National Project Personnel - Farmer Field School on Soil Fertility Management

Organizational Setting

Savannakhet Province has the highest number of agricultural households and agriculture is the main productive sector in the province, but the economic trends in Savannakhet indicate a growing share of revenue generated from the industry and services sectors in comparison to agriculture. In the province, traditional subsistence agriculture is declining while agriculture as an industry is growing. Rice is still central to household food security, but a growing number of farmers are getting involved in the cultivation of commercial crops such as maize, sugarcane, cassava, rubber, and coffee. Savannakhet is one of the provinces where there has been an increase in area under cultivation of the commercial crops. The crops meet both domestic and international demands.

Agriculture in Lao PDR is mostly rainfed. A high intensity of natural disasters can therefore increase the vulnerability of rural farmers because of the high degree of poverty in these areas. For smallholder agriculture that is primarily dependent on rainfed rice crops, there are number of alternatives suggested including improved rice varieties that use less water and that are more resistant to higher temperatures, salinity, droughts, and floods as a mechanism for buffering food security against climate risks and water shortages. The other critical limiting factor is low inherent soil fertility, particularly low soil nitrogen and phosphorus levels. The predominant lowland rice soils occupying more than 50% of the rice lands are in the Acrisols soils group, which are characterized by highly weathered soils with a low content of primary minerals, and a low base saturation (<50%).

To enhance the resilience to climate risks and sustainable and efficient agriculture production, the potential strategies include changing cropping patterns, adopting integrated and sustainable soil management and conservation agriculture, developing and implementing new water-saving techniques, and improving water harvesting, management and flood control. With the knowledge and results obtained from the project activities, drafting a strategy for sustainable soil and water resources management under the changing production and climate environment will be supported

Therefore, the Government of Lao PDR has requested FAO to provide technical support on soil improvement and sustainable water harvesting. The main objectives of this project are to strengthen farmers capacity in sustainably managing soil and water resources and improve productivity and resilience to drought through the processes of assessing and understanding the status and distribution of water availability, soil fertility, farmer’s crop management practices and yield and identifying constraints and testing and demonstrating possible solution options to increase productivity of rainfed lowland agriculture in Savannakhet province

Reporting Lines

Under the direct supervision of the FAO Representative in Lao PDR, in close collaboration with project team, and the Lead Technical Officer (LTO) at FAO’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.

Technical Focus

The National Project Personnel will undertake the following activities to provide technical and functional support to the project “Technical support on soil improvement and sustainable water harvesting in Savannakhet Province” (TCP/LAO/3804).

Tasks and responsibilities

• In close coordination with the project team, LTO, AFAOR, support the national project team in setting up Farmer Field School for improving soil and health for sustainable production and conservation as well as enhanced resilience to climatic stress, particularly drought and floods.
• Collaborate with an international consultant and participatory technical reviews at the provincial level. Assess soil fertility management, dissemination, and extension mechanisms for demonstration good practices option.
• Support institutional capacity enhancement for sustainable soil and water extension. Review the existing agriculture production and soil and water conservation and extension guidelines, technical manuals, etc. at national, provincial, and local levels and assess its linkages to ecosystem-based agriculture production systems and climate-related risks and adaptation.
• Introduce, demonstrate and provide training on sustainable and effective soil and water management practices and methods such as healthy soil management, integrated plant nutrient, and soil fertility management, conservation agriculture, simplified/localized alternative drip irrigation technologies, water harvesting, and water saving technologies, etc. through participatory extension approaches (e.g. Farmer Field School).
• Formulation of demonstration for the sustainable soil and water resources conservation and management based on the information collected and results obtained from the field experiment and demonstration, identify and compile good practices and approaches for improved production, conservation, and climate resilience.
• Identify practices and approaches to be discussed, verified, and a strategy for improving soil fertility and sustainable water management
• Prepare consultation workshop and report the results of conducting the demonstration, and other technical discussions at a national and sub-national level.
• Presenting the results of conducting a demonstration, finding, and finalizing report for LTO and FAO;
• Perform other related duties when required under the project;

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Good understanding of the Lao Agriculture Context.
• Advanced university degree in soil science, agronomy, agriculture.
• Five years of relevant experience in Soil fertility management, conducting a demonstration, experiment in agriculture.
• Working knowledge of English.
• Nationality of Lao.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Experience in farmer’s field school, and technology transfer.
• Experiences in developing a guideline for extension officer and Farmer, conduct demonstration, data collection and analysis the result of demonstration, and experience in soil fertility and plant nutrition would be a strong asset.
• Good communication skills and teamwork, be able to work with people in rural areas.
• Experience to work with agriculture production groups in rural areas, technical reporting, and implementation of agriculture production for commercialization programs;
• Good analytical and writing skills
• Good understanding of the Lao's agriculture context.

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/