National Territorial - Agro-Economic Zone Planning Specialist

Organizational Setting:

For more than four decades, FAO has been working with the Government of the Philippines, civil society, community-based organizations and the private sector to address challenges in the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sector. Joint efforts have included increasing sustainability in agricultural production, promoting value-adding practices, improving post-harvest management, enhancing productivity and increasing the resilience of agriculture-based livelihoods to natural disasters, climatic hazards and armed conflict.

Reporting Lines:

The National Territorial/ Agro-Economic Zone Planning Specialist reports to the Project Team Leader.

Technical Focus:

The project, “Technical Capacity Support to the Agri-Industrial Business Corridors (ABC)” aims to improve capacities of ABC implementers on technical, agri-business, management, and entrepreneurial skills to contribute to the improvement of agribusiness investment climate in the Philippines. Among others, it will also facilitate linkages between the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Agrarian Reform on this topic and help link agrarian reform beneficiaries’ organizations (ARBOs) to the market.

Tasks and responsibilities

The National Territorial/Agro-Economic Zone Planning Specialist works in collaboration with the Mindanao Emergency Response and Preparedness Group (MERG) and will carry out the following tasks:

1. Conduct consultation workshops with Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), and agrarian reform stakeholders to collate/identify relevant current initiatives, challenges, and gaps that would guide the identification of necessary entry points for the technical capacity support on agribusiness and value chain management/implementation;
2. Provide technical inputs to the design of assessment tools that would determine the current capacities and gaps of the Agri-Industrial Business Corridors (ABC) implementers;
3. Conduct and analyze capacity assessment of the ABC implementers;
4. Provide inputs to the development of modules on fundamental topics for the operations of ABC based on assessment findings, i.e., economic clusters/corridors, agri-industrialization, agribusiness technology incubators, agribusiness projects development and management, and national innovation strategies in agriculture;
5. Conduct pre-testing and post-training assessments on the rolled-out modules;
6. Provide capacity building support to DA and DAR personnel on ABC;
7. Serve as resource person in the conduct of training of trainers on ABC and as subject matter expert in other relevant meetings and events;
8. Coordinate timely and efficient delivery of outputs, and regular monitoring and evaluation of project activities in conformity with the technical cooperation procedures of FAO;
9. Provide feedback to relevant officers and managers on progress of project implementation;
10. Contribute to FAO corporate learning processes and documentation about ABC;
11. Participate in relevant meetings and activities;
12. Perform other tasks that may be assigned by the FAO Representative.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• University degree in economics, agricultural economics, development economics, urban and regional planning, land use planning or other related discipline relevant to the assignment;
• Minimum of 5 years of proven knowledge and experience in agro-industry development, territorial planning, or any other relevant fields; and
• National of the Philippines

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Ability to work under pressure and adapt to an evolving and complex humanitarian context and within multidisciplinary and different cultural background teams;
• Strong analytical skills and knowledge of economic clusters/corridors, agri-industrialization, agribusiness technology incubators, agribusiness projects development and management, and national innovation strategies in agriculture in the context of the Philippines;
• Coordination skills with strong individual planning capacity;
• Knowledge of humanitarian principles
• Demonstrated attention to detail
• Language requirement: Excellent written and oral communication skills in English and Filipino

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/