Capacity Building Specialist

Organizational Setting

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) contributes to the achievement of the 2030 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.

FAO is a specialized agency of the UN that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. FAO's goal is to achieve food security for all and ensure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. With 195 Members (194 countries and the European Union), FAO works in over 130 countries worldwide.

FAO India has the mandate to support the Government of India through its representation to improve livelihoods of farmers, promote agrifood systems transformation, and respond to the challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation, through developing resilient and sustainable agrifood systems

All FAO interventions in India focus on promoting sustainable agriculture and enhancing capacities of stakeholders, especially small and marginalized farmers. In addition, some of the projects also work with farmers collectives. Along the course of project implementation, a number of targeted training and capacity building programs and events are organised, from training of trainers on sustainable agriculture to awareness generation and training on climate resilience and climate smart agriculture. Some of the key projects implemented by FAO in India are as follows

GreenAg: The project’s objective is to catalyse transformative change for India’s agricultural sector to support the achievement of national and global environmental benefits and conserve critical biodiversity and forest landscapes. The project funded under GEF 6 round is organized around two components. The first component strengthens the enabling framework and institutional structures to mainstream biodiversity (BD), sustainable land management (SLM), climate change mitigation (CCM) and sustainable forest management (SFM) policies, priorities and practices in India’s agricultural sector. The second component demonstrates replicable “Improved agricultural and conservation practices” for sustainable production, resilient livelihood advancements, habitat improvements, and delivery of tangible BD, LD, CCM, and SFM benefits. The project works at the national, state and pilot site levels. The project’s five demonstration states are: i) Madhya Pradesh, ii) Mizoram, iii) Odisha, iv) Rajasthan and v) Uttarakhand. Site-level project effort focuses upon high conservation priority landscapes (e.g. protected areas) within each of these states.

FOLUR: FAO India is currently implementing the “Promotion of Sustainable Food Systems in India through Transforming Rice-Wheat Systems” Project under the GEF -7 cycle. This five-year project focuses on four states - Punjab, Haryana, Chhattisgarh and Odisha. The project will: 1) result in major global environmental benefits in terms of reduced land degradation, biodiversity loss and greenhouse gas emissions; 2) provide the country with win-win benefits in terms of improvements in the environmental sustainability of food systems and the income and resilience of farmers, and; 3) generate additional benefits for other food system stakeholders such as improved access to safe and healthy food and to employment opportunities.

Indian Irrigation Towards 2030: The Ministry of Jal Shakti is currently installing Pressure Piped Irrigation Systems (PPIS) in many states, integrating fiber-optic infrastructure to enable digital agriculture, real-time water monitoring, and precision irrigation practices. While this advanced infrastructure is a critical step toward modernizing India’s irrigation systems, the success of these initiatives depends heavily on effective local governance and sustainable water management strategies. Recognizing this, the Ministry has requested FAO’s assistance in strengthening Water Users Associations (WUAs) to ensure community-based management of these systems. FAO will support the development of a smart irrigation strategy, including water allocation methods that ensure water use monitoring, equitable distribution and efficient use of both surface and groundwater resources.

Carbon Fund with NABARD: FAO is extending technical cooperation with NABARD for creation and establishment of a carbon fund to serve agriculture and allied sectors in India, with an aim of promoting sustainable agriculture at scale and helping small and marginal farmers accrue the benefits of carbon markets. This initiative is expected to catalyse carbon markets in the agriculture and allied sectors, as well as develop innovative financial products and services for small and marginal producers in India.

FAO is seeking to recruit a training materials and content development specialist, to develop a series of products on sustainable agriculture including course design, course content, course manuals and guidance notes and facilitation guides that will act as a standardized common resource for all FAO projects in India. The proposed capacity building material development work will support the above-mentioned projects.

The position is located in the FAO Country Office in India.

Reporting Lines

Under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative in India, Assistant FAO Representatives (Program and Administration). The consultant will work in close coordination with the Project Managers, Technical Officers, and other team members to achieve the deliverable outlined in this call for expressions of interest.

Technical Focus

Training Material and content development on various topics within the broad framework of climate resilience and adaptation, including climate resilient sustainable agriculture, water resource management, carbon markets etc., in India.

The overall objective is to design and develop comprehensive training courseware on topics related to climate-resilient sustainable agriculture in India, targeting farmers, farmers’ collectives and other stakeholders and implementation of training programs. The Capacity Building Specialist will be responsible for creating technically sound, locally relevant, and farmer-friendly content across various formats, ensuring alignment with national priorities and FAO’s climate resilience agenda.

Tasks and responsibilities

•     Develop comprehensive course curricula to orient and sensitise stakeholders—including farmers, FPOs, and field personnel—on sustainable agriculture, climate resilience, sustainable management of water resources, community-based water governance, carbon farming and carbon markets for farmers, FPOs and other stakeholders
•     Design and deliver modular training content, including video-based learning materials, on key topics such as smart irrigation, community-led irrigation systems, and carbon credit access.
•     Support facilitation of capacity building workshops and farmer education initiatives, reaching at least 5,000 farmers, with a focus on sustainable agricultural practices and the carbon market.
•     Develop and finalise behaviour change communication (BCC) materials, including videos and other multimedia tools, ensuring alignment with project objectives.
•     Support planning and execution of capacity building of farmers and Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) on sustainable agriculture and carbon credits.
•     Develop methods for the dissemination of digital video advisories and training materials through appropriate digital platforms.
•     Support organising and facilitation of national-level Training of Trainers (ToTs) on sustainable agriculture, carbon credits, and smart irrigation practices.
•     Develop tools and frameworks to strengthen the capacity and monitoring mechanisms of Water Users Associations (WUAs) through targeted training and support.
•     Provide technical guidance and develop standardised guidelines for digital video production across agricultural value chains under GEF-6 and GEF-7 initiatives.
•     Develop a comprehensive training manual for trainers, including course plans, facilitation guides, and supporting materials for field-level training delivery.
•     Support FAOR/AFAOR for meetings and representations when requested by the FAOIN leadership.
•     Collaborate with the FAO Country Office, FAO Lead Technical Officers (LTOs), other National Experts as required
•     Any other duties assigned by the FAOIN leadership.

FAO Standards and guidelines:

•     Liaison with OCC will be maintained, either directly or through an agreed focal point/coordinator, to ensure compliance with OCC standards, aligned messaging, and appropriate review and clearance processes.
•     All communication materials will follow FAO clearance processes and comply with FAO standards, including:
FAO Strategic Framework 2022-31: https://www.fao.org/strategic-framework/en  
FAO social media policy and guidelines: https://www.fao.org/2/socialmedia   
Social Media Branding Guidelines: https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/cb5044en 
FAOSTYLE https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/cb8081en 
FAO terminology http://www.fao.org/faoterm 
FAO Names of Countries https://www.fao.org/nocs/en     
Story guidelines, Story template, UN map standards, FAO logo policy and related branding guidelines (available to staff). 
•     Further guidance regarding FAO communications, policies and procedures can be found through the FAO intranet, OCC section.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

•     Advanced university degree in sustainable development, climate smart agriculture, climate change or related subjects
•     At least 7 years working experience in sustainable agriculture, climate change adaptation, capacity building and material development
•     Working knowledge (level C) of English
•     National of India

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

•     Working proficiency in Hindi is desirable 
•     Experience working with government agencies on development projects.
•     Extensive experience managing developing capacity building resources and delivering training events
•     Knowledge and experience in sustainable agriculture, climate change, carbon markets and/or water resources
•     In-depth understanding of digital technology adoption in sustainable agriculture.
•     Strong technical knowledge and management skills, including the ability to provide strategic guidance, technical oversight, mentor staff, build strong teams, develop work plans, and manage budgets and project expenditures.
•     Excellent multicultural and interpersonal skills, with experience networking with partners at all levels (ministries, donors, private sector, NGOs, and local community-based organizations).
•     Experience working with international and donor organizations (e.g., World Bank, IFAD, Asian Development Bank) on the implementation of participatory projects.
•     Proven written, analytical, computing, presentation, and reporting skills.