Food Systems 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

Green Climate Fund (GCF) Readiness Project: GCF has approved the Government of India’s GCF Readiness Proposal “Agriculture Sector Readiness for enhanced climate finance in India”. The goal of this Readiness Proposal is to enhance India’s capacity to develop sub-national climate finance investment programs and projects linked to adaptation and resilience priorities for the agriculture sector. The Readiness Support Project will help address the following three barriers 
•     Fragmentation in planning and monitoring climate action in agriculture sector.
•     Limited experience in accessing climate finance. 
•     Limited private sector engagement for climate action in the agriculture sector

The proposed activities and outputs under this Readiness Proposal will contribute to achieve Outcomes 2.2, 2.4 and 4.1 - of the 2019-2021 Readiness Programme Strategy. Specifically, 
•     Outcome 2.2 - GCF recipient countries have developed or enhanced strategic frameworks to address policy gaps, improve sectoral expertise, and enhance enabling environments for GCF programming in low-emission investment.
•     Outcome 2.4 - Strategies for transforming and attracting private sector investment for low emissions and resilience developed and being used
•     Outcome 4.1- An increase in the number of quality project state plans developed and submitted.

The Outputs supporting this Outcome are 
•     Sub-national agriculture and climate investment plans (Output 2.2.1)
•     Strategies to engage with private sector on building climate resilient agriculture sector (Output 2.4.1)
•     GCF Project State plans supporting implementation of sub-national agriculture climate investment plans (Output 4.1.1)

The project will be implemented in close coordination with the National Designated Authority (NDA) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare (MoA&FW), Government of India. The proposed states are – Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Punjab.
FAO India is recruiting Food System Specialist. The position is based at the FAO Country Office in India, located in Delhi.

Reporting Lines

Under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative in India, Assistant FAO Representative (Program) and Assistant FAO Representative (Administration) the Food Systems Specialist will work with National Expert – Value Chains and Markets, relevant Project Managers, Technical Officers, and other team members.

Technical Focus

Provide technical oversight on Climate Resilient Agriculture Investment Plans (CRAIP) reports, tools, and methodologies agro-climatic assessments and ensuring alignment with project outputs and within the overarching goals of climate resilience and adaptation to align with GCF readiness.

Tasks and responsibilities

•     Assist in comprehensive diagnostics of food systems and climate risks to help identify priority vulnerabilities, leverage points, and transformation pathways across crops, regions, and value chains, thereby contributing to the design of CRAIP investments.
•     Contribute to the design and implementation of a robust CRAIP investment prioritisation framework to support evaluation of climate-resilient agricultural options against criteria of impact, feasibility, scalability, and institutional readiness.
•     Participate in conducting integrated analyses of climate, livelihood, and nutrition dynamics within food systems to help identify coherent, climate-resilient investment pathways.
•     Support stakeholder engagement processes at state and national levels by contributing to the preparation of analytical inputs, background documentation, and facilitation frameworks to validate priorities and strengthen ownership of proposed investments.
•     Assist in consolidating technical assessments and stakeholder inputs into investment-ready narratives, including risk analyses, implementation pathways, and monitoring indicators; contribute to drafting and quality assurance of the CRAIP report to ensure alignment with national food systems priorities, climate commitments, and international financing requirements.
•     Contribute to the preparation of GCF Concept Notes, drawing on preparatory assessments and pre-feasibility studies, with emphasis on priority agricultural sub-sectors such as agroforestry; help ensure coherence with India’s Country Programme and related programming documents.
•     Assist in developing the technical and analytical components of Concept Notes, including investment design, risk assessments, financial/economic analyses, and monitoring frameworks aligned with GCF requirements.
•     Support coordination and consolidation of stakeholder inputs, background evidence, and supplementary documentation to strengthen ownership, ensure consistency, and meet international financing standards.
•     Assist in aligning Concept Notes with international financing requirements, ensuring integration of environmental and social safeguards, coherence with global climate frameworks, and consistency with donor expectations.
•     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.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

•     Advanced degree in agriculture, rural development, ecology, social sciences, or related subjects.
•     At least 7 years of working experience in sustainable agriculture, climate change adaptation, capacity building, research, policy analysis, and development.
•     Working knowledge (level C) of English is essential.
•     National of India or resident of the country with a valid work permit.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

•     Experience working with government agencies on development projects is desirable
•     Working proficiency in Hindi is desirable 
•     Extensive experience managing developing capacity building resources and delivering training events.
•     Knowledge and experience in sustainable agriculture, climate change, carbon markets and/or agroforestry.
•     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.