National Agriculturalist

In 2008-2009 the Government of Egypt (GoE) formulated the “Sustainable Agricultural Development Strategy Towards 2030” (SADS 2030) in close collaboration with FAO. Developed in the aftermaths of the food price crisis, the major thrust of SADS 2030 was mostly improving the efficiency of the agricultural sector and raising Egypt’s degree of food self-sufficiency. Following its completion, significant developments have occurred both at world and country level. In 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were formulated signalling to the world the need to shift onto a more sustainable path, by tackling some of the more pressing challenges facing the world with emphasis on eradicating poverty and hunger. The SDGs coincided with Paris Agreement on climate, which provides a set of common standards to mitigate and adapt to climate changes. At country level, challenges emerging from high levels of poverty, persistent food insecurity and malnutrition, and increased pressure on natural resources due to population growth and inadequate technologies and practices cannot continue to be addressed with a business-as-usual mind-set. Considering these developments, on July 5th 2018 the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation (MALR) expressed its interest in updating the SADS 2030 and asked for FAO assistance.

The FAO Representation for Egypt (FAO-EGY), with the support of the Investment Centre of FAO (TCI) and the Statistics Division at FAO (ESS), will be technically responsible for this exercise that will draw and build on the work undertaken to date and lead the process of reviewing the SADS 2030 and developing the related Plan of Action for Agricultural Development (PAAD). A technical taskforce is organized by FAO for managing the project from organizational and technical perspectives. An International Expert is designated by FAO as Team Leader and has the overall technical responsibility of the project implementation. In addition, experts on thematic areas relevant for the SADS 2030 are assigned by the GoE to be part of the strategy preparation team (Thematic Working Groups)

Reporting Lines

Under the overall guidance/ supervision of the FAO representative, the National Agriculturalist will be under the direct supervision of RNE Policy officer and will be working closely with the FAO Representative Program Assistant, as well as with all FAO office staff and all other stakeholders and Governement counterparts that are involved in the update of the SADS 2030.

Technical Focus

The incumbent will lead the process of updating the components of the SADS 2030 related to Environmental sustainability (water, land and climate change) and Agricultural production under the two respective thematic working groups and contribute to the overall process of updating the SADS 2030 and developing the PAAD.

Tasks and responsibilities

The main tasks are to\:

• Support the TWGs in carrying out the background analyses necessary for reviewing SADS 2030 including\:
o review of the SADS 2030, previous strategies and other relevant policy documents including related strategies in other sectors;
o Assessment of the status of the implementation of the interventions proposed in SADS 2030
o work closely with the thematic working groups to identify and formulate the relevant policy questions;
o assist the TWGs to develop a shared understanding of the issues to be addressed and possible interventions to be implemented
o Prepare a background paper background paper on the work of the thematic groups summarizing a review of the institutional set-up (i.e. governmental and non-governmental organizations, policy frameworks, regulations); a review of the background analyses, and the identification of feasible interventions to overcome the challenges and strategies to consolidate strengths and successes;
• Ensure the timely delivery of all technical inputs (e.g. background papers) by the Technical Working Groups;
• Support the consultation processes with stakeholders.
• contribute to the process of quality assurance of intermediate outputs (e.g. background papers) and final outputs;

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced university degree in a relevant field of agricultural science.
• 7-10 years of relevant experience in environmental sustainability and agricultural production
• Fluency in English and Arabic
• National of Egypt

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Excellent knowledge of the key environmental sustainability issues in Egypt in relationship to agricultural production (crops, livestock and fisheries)
• Demonstrated ability to produce written analysis of sustainable development relevance.
• Significant experience in analysing and integrating in programme formulation in the context of agriculture and rural development