National Project Personnel – Horticulture

Organizational Setting

The main aim of the FAO country offices, which are headed by a FAO Representative, is to assist governments to develop policies, programmes and projects to achieve food security and to reduce hunger and malnutrition, to help develop the agricultural, fisheries and forestry sectors and to use their environmental and natural resources in a sustainable manner.

GRASP (Growth for Rural Advancement and Sustainable Progress, Pakistan) is funded by the European Union and implemented by the International Trade Centre (ITC). GRASP aims to reduce poverty and enhance sustainable, inclusive economic growth in Pakistan by strengthening small-scale agribusinesses in Balochistan. To achieve this goal, the programme will support Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME’s) and agribusinesses in the horticulture and livestock sectors to become more competitive by making improvements at all levels of the value chain, including the enabling business and policy environment. GRASP aims to particularly enhance the engagement of rural women in agricultural production and value addition activities and enable to them to tap into economic opportunities in the selected value chains.

The position is at SB4 SC8 level

Reporting Lines

• Under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative in Pakistan and in close coordination with Assistant FAOR, Programme, the Horticultural Specialist will directly be supervised by the Senior Project Officer, Balochistan and the Chief Technical Advisor GRASP.
• Technical guidance will be provided by the relevant units in FAO Headquarters and FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (RAP).

Technical Focus

The Horticultural Expert will provide technical expertise on horticulture production and pre and post-harvest management to achieve the outputs for which FAO is responsible under the GRASP project in Balochistan, including backstopping to the field teams. The Horticulture Specialist will work collaboratively with horticulture and crop experts from other FAO projects to ensure best practices are adopted throughout the provincial program.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Liaise with relevant stakeholders including other implementing partners of the GRASP project, horticulture variety developers, nursery stock, disease management and harvesting service providers, horticulture product processing businesses, horticulture marketing entities etc.
• Provide specialized technical assistance in the implementation of the project activities and supervision/monitoring of horticulture production methods, disease management and harvesting processes for improving commercial gain;
• Provide technical support in response to the priority needs of community organizations, producer marketing groups, farmer business schools and other groups established or supported under the project;
• Provide capacity building of the FAO field teams in Balochistan in horticulture production and disease management including advice and guidance to the field teams on formation and facilitation of groups in the project targeted area for dissemination of set of sustainable agriculture practices for adaptive research and participative learning in the target districts
• Collect and collate information on horticulture growing, harvesting and marketing conditions in the project areas;
• Draft technical specifications for the procurement of agricultural inputs, and plan the quantities of inputs to be procured under the project;
• Prepare relevant manuals and information, communication and education materials for horticulture producers on the best plantation and field management practices
• Provide hand on assistance during the course of implementation of horticulture producer training program through close collaboration and coordination with the field facilitators;
• Contribute to baseline and end line assessment surveys and analyses of the overall status of the horticulture sector for the areas targeted by the project;
• Assist in the preparation of project reports, case studies, success stories; Contribute to/edit reports, manuals, guidelines, other specialized publications as they relate to animal production, protection, good farming/agronomic practices, producer’s organizations;
• Provide cross-sectoral technical support to other FAO teams and projects in Balochistan;
• Provide technical guidance in the broader areas of the horticulture program and its impact on food security
• Perform any other relevant duties as requested by the FAO Representative in Pakistan.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advance university degree in agronomy, agriculture, horticulture, silviculture, floriculture or related field.
• 8 years’ experience in development projects in the horticulture sector, or private sector horticulture plantations and operations or related fields, and knowledge of the Balochistan fruit and vegetable varieties and production and marketing systems.
• Previous management experience
• Working knowledge (Level C) of English. Good knowledge of Urdu and Balochi and/or Pashtu;
• National of Pakistan.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Remain open to change and ability to manage complexity.
• Ability to work and act under pressure and with discretion in multicultural environment.
• Ability to deal with stakeholders from a broad range of backgrounds.
• Demonstrate capacity to plan, prioritize and deliver tasks on time to meet goals in a high-pressure environment.
• Maturity and confidence in dealing with high-ranking official of government institutions, international institutions and non- government institutions.
• Familiar with FAO procedures, possess strong supervisory, communication, team building and computing skills (word processing, spreadsheets and data-bases).

Selection Criteria

Candidates will be assessed against the requirements listed above. Preference should be given to local candidates

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION