Livestock Specialist

Organizational Setting

FAO’s approach to development assistance in Mindanao focuses on supporting the rehabilitation of agriculture and fisheries-based livelihoods, accelerating agriculture-based enterprises and increasing access to sustainable energy, and resilience to risk in municipalities affected by natural disasters and conflict. FAO interventions will include, among others:

• Introduction of various productivity enhancing technologies to improve household incomes and promote sustainable agricultural practices.
• Technical assistance to government in reviewing existing policies that promote equitable agribusiness venture arrangements between farmers and agribusiness firms and capacity building activities for farmers that are anchored on the value chain approach.
• Capacity building on enterprise development and agribusiness that will allow farmers, fisherfolk and local government units to maximize potential market opportunities.
• Restoring and increasing the productivity of agriculture and fisheries-based livelihoods of smallholder farmers and marginalized fishers, decommissioned Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) combatants and their families
• Enhancing the competitiveness of farm households, particularly women, to establish and manage microenterprises
• Facilitating the establishment of agribusiness enterprises with production-market contract agreements or similar arrangements

Reporting Lines

The Livestock Specialist will be under the overall guidance of the FAO Representative, the direct supervision of the Assistant FAO Representative for Programme and guidance of the Team Leader of the Mindanao and Emergency Response Group and Project Team Leader.

Technical Focus

FAO has been implementing various projects in Mindanao which are guided by the FAO Mindanao Strategic Programme for Agriculture/Agribusiness and an emergency/rehabilitation project for Marawi City and other affected municipalities. The MSPAA strategies for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) are in line with the Bangsamoro Development Plan (BDP, 2015) which FAO has also provided technical assistance in crafting the Economy and Livelihood component of the BDP. FAO will provide support to BARMM Ministries in areas related to our technical fields of expertise, including provision of technical support to the sectoral planning, capacity building for officials and local extension workers, and the development/implementation of socioeconomic packages and job generation/quick impact agricultural and environmental livelihood interventions for affected population and combatants.

Tasks and responsibilities

The Livestock Specialist will carry out the following tasks:

1. Coordinate with relevant government agencies, development organizations, NGOs, and other stakeholders on the plan and implementation of livestock and poultry production system developed jointly by FAO and Department of Agriculture Regional Field Office XII (DA RFO XII) and Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Agrarian Reform (MAFAR) of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM);
2. Closely liaise with DA RFO XII, MAFAR, Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) and local government units (LGUs) during the implementation of the project;
3. Assess the technical soundness of production and business plans on livestock and poultry (e.g. corn silage for ruminants, cattle fattening, etc.) designed to improve livelihood of farmer-beneficiaries in the context of COVID-19 pandemic;
4. Develop training modules on Halal compliant production system, value chain, and animal health including good agricultural practices and guidelines/protocols which are in-line with on-going government’s Halal Development Programme;
5. Serve as resource person during trainings on Halal compliant production systems/vale chain (e.g. feed formulation; corn silage production; feeding practices, animal health, slaughtering, meat processing; consolidation and marketing);
6. Develop practical and community-based animal health care and maintenance strategies to sustain livestock and poultry production;
7. Provide technical advice on issues raised pertaining to livestock and poultry production, animal health, processing and marketing, taking into consideration impacts on environment, food safety and associated human health risks;
8. Recommend and determine the necessary intervention package including value addition to improve livelihood means through livestock and poultry production;
9. Coordinate closely with other sectors where livestock is a component (e.g. integration of livestock in rice, corn or coconut growing areas);
10. Develop a simple and practical monitoring tool for livestock and poultry intervention using as reference the existing guidelines of DA and MAFAR livestock and poultry programmes;
11. Assist the project team in monitoring and assessment of interventions particularly on livestock and poultry integration in the current production systems of target beneficiaries;
12. Develop technical specifications for submissions to FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (FAO RAP) and prepare detailed procurement plans in coordination with technical staff of MAFAR and DA RFO XII, conduct inspection and sampling activities to ensure compliance to technical specifications of livestock inputs prior to or during actual delivery;
13. Carry out any other relevant duties within his/her technical competence, as may be requested by FAO; and
14. Prepare and submit an end of assignment report.

Minimum Requirements

• The candidate must have University degree in Animal Science or related field with complementary knowledge in rural development planning;
• The candidate should have at least three (3) years practical experience in the planning and implementation of rural development and emergency rehabilitation programme at the field level projects; and must have at least five (5) years of professional and practical work experience in livestock or animal production projects (including Halal livestock production and meat processing) at the field or regional level;
• A national of the Philippines or resident in the country with a regular work permit.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Must be familiar with the local rural setting in Central Mindanao and Bangsamoro areas
• Proven ability to conceptualize, plan and execute complex processes across a wide range of stakeholders, advance ability to work quickly and under pressure
• Ability to work effectively as part of a multidisciplinary team is of importance as is the ability to take leadership when appropriate
• Language requirement: Excellent written and oral communication skills in English and Tagalog
• He/she must have intermediate to advance computer skills in the use of standard office software, such as MS Office (Word, Excel, Power Point