Organizational Setting
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is an intergovernmental organization comprising over 194 member nations. Since its establishment, FAO has been dedicated to alleviating poverty and hunger by promoting agricultural development, enhancing nutrition, and pursuing food security. Food security is defined as the availability of sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to always meet the dietary needs of all people for an active and healthy life. To achieve its objectives, FAO collaborates with a vast network of partners worldwide, including farmers' groups, traders, non-governmental organizations, other UN agencies, development banks, and agribusiness firms. For more comprehensive information about FAO, please visit FAO Website.
The primary purpose of FAO country offices, led by an FAO Representative, is to support governments in formulating policies, programs, and projects aimed at achieving food security and reducing hunger and malnutrition. These offices work to enhance the agricultural, fisheries, and forestry sectors while ensuring the sustainable use of environmental and natural resources
Reporting Lines
The incumbent will work Under the overall supervision of the FAO Representation, and direct supervision of the Assistant FAOR (Program), the technical supervision of the FAO Lead Technical Officer (LTO) and FAO Technical Officers in Eswatini, in close collaboration with government focal points, and in liaison with the relevant Technical Officers relevant FAO Technical Officers in SFS and RAF, the incumbent will provide direct support to the implementation of field projects related to the development of Natural Resources Management and Climate Change Resilience.
Technical Focus
• Climate finance resources mobilisation GCF, GEF, AF etc
• Sustainable Land Management
• Integrated Water Resources Management
• Forestry Management
• Ecosystem Services
• Climate Resilience, Mitigation and Adaptation
• Stakeholder Engagement
Tasks and responsibilities
The incumbent will perform the following duties:
• Conduct situational analysis and literature review of climate change effect on Eswatini socio economic activity and adaptation and mitigation needs
• Conduct institutional capacity gaps in mainstreaming climate change mitigation and adaption
• Profile Eswatini current natural resources and climate-related policies, strategies, plans, reports and action plans conducting gap analysis in mainstreaming climate action.
• Based on good practices develop guidelines for adoption of good practices by national institutions in ongoing projects and programmes.
• Prepare an engagement plan with concerned agencies and stakeholders.
• Participate in discussions to define strategic vision, objectives and targets of the Eswatini Government Climate Change Roadmap
• Review risk management strategies related to fraud prevention and detection, current financial risk management tools including risk assessment, identification, mitigation and management strategies, reporting and monitoring, governance and oversight policies procedures
• Evaluate the adequacy, effectiveness and sustainability of controls (both financial and non-financial) around the grant making processes.
• Evaluate risk management systems and advise on enhancements to align with GCF requirements.
CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING
Minimum Requirements
• University degree in environmental science, natural resource management, forestry, climate change, development studies or a related field
• Five (5) years of experience in natural resource management, particularly in the context of agricultural and forestry development or related field
• Full proficiency/Working knowledge of English
FAO Core Competencies
• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement
Technical/Functional Skills
• Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in field positions, is desirable.
• Relevance and extent of experience in supporting legislative advice and analysis, regulatory and policy reviews, related development and implementation capacity relating to program design and implementation, food security and sovereignty, agriculture and the development or urban, peri-urban and rural areas, monitoring and evaluation systems, and climate change mitigation and adaptation.
• Relevance and extent of experience in accessing environment funding and climate finance to support climate action, resilience building, natural agricultural resources management and the implementation of Eswatini’s National Determined Contributions (NDC).
• Relevance and extent of experience in technology driven sector value chain development planning, coordination and structuring, and provision of technical Support to agricultural value chain players, national institutions and systems.
• Relevance and extent of experience in working on UN agencies partnership and joint programming.
Selection Criteria
• Proven experience in programme implementation, project design, and stakeholder engagement.
• Ability to develop annual work plans & reporting.
• Ability to carry-out needs assessments, prepare technical feasibilities and able to supervise/implement interventions accordingly.
• Ability to develop comprehensive resource mobilization action plans for prioritization of activities to securing funding.
• Strong analytical, communication, and facilitation skills.