Agriculture/Plant Protection Extension Specialist

Organizational Setting

FAO Afghanistan is investing, across all 34 provinces, in resilience reinforcing actions that focus on protecting agriculture livelihoods and local ecosystems, boosting local production of nutritious foods and cash-incomes, and safeguarding critical agriculture sectoral development gains achieved over the past couple of decades through revitalizing rural markets and economy.
In 2023, FAO will contribute to the humanitarian components of the UN Strategic Framework 2023-2025 through four priority actions: (i) Safeguarding Wheat Seed Security, (ii) Enhancing Local Production of Nutritious Food, (iii) Livestock Protection and Dairy Sector Support, and (iv) Restoring Irrigation Structures to Boost Cash Incomes. FAO will also contribute towards resilience building activities and longer-term transformational processes as part of the implementation of the UN Strategic Framework 2023-2025.

This a National Project Personnel position – SB4.

Reporting Line

The Agriculture/Plant Protection Extension Specialist works under the overall guidance of the FAO Representative and direct supervision of the Assistant FAOR (Programme) and in close collaboration and coordination with the Head of Emergency Response and Resilience Team and in close collaboration with the Head of the Agriculture Team.

Technical Focus

The incumbent will contribute to the programme unit of FAO Afghanistan in identifying and addressing extension and agriculture development issues, development of technical guidelines and manuals, projects assessment, capacity development training packages, and provide technical support in the field of plant protection to the Programme Team.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Provide technical support to the design, implementation, and monitoring of all projects which have activities focused on agriculture extension and plant protection;
• Assess the damage impact of major crop pests in Afghanistan.
• Produce a map of the incidence of damage across Afghanistan and conduct pest attack assessments, as required;
• Provide a comparative analysis of damage assessment and the prevalence and distribution of crop pests and provide recommendations;
• Conduct a round table meeting to present the damage assessment and analysis to FAO and key stakeholders;
• Deliver a report on the above issues and the main findings, together with recommendations;
• Contribute to the biological control of major pests such as locusts, sunpests and others in Afghanistan;
• Provide technical support to stakeholders on the implementation of the Locusts assessment, surveys and control projects in Afghanistan;
• Develop Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) techniques and practices guidelines for Afghanistan;
• Conduct regular consultation workshops on CSA for the FAO projects technical personals to finalize the guidelines;
• Conduct regular assessment on existing vegetables seeds production and distribution system in Afghanistan;
• Provision of the technical specifications for the procurement of equipment as per project plan and budget;
• In collaboration with Communications colleagues, develop brochures and other visual/IEC materials for the community awareness on Locusts and other pests control;
• In collaboration with Communications colleagues, develop early warning messages and monthly bulletins on the movement and other key indications of locusts and other destructive pests in Afghanistan;
• In collaboration with Training colleagues, develop ToT training materials on major pests and diseases of the major crops in local language;
• Organize and conduct ToTs for the stakeholders at national and Regional levels;
• Strengthen the community engagement through continued coordination and supporting the local stakeholders on Locusts assessment and other crop pests;
• Contribute to the design, implementation and reporting of the locust and other pests management projects including reporting progress and main challenges;
• Perform any other related duties as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced (Master’s) degree or University (Bachelor’s) degree in the field of Agriculture with specialization in the field of plant protection or closely related subjects.
• For advanced degree at least five (5) years of professional experience in the provision of plant protection, pests management programme/project development and support services, projects or program implementation, assessment and designing, capacity buildings, or other related disciplines with UN Organizations or international NGOs is required;
• For university degree at least seven (7) years of professional experience in the provision of plant protection, pests management programme/project development and support services, projects or program implementation, assessment and designing, capacity buildings, or other related disciplines with UN Organizations or international NGOs is required;
• Working knowledge (level C) of English and local languages (Pashto and/or Dari).
• National of Afghanistan.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Ability to effectively coordinate an extensive, multi-stakeholder project with results-based management;
• Good written communication skills, including in emergency settings;
• Demonstrated initiative and ability to deliver results within deadlines;
• Experience organizing stakeholder meetings or workshops at national and provincial level;
• Ability to establish and maintain good working relations with other staff/colleagues from different cultural backgrounds as well as with line departments, counterparts, and other stakeholders at the province level;
• Previous experience working with international organizations, including INGOs, bilateral or multilateral agencies, and UN agencies is desirable;
• Working experience in complex programme management
• Excellent data visualization skills;
• Excellent data reading and data reporting skills.
• Experience of working with the United Nations or other international organizations (especially those working in the field of agriculture) is preferred;
• Ability to work independently, to organize and coordinate with demonstrated ability to write clearly and concisely in working languages;
• Additional relevant professional experience in Afghanistan, particularly in project cycle management, public administration or project operations is a strong advantage;
• Experience of work under emergency conditions is preferred;
• Experience organizing stakeholder meetings or workshops with various partners;
• Proficient in Microsoft Office package.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION