Senior Agronomist/Team Lead

Organizational Setting

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) contributes to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development through the FAO Strategic Framework by supporting the transformation into 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’s commitment to environmental sustainability is integral to our strategic objectives and operations.
The FAO Sierra Leone Country Office is responsible for leading FAO's response to country level priorities for food security, agriculture and rural development through the identification, planning and implementation of FAO's priority activities in the region. It ensures a multidisciplinary approach to programmes, identifies priority areas of action for the Organization in the region, and, in collaboration with Divisions, Sub-regional Offices and Centres at headquarters, develops, promotes and oversees FAO's strategic response to country priorities and the implementation of the Organization's strategies through programmes and projects across the region.
The Country Office supports the formulation and implementation of the Country Programmes and Projects, including Country Programming Frameworks (CPFs), and their contribution to the FAO Strategic Framework and the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) at the country level and work with Subregional office for West Africa on corporate priorities such as the Strategic Framework and on the incorporation of regional priorities into the Organization's Programme of Work and Budget. The Country Office leads, formulates, implements, monitors and reports on the Organization's programmes and budget in the region and draws management attention to problems, deficiencies and risks.

FAO Sierra Leone has developed a project on Palm Oil value chain development for three years that is contributing to the developed action document aligned to the Feed Salone strategy titled Sustainable Food and Agricultural Value Chains Development in Sierra Leone (SFAVCDSL) to be Financed under the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI Global Europe). This action document is linked to relevant Multiannual Indicative Programme for the Republic of Sierra Leone 2021-2027 (MIP). The total funding for the plan is estimated to be Euro 34.7million million out of which Euro 11.2 million will be administered by the FAO for technical assistance to support oil palm value chains and nutrition in the country. This initiative is a joint effort of EU and FAO building on complementarities and synergies of the interventions by the two organizations.

It is suggested that at least 43000 farm families will benefit directly within the selected 4 districts of Port Loko, Bonthe, Pujehun and Kenema. The specific activities to be implemented by FAO will include: (i) dissemination of good agricultural practices; (ii)   adoption of improved farm practices for increased farm productivity; (iii)training  in post-harvest management and palm oil processing; (iv) household nutrition improvement; (iii) promotion of on and off-farm employment; (iv) formation of oil palm based cooperatives and (v) capacity development for monitoring and evaluation

Sierra Leone Country Office is looking for Senior Agronomist to lead the implementation of this project. The position is in the FAO Sierra Leone Country Office, West Africa region.

Reporting Lines

Under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative in Sierra Leone.

Technical Focus

Lead the EU funded project management through directly assisting the BH in managing the project that contributes to the EU progress reporting, financial reporting, oversight and backstopping responsibilities of the project national team.

Tasks and responsibilities

Within the functional and administrative supervision of the FAO Representative in Sierra Leone, the Senior Agronomist/Team Lead of this project will report directly to the FAOR and work closely with the Head of Programme and other technical units in Headquarters, Regional Office and Sub-regional office, the Senior Agronomist (Team Lead) will undertake the following duties and responsibilities:

•     Plans and leads all aspects of the implementation of the project in close collaboration with the National Project Coordinator and the Head of Programme by bringing in all specialized expertise to get the expected outputs. 
•     Coordinate with other agencies under the EU support programme and participate in the project Steering committee meetings by presenting updates including progress and challenges for action, 
•     Supervise the M&E Specialist to develop technical, analytical, monitoring and reporting frameworks, and related methodologies, tools, systems and databases etc. to support the planning, implementation/delivery and monitoring of programmes of work, projects, products and/or services.
•     Review the annual work plans, procurement plans prepared by the project team and submit to the FAOR for endorsement and subsequent submission to the donor for approval on timely basis, 
•     Responds to donor requests for technical advice, assistance and solutions to and provides technical backstopping to field activities, 
•     Collaborates in, provides technical backstopping to and ensures the quality / effectiveness of capacity development and knowledge sharing activities of the project at all levels,
•     Promotes international cooperation/advocates best practices, increased policy dialogue and provides technical expertise at international/intergovernmental meetings related to knowledge sharing in close collaboration with SLARI, 
•     Promotes agriculture production and crop protection that is more efficient, competitive, sustainable, climate resilient and socially inclusive, especially for small and medium-scale farmers.
•     Promotes agriculture digitalization and technological innovation for sustainable Palm Oil crop production, other food crop diversification, and climate smart agriculture to improve people's nutrition, livelihoods and incomes in both rural and urban areas.
•     Promotes an ecosystem approach to crop production to develop agroecological knowledge and practices which enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services, and contribute to climate change adaptation, mitigation and resilience for the Palm Oil value chain, 
•     Improves timeliness and productivity of agricultural operations, and enables a shift from subsistence to more competitive, market-oriented farming through appropriate mechanization systems, improved technologies and seed-delivery systems and strengthened extension services.
•     Promotes best agricultural to improve productivity and efficiency of production, particularly optimizing water efficiency, soil regeneration, nutrient and input use, and reducing waste at all stages of the production process.
•     Capacitate farmers to improve pesticide management and reduce reliance on pesticides by applying an integrated pest management approach.
•     Work with the local research institution (SLARI) to support monitoring transboundary plant pests and diseases and supports countries to mitigate their impact by setting up surveillance, early warning and effective pest control systems.
•     Promotes good agricultural practices that incorporate global agronomic, environmental and decent work standards to facilitate access to and competitiveness in international markets,
•     Represents the Organization at meetings and conferences, identifies and implements strategic partnerships, advocates best practices and increased policy dialogue and develops and negotiates effective working relationships/consensus and agreements with national stakeholders that will enhance Palm Oil Apex coordinating body, 
•     Coordinate with the project team to finalize all technical specifications ensuring procurement actions are done in time,
•     Facilitate the project task force meetings in close collaboration with the LTOs to discuss progress and challenges in preparation for the general project technical and the steering committee meetings with the donor,
•     Regularly update the EU/FAO information portal based on the financing agreement, 
•     Perform any other duty assigned by the Representation.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

•     Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) from an institution recognized by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/UNESCO in in agriculture crop production, crop protection, plant sciences or related field.
•     Seven years of relevant experience in technical, policy advice to promote agricultural production and crop protection that is more efficient, competitive, sustainable, climate resilient and socially inclusive, especially for small and medium-scale farmers, 
•     Working knowledge (proficiency - level C) of English language.

FAO Core Competencies

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