Agribusiness Consultant

FAO seeks gender, geographical and linguistic diversity in its staff and international consultants in order to best serve FAO Members in all regions.

• FAO is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality, background, and culture
• Qualified female applicants, qualified nationals of non-and under-represented member nations, and person with disabilities are encouraged to apply
• Everyone who works for FAO is required to adhere to the highest standards of integrity and professional conduct and to uphold our values. FAO has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and FAO, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination
• All selected candidates, therefore, will undergo rigorous reference and background checks
• All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality
• The incumbent may be re-assigned to different activities and/or duty stations depending on the evolving needs of the Organization

Organizational Setting

The Integrated Country Approach for boosting decent jobs for youth in the agri-food system (ICA project) is anchored in FAO’s Strategic Objective 3 “Reduce rural poverty”. In particular, it will directly contribute to strategic objective 3 Organizational Outcome 2: Countries enhanced access of the rural poor to productive employment and decent work opportunities, particularly among youth and women. Within this Outcome, the project will mainly contribute to the output on Policy support and capacity development in the formulation and implementation of strategies, policies, guidelines, and programmes to enhance decent rural employment opportunities, entrepreneurship and skills development, especially for youth and women.

Rwanda has one of the world’s youngest populations, with a median age of 20 years old, a youth unemployment rate beyond 20 per cent, and more than 200,000 young Rwandans entering the labour force every year.

The Government of Rwanda has placed youth employment high on its agenda through various policies and programmes. The National Strategy for Transformation (NST1, 2017–2024) aims to create 214,000 decent and productive jobs each year. The agriculture sector remains a backbone of the Rwandan economy, contributing 24.1 percent to the country’s GDP and 36 percent of employment, excluding self-employment in subsistence farming. Data from the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR) shows that agriculture is still a key sector for youth employment: 45 percent of employed youth are involved in independent farming, while 16.3 percent are involved in wage farm labour, and for female youth this is even higher at 53.2 percent and 17.7 percent, respectively. Youth employment is also a priority for the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI). It’s Strategic Plan for Agricultue Transformation 4 (PSTA4, 2018–2024) projects that 45,000 jobs will be created annually within the agri-food system.

In line with PSTA4, MINAGRI and FAO are collaborating through the Integrated Country Approach (ICA) for boosting decent jobs for youth in the agri-food system to create a deeper understanding of where the opportunities for youth employment are in agriculture and how these opportunities can be harnessed. The horticulture sector was prioritised for a youth-centred value chain analysis, also due to the fact that Government has set an ambitious plan to increase horticulture export from USD 23 million (2017/18) to 130 million (2023/24) and that vegetable market prices are increasing faster than other food items. The youth-centred value chain analysis was conducted for FAO by SNV and focused on four selected crops, namely French beans, chilli, tomato and passion fruit, in the six districts of Gasabo, Karongi, Nyanza, Rubavu, Rulindo, and Rwamagana. The study identified the most promising opportunities for youth employment in those value chains and provided short-term, medium-term and long-term recommendations for related value chain upgrading strategies, which will feed into a National Strategy for Youth Employment in Agri-food Systems under formulation. -

The agribusiness consultant will work under the General supervision of the FAO Representative in Rwanda and direct supervision of the Assistant FAOR/Programme and will support the National Coordinator of ICA project in Rwanda. The whole work to be undertaken will be done in close collaboration the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources and National Export Development Board (NAEB) as public institutions that oversee horticulture sector.

Reporting Lines

The Agribusiness Consultant will report to the FAO Representative (FAOR). S/he will support the ICA National coordinator under the guidance of Assistant FAOR/Programme.

Technical/Functional Skills

• Knowledge and understanding of the topics of (youth) employment in agribusiness, agricultural value chain development and private sector engagement particularly for Youth;

• Prior experience in programme management or support in the field of agriculture and agribusiness /or horticulture, with a special focus on youth and business models;

• Good understanding of the government structure and experience in working with the government agencies, as well as with private sector.

Analytical skills and ability to write clear and concise content in English and Kinyarwanda

• Ability to work with limited supervision
• Excellent time management skills
• Teamwork and Results oriented

Selection Criteria

• Academic background (30%)
• Work Experience (30%)
• Technical skills (40%)

Please note that all candidates should adhere to FAO Values of Commitment to FAO, Respect for All and Integrity and Transparency.