Livestock Production Specialist

Organizational Setting

The FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific is responsible for leading FAO’s response to regional priorities for food security, agriculture and rural development through the identification, planning and implementation of focused, multi-disciplinary projects and programmes. It identifies priority areas of action for the Organization in the Region, in collaboration with the country offices, departments and divisions at Headquarters, and promotes the value and deliverables of the FAO’s New Strategic Framework to help Member States achieve Better Production, Better Nutrition, a Better Environment and a Better Life for all – leaving no one behind.

At the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, the Animal Health and Production Module is supporting delivery of the Regional Agri-Food Systems Transformation Initiative and specifically, the Sustainable Livestock Transformation Initiative. Work streams include: 1) Livestock Innovation, Climate and Post-harvesting Solutions; 2) Sustainable Animal Production, Feed, and Genetics; and 3) One Health and Disease Prevention & Control. The focus will largely support more efficient & sustainable livestock production, supporting the Animal Production and Health Commission of Asia and Pacific (APHCA), improving risk management of antimicrobial resistance, preparedness, prevention, response and recovery of transboundary animal and zoonotic diseases, and One Health capacity development and implementation.

The post is located in the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.

Reporting Lines

The Livestock Production Specialist reports to the Senior Animal Health and Production Officer in the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (RAP) and operates under direct technical guidance of the Livestock Development Officer.

Technical Focus

Provide technical support and backstopping to livestock production programming and projects to support transformation of the livestock sector to be more efficient, sustainable, climate-smart, and resilient.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Provides technical support/analysis to various assessments, studies and initiatives and provides technical backstopping to field projects focused on livestock sector development and transformation, sustainable livestock production, climate adapted livestock interventions and approaches, dairy production, and agrifood systems transformation in the livestock sector; • Gather and analyze data on livestock production data and statistics, including policies and strategies, socio-economic drivers (demand, sector trends), sector analyses (production systems, value chains), environmental impacts (land use, greenhouse gas emissions) and animal health to support the delivery of programme projects, products and services;. • Produce technical information and contribute to written outputs (reports, papers, notes), including on sustainable livestock development, smallholder livestock production, safe farming practices, biosecurity, animal health and interventions that mitigate climate change and reduce green-house gas emissions; • Produces a variety of technical information, data, statistics, reports & inputs for technical documents & web pages; • Collaborates in the development of improved/updated tools, systems, processes, and databases; • Participates on multi-disciplinary teams, and/or leads working groups/teams collaborates with other departments and agencies on work groups and committees and promotes best practices; • Contribute to capacity development efforts through knowledge sharing and the dissemination of best practices through the development of training material, briefs, e-learning and online tools; • Support the organization and facilitation of capacity development workshops at regional scale and in member countries on livestock production and development. • Collaborates in, provides technical backstopping to and ensures the quality / effectiveness of capacity development activities within member countries such as policy support, organizational development and individual learning events including preparation of related information, learning materials, on-line tools; • Promotes knowledge sharing and best practices at international meetings and conferences and influences partners in stakeholder consultations; • Supports resource mobilization activities in accordance with the FAO Corporate strategy. • Ensures harmonisation and collaboration among the RAP regional office Animal Production and Health Module, the Animal Production and Health Commission for Asia and the Pacific (APHCA), the RAP antimicrobial resistance and One Health programs, the FAO HQ Animal Production and Health Division (NSA), Committee on Agriculture's (COAG) Sub-Committee on Livestock, and other relevant headquarters and regional livestock production initiatives. • Contribute to multi-disciplinary efforts by collaborating with other divisions and sectors (including fisheries and aquaculture, forestry, natural resource management and biodiversity, climate change, crop production, food safety and food/nutrition security), offices, agencies and stakeholders.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• University degree in animal science, livestock production, environmental sciences or related field. • Eight years of relevant experience in livestock production: nutrition and feeding, genetic improvement, husbandry and management, climate change adaptation and mitigation, or related fields. • Working knowledge (level C) of English and limited knowledge (level B) of another FAO official language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish)

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, particularly in field positions; • Extent and relevance of experience and knowledge in livestock production, livestock development, livestock sector transformation and reducing/mitigating the impacts of livestock production on the climate • Extent and relevance of experience in the development and management of technical projects in relation to livestock development; • Depth of familiarity/engagement with relevant livestock stakeholders along value chains including governments, private sector, research and academia, and civil society; • Extent and relevance of experience in the analysis of complex production systems and livestock-environment interactions; • Ability to work under pressure in an independent manner; • Ability to work well with across cultures and with diverse members of the programme team; • Intermediate to advanced computer skills in the use of standard office software, such as MS Office (Word, Excel, Power Point) and related software application and development; • Knowledge and experience in the Asia and the Pacific region • Experience in mitigating climate change and reducing green-house gas emissions associated with livestock and dairy production preferred.