Sustainable Livelihood and Private Sector Specialist

Contract

This is a UNV International Expert contract. This kind of contract is known as International UN Volunteer. It is normally internationally recruited only. More about UNV International Expert contracts.

Private sector involvement in Djibouti's land use and agriculture is still nascent. With an arid landscape, scant arable terrain, and limited water supply, agriculture in Djibouti has remained largely underdeveloped, focusing on subsistence-level production of drought-tolerant crops and rearing livestock. Consequently, Djibouti relies on imports for about 90% of its food needs, predominantly from neighboring Ethiopia. Agricultural endeavors within the private sector are mainly facilitated through cooperatives, with a notable number of these groups being led by women.

These cooperatives are crucial to the local economy, producing and selling agricultural products in local informal markets. Yet, they face challenges in accessing broader markets, including the critical Djibouti city market, which serves the majority of the nation's population, and other major regional cities, thus limiting their expansion and national economic contribution. Moreover, these cooperatives often lack proper structure and coordination. Acknowledging the sector's potential to contribute to economic expansion and enhance food security, the Government of Djibouti (GoDj) is increasingly looking to involve the private sector in agriculture, with a focus on developing sectors such as dairy and other agricultural products.

The Djibouti government has also committed to inclusive growth via the 2020-2024 National Development Plan (NDP), focusing on aiding vulnerable groups such as small-scale farmers, women in cooperatives, nomads, and fishermen to enhance their living standards and economic potential. The plan also prioritizes women's economic empowerment by supporting their entry into the workforce and entrepreneurship, aligning with agencies that bolster micro and small enterprises. Despite these efforts, agricultural cooperatives struggle to obtain suitable financing, as existing microfinance options do not meet their needs, and farmers frequently shoulder the full risk of business setbacks.

In addition, climate change is expected to significantly contribute to increasing food insecurity in the country. Djibouti’s rural population, which includes a large pastoralist population, is particularly at risk from increasing aridification and water shortages as they mainly reside in deserts or marginal lands, often with highly erodible soil and limited water supply. In remote areas in the northwest and central parts of the country, increasingly recurrent droughts in the winter season have already led to reduced pasture areas, while flooding damages rural properties, agricultural land and infrastructure.

The UNV will work alongside the National Food Security and Value Chain Specialist to develop interventions for inclusive livelihood for climate-vulnerable agro-pastoral communities through improved access to water, energy, and access to finance. The areas of work will include inter alia agriculture, livestock and fishery value chain analysis, conduct value-chain feasibility analysis leading to the selection of value-chains with highest potential, facilitate private sector engagement, carry out mapping of the selected value-chains and conduct intersectional analysis of market, climate change, gender and financing for the value-chains.

Under the direct supervision of the Chief Technical Advisor and Team Leader of Greening Djibouti Portfolio, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks: 1. Identify the relevant government strategies and policies and administrative frameworks promoting agri-business and agro-entrepreneurship in Djibouti 2. Analyze the transboundary socio-economic and socio-political mechanisms and pa-rameters governing the agri-business and agro-based markets 3. Design and undertake market analysis to develop dataset on supply and demand of various agriculture, livestock and fishery-based value-chains 4. Undertake Capacity Gap and Needs Assessment to identify the institutional, political, and infrastructure potential and challenges to develop agriculture, livestock and fishery-based value chains 5. Conduct feasibility of the existing value-chains and identify the areas of improvement to support the Vision 2035 ambition of economic diversification and SDG targets 6. Conduct gap and needs analysis for the prioritized green/ blue economy-based enter-prises, (production and services) to set up an efficient value chain framework 7. Mapping and analysis of the key stakeholders for promotion and scaling up of the val-ue-chain-based agri-business 8. Map the cooperatives at the national and regional level and develop livelihood support interventions in support of climate-resilient value-chain development opportunities. 9. Design private sector engagement approaches and a milestone-based action plan to promote value-chain-based livelihoods. 10. Develop innovative and sustainable financing opportunities for the cooperatives and small-holder farmers, pastoralists and fishermen 11. Provide a concrete roadmap with a costed action plan for cross-border agri-business development to secure the food supply chain with stable pricing for the population of Djibouti, including a resilience framework in the events of crises 12. Build upon the SDG Investor Map analysis and collaborate with the SDG Deep Dive assessment process to develop the agro-business and blue-economy-based sectors

☒ Accountability ☒ Adaptability and Flexibility ☒ Building Trust ☒ Client Orientation ☒ Commitment and Motivation ☒ Commitment to Continuous Learning ☒ Communication ☒ Creativity ☒ Empowering Others ☒ Ethics and Values ☒ Integrity ☒ Knowledge Sharing ☒ Managing Performance ☒ Planning and Organizing ☒ Professionalism ☒ Respect for Diversity ☒ Self-Management ☒ Technological Awareness ☒ Vision ☒ Working in Teams

private sector engagement, particularly in environment protection and climate change adaptation field
Skills and experience description

• Demonstrated experience and knowledge on climate financing and private sector investment on climate change interventions • Strong experience in developing climate resilient, gender-responsive livelihood interventions for the climate vulnerable agro-pastoral communities living in water deficient areas

The UN security Level is at the level 3 for Djibouti-Ville. The average temperature varies from 23º to 29º in January and from 31º to 41º in July. Annual rainfall ranges from 127 mm in the capital to 380 mm in the mountains. There are local banking facilities only in Djibouti-Town and it is recommended to open a bank account. Credit cards are not widely accepted in Djibouti. There are few automatic teller machines (ATMs) in Djibouti city. French, Afar, Somali, and Arab are spoken by the local population and by the authorities. Availability of flight is as follows: one weekly flight AIR France from Djibouti to Paris, Two daily flights with ETHIOPIAN Airlines from Djibouti to Addis Abeba, twice a week flight with Turkish Airlines from Djibouti to Istanbul. At the arrival, it is recommended to book a room in an authorized hotel. There is also the possibility to rent a private accommodation soon after few days passed at the hotel. For taxi, you are recommended to use only those painted in white and green or those provided by your hotel. Please make sure they know your intended destination and negotiate the fare before starting the journey.