Marketing and Value Chain Specialist (for Bhutanese National)

Organizational Setting

The FAO Bhutan Country Office (CO) is under double representation arrangement where FAO Representative sits in FAO Office Nepal. CO, headed by Assistant FAO Representative (Program), oversees the program in the country. The proposed Unilateral Trust Fund (UTF) project, entitled Technical Assistance Support to Food Security and Agriculture Productivity (TA-FSAPP), presents technical assistance (TA) actions requested by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests (MoAF) of the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGoB) to be undertaken by FAO in association with a project called Food Security and Agriculture Productivity Project (FSAPP).

The FSAPP is a five-year project financed by a US$8 million grant from the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme (GAFSP) is extended till 2024 end with an additional financing (AF) of US$4.64 million in response to Covid19 impact and upscale the earlier project interventions; the FAO TA has been accorded no-cost extension until 2024 end. The World Bank is the supervising entity of the FSAPP. Including the government and beneficiary contributions, the total cost of FSAPP is US$14.7 million.

At the World Bank implementation support mission (ISM) in March 2022, the recommendation for FAO-TA is to recruit a national Marketing and Value Chain (MVC) Specialist, who will be dedicated to lead and coordinate Component 3 (Enhancing Access to Markets – towards achieving indicators 3.1, 3.2, 3.5, 3.6) of the Food Security and Agriculture Productivity Project (FSAPP) as well as to support Components 1 (indicators 1.1, 1.2) and 2 (indicators 2.2, 2.3) activities related to marketing, value chains and FG/PG/Coops. The recruitment of the MVC Specialist is for an initial period of 11 months in 2022. The MVC Specialist will work under the direct supervision of the Assistant FAO Representative for Bhutan and report to the Project Director PMU.

Reporting Lines

The NPP reports to Project Director, PMU/DoA and AFAOR, FAO Bhutan

Technical Focus

Food & nutrition security programs. The Marketing/Value Chain Specialist is a contract position at PMU arranged by FAO. The NPP will be responsible for the implementation of and coordination for FSAPP technical assistance activities.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Lead and coordinate the implementation of TA activities under Component 3 and implementation of activities under component 3 (indicators 3.1, 3.2, 3.5, 3.6) of the project in liaison with the PMU and Project Implementing Units (PIUs).
• Develop the behavioural change communication (BCC) training of training (ToT) materials on Theme VI (Business development and management) with a focus on marketing theme based on a seasonal calendar, farmers’ dairy, and cost of production (CoP) of project prioritized crops.
• In liaison with the Department of Agricultural Marketing and Cooperatives (DAMC) focal person, develop a standard operating procedure (SOP) for the project supported Centralized Pack houses, Warehouses, and Integrated Cold stores including the “Operation and management” of the project-supported Cold stores.
• Support the assessment of post-harvest and market infrastructures in the project areas, the findings from which shall be shared with DAMC for scaling up at the national level.
• Support the assessment of the four major irrigation schemes’ impact on the priority crop production/productivity enhancement.
• Support the development of a handy/practical App (for AEOs) to calculate the CoP based on the MS Excel CoP templates developed for the project.
• Support the development of Value Chain (VC) for Chili & Cole Crops for the National Centre for Organic Agriculture (NCOA).
• Strengthen the capacity building of DAMC staff in a) market exploration, b) market infrastructures and c) role of farmer group (FG)/producer group (PG) strengthening.
• Support the DAMC focal person and Project Implementing Units (PIUs) in the formation and capacity building of Farmer/Producer Groups, Marketing Groups, Youth and Women Groups.
• Support DAMC focal person and PIUs on the feasibility studies for market structure such as collection sheds, farm shops, warehouses, Market sheds/outlets, Processing Units and Cold storages.
• Support Components 1 (indicators 1.1, 1.2) and 2 (indicators 2.2, 2.3) activities related to marketing, value chains and FG/PG/Coops.
• Support linking of PG/FG/Coops from project areas of surplus RNR commodities to deficit areas in collaboration with the PIUs based on the F2S assessment report recommendations.
• Support the PIUs in the development of ToRs and hiring of International Consultants.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• University degree in agricultural economics/ sciences or marketing, value chain and/or agribusiness development
• 10 years of relevant experience in relevant professional field
• Working knowledge (level C) of English; Dzongkha and other local dialects are advantages.
• National of Bhutan

FAO Core Competencies

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

Selection Criteria

• Extent of relevant technical experience in the areas covered by marketing and value chain.
• Extent of experience in undertaking marketing and value chain analysis and socio-economic analysis
• Proven ability to communicate clearly and concisely both orally and in writing
• Depth of knowledge of development issues in Bhutan
• Work experience in Bhutan and/or other countries in the Region

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• FAO does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing)
• Incomplete applications will not be considered. If you need help please contact: [email protected]
• Applications received after the closing date will not be accepted
• Please note that FAO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http://www.whed.net/
• For additional employment opportunities visit the FAO employment website: http://www.fao.org/employment/home/en/
• Appointment will be subject to certification that the candidate is medically fit for appointment, accreditation, any residency or visa requirements, and security clearances.