Food Security and Agricultural Livelihoods Assessment Specialist – FAO
Job Description
| Organization | The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) |
| Job Posting | 13/12/2021 |
| Closure Date | 27/12/2021 |
| Division/ Department | FAO Sudan |
| Duration | Up to 11 months |
| Contract Type/ Level: | Personnel Service Agreement (PSA) |
| Duty Station | Sudan-Khartoum |
Organizational setting
The FAO Representation in Sudan has been operating for more than 43 years, dating back to May 1977. The agriculture sector is a key element in contributing to Food Security and Nutrition in Sudan. The Organization provides technical, policy and other capacity development support within the bread
context of strengthening national capacity to achieve results in the food security and livelihoods sector. FAO implements its programme in close collaboration with government line ministries, UN partners, international and national NGOs.
The Country Office is in charge of preparing for and effectively responding to food and agricultural threats and crises, with the support from the Office of Emergency and Resilience (OER). As part of the OER, the Needs Assessment team is in charge of generating quality and timely evidence to inform
decision-making and programming, including anticipatory action and emergency response, through three workstreams:
• A dynamic monitoring system of agricultural livelihoods and food security in the context of various shocks, consisting of periodic household and
non-household data collection (through phone and in-person surveys) and analysis,
• Ex-post assessments of the impacts of shocks on agricultural livelihoods and value chains, using phased methodological approaches such as
remote-sensing, damage & loss analyses, Post-Disaster Needs Assessments (PDNA), and other food security & livelihood surveys.
• Risk profiles, which are derived from geographic baselines of past events and their impacts on agricultural livelihoods.
The various outputs of these three streams are processed, visualized and disseminated through FAO’s Data in Emergencies hub.
Technical focus
The Consultant is responsible for coordinating and conducting the needs assessment activities in-country. He is accountable for the timely implementation of activities related to the monitoring system in accordance with the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
Reporting line
Under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative in Sudan, the Consultant will work under the direct management of the Assistant FAO Representative for Programme and the technical supervision of the Regional Assessment Advisor. He will work in dose collaboration with the global Needs Assessment team and with other country colleagues involved in evidence for programming.
Tasks and responsibilities
Monitoring system
- Contribute to the development of a country roadmap (or annual work plan) and regularly liaise with the country management team and the regional assessment advisor on the alignment of the roadmap with strategic, technical and operational requirements;
- Lead the design of the surveys (instruments, sample, questionnaires, data collection modalities) by using and adapting the standard tools to the country circumstances, secondary data and roadmap:
- Coordinate data collection with partners (remotely for Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviews, with direct supervision and programming of digital tools for in-person surveys) and monitor data quality (including questionnaire testing and piloting, enumerators training, continuous control of interim datasets, quotas and audio recordings, production of a data quality report);
- Abide by the data management standards of the monitoring system, including data protection and storage, and hub-related workflow;
- Lead data analysis (including weights, statistical analysis and qualitative analysis);
- Lead the exploration and interpretation of dashboards on the staging hub, including the formulation of highlights and operational recommendations and facilitate their validation by a panel of internal experts before publication;
- Contribute to the production of various analytical products including reports, presentations, meta-analyses, and StoryMaps, using standard templates;
- Contribute to the dissemination of results and promotion of the Data in Emergencies hub. It can include hub demos and presentations of the survey findings to FAO country teams, Ministry of Agriculture, donors or Food Security cluster partners;
- Ensure the availability of data for other processes such as IPC, Harmonized Framework, Anticipatory Action scenario building, response analysis, programming exercises, and Humanitarian Needs Overview, and participate to these processes as required;
- Document lessons learnt and data uses;
- Participate to global and regional training workshops, and contribute to the worldwide Community of Practice.
Impact assessments and risks profiling
- Provide technical inputs to country decision-makers in the aftermath of hazards by proposing a combination of adequate and chased assessment methodologies;
- Coordinate the implementation of impact assessments with relevant expert units, including the global Geospatial unit and other country units;
- Develop an impact assessment preparedness plan for the main hazards identified in the country.
- Contribute to risks profiling exercises, as needed.
Minimum Qualifications Requirement:
Applications will not be considered from candidates who do not possess ALL of the Essential Qualifications.
Education:
- Bachelor or advanced degree in agronomy, rural statistics, agricultural economics, relevant social or natural sciences, or other related discipline relevant to the mandate of the Organization.
Experience:
- Minimum of 5 years of proven knowledge and experience in assessments, surveillance systems, or monitoring and evaluation in the context of emergencies and food crises;
Other:
- Working knowledge of English language.
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 agriculture, food security, livelihoods and value chains in the context of Sudan;
- Experience or familiarity with food security and livelihoods assessments methodologies, including surveillance or monitoring systems, PostDisaster Needs Assessments, Damage and Losses assessments, agricultural production assessment, market analysis, and/or value chain analysis;
- Experience in survey design, sampling, data collection, data analysis, and interpretation for assessment processes in agriculture and food security;
- Expertise in remote data collection including phone or web-based surveys and/or remote-sensing would be a plus;
- Working knowledge of advanced statistics with ability to use statistical software packages (in particular SPSS, STATA and/or R);
- Proven data visualization and reporting skills;
- Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written;
- Coordination skills with strong individual planning capacity;
- Knowledge of humanitarian principles.
About Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. Its Latin motto, fiat panis, translates to “let there be bread”. It was founded in October 1945.
Headquarters: Rome, Italy
To Apply:
Submit the completed FAO Personal History form/ updated CV and copies of supporting documents in a sealed envelope clearly indicating the vacancy number and the duty station to:
FAO Representation Office
Attention Human Resources Unit
Osman Digna Street (near Central Bank of Sudan, Khartoum Branch)
Khartoum, Sudan
Or send your application by email to:[email protected] (Attachments are not to exceed 3 MB)
Applicant should dearly quote the vacancy number and the duty station in the subject title
This vacancy is open to Sudanese national male and female candidates. Applications from qualified women candidates are encouraged
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