Organizational Setting
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) contributes to the achievement of the 2030 global Agenda through the FAO Strategic Framework by supporting the transformation to MORE efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems, for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind. The main aim of the FAO country offices, which are headed by an FAO Representative, is to assist governments to develop policies, programmes and projects to achieve food security, reduce hunger and malnutrition, help develop the agricultural, fisheries and forestry sectors, and to use their environmental and natural resources in a sustainable manner. The support is based on the guidelines as provided by the Country Programming Framework (CPF). FAO through its technical cooperation programme is supporting the government of Lesotho to digitize agriculture as part of the global flagship initiative on digital villages. This initiative seeks to take advantage of the advances in digital technologies to facilitate seamless delivery of advisory services to rural communities in general and farming community in particular. Through this support, the government of Lesotho would like to pilot Artificial Intelligence (AI)assisted agricultural extension services. To this end FAO, has signed a UN to UN agreement with ITU to provide the required technical support (AI/ICT) for piloting this initiative. The functionality of the system does not only depend on AI/ICT support but also requires the services of the agricultural extension content creator. It is against the foregoing background that FAO is looking for a knowledgeable agricultural extension expert to lead the creation of the extension content that will be fed into the AI platform
Reporting Lines
The incumbent will work under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative in Lesotho and direct supervision of the Assistant FAO Representative for programme. As a content creator the incumbent will work closely with CFIA digital agriculture expert and collaborate strongly ITU technical teams and the interministerial teams of the Government of Lesotho.
Technical Focus
The piloting of the AI assisted advisory services will focus on agronomy. As a result, the exercise requires greater expertise and wider knowledge of agronomy with strong background agronomy extension. Particular focus is on bring digital innovation for delivering agricultural extension and advisory services to the farming communities.
Tasks and responsibilities
Under overall supervision the FAO Representative in Lesotho, technical oversight of the respective FAO technical officers, in collaboration with relevant technical units of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and in liaison with research and academic institutions, the incumbent will generate the extension content for priority agricultural commodities to be fed into the AI platform. To deliver this assignment the incumbent will undertake the following tasks:ย
โข ย ย ย ย Support internal preparation by compiling and organizing background information required to engage different technical departments of the Ministry of Agriculture, in coordination with designated FAO representatives, to identify and confirm priority commodities suitable for piloting AI-assisted advisory and extension services
โข ย ย ย ย Collect extension and advisory materials within the country and in the subregion for the selected commodities
โข ย ย ย ย Compile and organize collected materials and, in coordination with designated FAO staff, support the process of obtaining expert reviews and technical opinions from relevant departments, research bodies, and academic institutions ย
โข ย ย ย ย With the help of the National project Coordinator, organise producer/user (extension workers, technical experts and farmers) workshop to present a synopsis of the advisory messages for each commodity, get stakeholder feedback on their accuracy and solicit further inputs for improvement
โข ย ย ย ย Incorporate comments and inputs from stakeholders and finalize extension dossier
โข ย ย ย ย Work with the AI technical team to customize data and improve advisory message
โข ย ย ย ย Submit a final report
CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING
Minimum Requirements ย
โข ย ย ย ย Masterโs degree in agricultural extension, agronomy or related field
โข ย ย ย ย Five yearsโ working experience in agricultural extension, agronomy or related field
โข ย ย ย ย Working knowledge in English is required for effective communication and documentation
โข ย ย ย ย National of the Kingdom of Lesotho or resident in the country with a valid work permit.
FAO Core Competencies
โข ย ย ย ย Results Focus
โข ย ย ย ย Teamwork
โข ย ย ย ย Communication
โข ย ย ย ย Building Effective Relationships
โข ย ย ย ย Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement
Technical/Functional Skills
โข ย ย ย ย Demonstrated interest in the technical areas described above, as well as strong analytical, research and writing skills.
Selection Criteria
โข ย ย ย ย Good communications skills are an advantage:.
โข ย ย ย ย Experience and knowledge in using software such as Microsoft CoPilot
โข ย ย ย ย Experience in implementing international projects would be an asset.
โข ย ย ย ย Experience in organization and implementation of training programs;
โข ย ย ย ย Knowledge and experience in Collect micro data, perform data cleaning, data entry operations and data analysis;
โข ย ย ย ย Experience in managing processes for stakeholder consultation ,collaboration and participation;
โข ย ย ย ย Ability to write clear and concise reports;