Agri-Business Development Specialist at Food and Agriculture Organization of The United Nations

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO-UN) - An intergovernmental organization, FAO has 194 Member Nations, two associate members and one member organization, the European Union. Its employees come from various cultural backgrounds and are experts in the multiple fields of activity FAO engages in. FAO’s staff capacity allows it to support improved governance inter alia, generate, develop and adapt existing tools and guidelines and provide targeted governance support as a resource to country and regional level FAO offices. Headquartered in Rome, Italy, FAO is present in over 130 countries.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Position: Agri-Business Development Specialist
Vacancy Announcement: 180874
Job Location: Maiduguri, Borno
Organizational Unit: FRNIR
Type of Requisition: NPP (National Project Personnel)
Duration: Eleven months

Organizational Setting

• The crisis in Nigeria, located mainly around the Lake Chad Basin, is a complex emergency characterized by food insecurity, violence and displacement. Furthermore, subsistence based livelihoods are impacted upon by climate-induced desertification, drought, receding lake/water stress. The FAO Lake Chad Strategy 2017-2019 includes ensuring sustainable and equitable access to resources and services as well as sustainable growth of livelihood opportunities are therefore critical priorities.
• FAO in collaboration with UNWOMEN and WFP has received support from the European Development Fund (EDF) under the EU Support to Response, Recovery and Resilience in Borno State, to implement a 3-year programme to restore and improve sustainable agriculture-based livelihoods for food security, employment, and nutrition improvement in Borno State. FAO’s interventions include supporting smallholder farmers (especially youth) to have improve market opportunities and enterprise development through the support of mainly women’s entrepreneurs.

Reporting Lines:

• The Agri-Business Development Specialist reports to the FAO Representative (FAOR) through the Deputy FAOR in Maiduguri and the project coordinator.

Technical Focus

• For effective field management of project implementation, FAO requires the services of an Agri-business Development Officer.
• In particular he/she will be responsible for ensuring the technical soundness and timeliness of activities in his field of competencies in the design, planning, supervision of the implementation and monitoring phases of agri-business development and related activities of the project.

Tasks and Responsibilities
Under the overall supervision and guidance of the FAO Representative in Nigeria through the Deputy FAOR in Maiduguri, and with direct supervision of the Project Coordinator in close collaboration with national and international consultants in the project team, the incumbent will undertake the following activities:

• Provide technical, programmatic and operational support for the implementation of the agri-business component of the project
• Contribute to rapid markets assessments and value chain analysis or prioritized commodities or businesses
• Contribute to the development or assessment of business cases
• Contribute to the selection of the sites, the selection of the beneficiaries, their capacity building and their organization in cluster or network or enterprises
• Provide effective technical support to beneficiaries engaged in agri business and marketing.
• Support the adoption of good agri business practices ;
• Contribute to the preparation of the technical specifications of inputs and equipment for business cases development and letter of agreement with implementing partners
• Prepare case studies, guidelines, reports, publications and presentations in support of programme delivery.
• Perform any other related duties as required.

Candidates Will Be Assessed Against The Following
Minimum Requirements:

• Univeristy Degree in Agri business, Agricultural Economics, Business administration with specialization in business development and / or marketing,
• 6-10 years of relevant working experience with University Degree or 3-4 years relevant working experience with Advanced University Degree.
• Working knowledge of English
• Being a National of Nigeria

FAO Core Competencies:

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

Technical/Functional Skills:

• Relevant experience related to both entrepreneurial development, small scale enterprises development and agricultural commodities marketing with emphasis on rural development within small holder production and marketing schemes.
• Adequate competence in communication, planning and reporting in English and mother language
• Knowledge of computer skills (MS Office package: word, excel and power point).
• Experience with similar internationally funded development projects will be an added advantage
• Experience and competences in working with women and youths groups will be an advantage.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and Team spirit
• Experience of projects involving multiple and diverse stakeholders including
• Governments, private sector, civil society and end users.
• Working knowledge of the local language in Borno State.

Additional Information:

• FAO does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview, processing).
• Please note that FAO will only consider academic credentials or degrees obtained from an educational institution recognized in the IAU/UNESCO list.
• Only language proficiency certificates from UN accredited external providers and/or FAO language official examinations (LPE, ILE, LRT) will be accepted as proof of the level of knowledge of languages indicated in the online applications.
• Candidates with acceptable language certificate/s should upload them when submitting their application. For details, visit: http://www.fao.org/3/I8446EN/i8446en.pdf

Interested and qualified candidates will be required to forward their applications which should include copies of all academic and professional certificates via the "iRecruitment System" and a Letter of Motivation sent to: FAO-NG@fao.org

Candidates applying for this position are further required to Complete the "FAO Personnel Profile form" via the FAO iRecruitment system: Click Here to Start Application (FAO Form)

Click Here for more Information

Note: Incomplete applications will not be considered. Only applications received through the "Recruitment Portal" will be considered.