of the stakeholder map; • Organize and coordinate project related meetings, reviews and site visits; • Preparation of the agenda for the consultative meetings with national counterparts (both at national and sub-national levels), line ministries and key stakeholders; • Identify the scope and geographical area of the project intervention jointly with the national consultant • Pr overall technical guidance to the PPG team in preparation of the FAO-GEF prodoc; • Provide inputs on international best practices related to the project; • Be the overall lead author of the project document by taking in inputs from all consultants and lead the responses to PPRC and GEF Council, STAP, and the Government comments; • Deliver technical presentations as requested by the PPG Coordinator/FAO and provide overall guidance; • Revision and finalization of the first draft of fully-fledged project document based on the feedback received from final validation workshop; • Field missions if required

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced university degree in Economics, development studies, environmental/agricultural sciences, political science, social science, international relations, natural resources management or a related appropriate field • 3 years of relevant experience in climate finance and project/programme planning and monitoring, including practical experience in project formulation, appraisal, implementation, monitoring, communication and/or in financial and budget planning • Working knowledge (Level C) of English, French or Spanish and limited knowledge (Level B) of one of the other two or Arabic, Chinese, Russian. Only working knowledge of English is requested for PSAs.

FAO Core 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 • Extent and relevance of experience in project/programme formulation • Extent and relevance of experience in results monitoring and reporting • Familiarity with climate finance mechanisms