FAO Afghanistan is investing across all 34 provinces of Afghanistan 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 particular, FAO provides a combination of humanitarian and basic needs/non-humanitarian assistance to female and male farmers and herders across Afghanistan in the agriculture, livestock, irrigation and natural resources sub-sectors through its projects and programs, as described in the 2024 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) and the United Nations Strategic Framework for Afghanistan (UNSFA) 2023-2027, specifically under UNSFA Priority 2 Economic Opportunities and Resilient Livelihoods.

Reporting Lines

The incumbent will work under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative (FAOR) or Deputy FAO Representative (DFAOR) in Afghanistan. S/he will work under the direct supervision of the Head of the Regional Office, and the day-to-day technical/functional guidance of the Head of Regional Office who will assign and monitor the daily tasks. The performance evaluation will be done by the direct supervisor in consultation with the Technical Supervisor.

Technical Focus

The incumbent will support the regional level agriculture sector activities and provide technical support in the seed multiplication and certification process. Also, the incumbent gives technical advice to various stakeholders, including FAO’s implementing partners (IPs), on wheat and other crops’ cultivation as per climate smart and sustainable cultivation practices.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Ensure the quality, consistency and appropriateness of regional and country-specific technical communication materials, activities, processes and messages on agriculture sector shared with partners at regional level in the country;
• Provide technical advice to various stakeholders, including FAO’s implementing partners (IPs), on wheat and other crops’ cultivation as per climate smart and sustainable cultivation practices;
• Promote the image of FAO through advocacy of the Organization’s mandate, programmes, national priorities and activities;
• Support the promotion of public-private sector partnerships, and facilitate the implementation and promotion of collaborative activities with UN agencies, development partners and private sectors, including NGOs/CSOs in the agriculture sector as part of FAO’s programming priorities for the respective Regions;
• Support Regional Coordinator on coordination issues with various stakeholders including IPs and Food Security and Agriculture Cluster (FSAC);
• Assist on management of overall projects activities as per approved work plan and budget;
• Identify potential IPs for emergency response in the region;
• Assist in monitoring distribution of inputs (Wheat seed, fertilizer, vegetable seeds and hand tools) to selected beneficiaries;
• Carry out regular field visits for the monitoring of FAO emergency and resilience projects, including agriculture input distribution campaigns, plant pests and diseases management, locust control, agricultural sectoral growth and resilience building, agriculture sectoral disaster risk reduction (DRR), and such;
• Liaise with technical staff in the FAO Representation to address project implementation and program development activities;
• Support the Emergency and Resilience Unit planning and formulation of FAO’s Emergency and Livelihoods Response Plan (ELRP) as well as formulation of agriculture sectoral growth and resilience building plans;
• Coordinate with relevant stakeholders, and directorates of key stakeholders including mandated departments, divisions and institutions working in agriculture sector, especially with the Cereal Crops Directorate, Agriculture Research Institute of Afghanistan (ARIA), Seed Certification Directorate and General Directorate of Extension to ensure coordination and exchange of technical information/analysis;
• Provide technical support in the seed multiplication and certification process of improved wheat, soybean, vegetables, and other legume / oilseed crops in Afghanistan;
• Prepare all training packages for the IPs (Implementing Partners) related to agro-technique of wheat and others crops;
• Provide technical trainings on wheat and vegetable crops agronomy to various stakeholders;
• Support the assessment of natural and conflict affected households and sharing the information with FAO Kabul for fund raising and response;
• Collect, interpret, aggregate, and analyse data to assess project progress and impact against each established indicators;
• Review and refine process of working collaboratively with partners, including meetings, information sharing, networking, organization of joint events and campaigns, etc;
• Assist on surveys / data collection / analysis / identification of any constraints and issues in agriculture sector and support in identifying solutions to address the identified issues and constraints;
• Provide raw data of agriculture to the technical, progress and terminal reports of the projects;
• Prepare monthly and weekly reports as well as assist Regional Coordinator on preparation of technical report when required;
• Perform any other related tasks assigned by Resilience team leader and/or FAO Representative in Afghanistan.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING
Minimum Requirements

•    Bachelor’s degree in agriculture 
•    7 years of relevant experience in Agronomy or seed management, including the design and implementation of agricultural emergency and resilience projects
•    Working knowledge (level C) of English and working knowledge of the local language(s) (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

•    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;
•    Experience of work under emergency conditions is preferred; 
•    Experience organizing stakeholder meetings or workshops with various partners;
•    Strong professional command of Microsoft Office, in particular Word and Excel.

Selection Criteria

•    Experience with UN/INGO is desirable.
•    Knowledge and experience of research work is preferable.

• To apply, visit the recruitment website at Jobs at FAO and complete your online profile. We strongly recommend that your profile is accurate, complete and includes your employment records, academic qualifications and language skills;
• Candidates are requested to attach a letter of motivation to the online profile;
• Once your profile is completed, please apply and submit your application;
• Your application will be screened based on the information provided on your online profile;
• Please note that FAO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http://www.whed.net/
• Candidates may be requested to provide performance assessments and authorization to conduct verification checks of past and present work, character, education, military and police records to ascertain any and all information which may be pertinent to the employment qualifications;
• Incomplete applications will not be considered;
• Personal information provided on your application may be shared within FAO and with other companies acting on FAO’s behalf to provide employment support services such as pre-screening of applications, assessment tests, background checks and other related services. You will be asked to provide your consent before submitting your application. You may withdraw consent at any time, by withdrawing your application, in such case FAO will no longer be able to consider your application
• Only applications received through the FAO recruitment portal will be considered;
• Your application will be screened based on the information provided in your online profile
• We encourage applicants to submit the application well before the deadline date.
• If you need help, or have queries, please contact: Careers@fao.org

Female applicants are highly encouraged to apply.

FAO IS A NON-SMOKING ENVIRONMENT