food Security and agricultural livelihoods assessment specialistFAO

Organizational Setting:
For more than four decades, FAO has been working with the Government of the Philippines, civil society, community-based organizations and the private sector to address challenges in the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sector. Joint efforts have included increasing sustainability in agricultural production, promoting value-adding practices, improving post-harvest management, enhancing productivity and increasing the resilience of agriculture-based livelihoods to natural disasters, climatic hazards and armed conflict.
Reporting Lines:
The Food Security and Agricultural Livelihoods Assessment Specialist will be under the overall guidance of the FAO Representative in the Philippines ad interim, direct supervision of the Assistant FAO Representative (Programme), and the technical supervision of the needs assessments team of the Office of Emergencies and Resilience based in Rome and FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.
Technical Focus:
Since late 2019, an outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) - an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus - has rapidly spread across the world, devastating lives and livelihoods. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is particularly concerned about the potential impacts of the virus and related containment efforts on food security and livelihoods in contexts of high vulnerability and where populations are already experiencing food crises. Within the United Nations Global COVID-19 Humanitarian Response Plan, FAO is seeking USD 350 million to protect the food security of the most vulnerable rural populations in 34 priority countries, most of which are already faced with food crisis contexts.
The FAO Office of Emergencies and Resilience (OER) has recently been awarded a grant by USAID to establish a global data and analysis facility to create a common understanding of COVID-19 related impacts on agricultural livelihoods and critical value chains in the 34 food crisis countries. At the core of the data and analysis facility is a structured assessment framework which is sequenced to respond to different information needs as the crisis unfolds and interacts with other stressors and shocks. The assessment framework is driven by a set of questionnaires which will be administered on a periodic basis over the July 2020 - June 2021 period to monitor key risk factors and to understand the occurring and potential impacts on agricultural production, market chains, food security and livelihoods. The COVID-19 data facility is expected to pave the way for a sustainable system of data collection and analysis on food availability and livelihoods in food crisis countries beyond the pandemic.
The data and analysis facility information system relies principally on remotely collected data (mobile phone and on-line), collected either by FAO offices themselves or through international service providers. Field assessments may also be conducted at a later stage using data collection tools such as Kobo or ODK.
Tasks and responsibilities
The Food Security and Agricultural Livelihoods Assessment Specialist is responsible for leading and coordinating the collection and analysis of data to inform the impacts of COVID-19 on agriculture, food supply and rural livelihoods. Overall strategic direction to the data and analysis facility will be guided by a cross-departmental task force within FAO.
The Food Security and Agricultural Livelihoods Assessment Specialist will carry out the following main tasks:
Regularly liaise with the country management team and the regional assessment advisors on the progress of the monitoring exercise and the alignment with strategic, technical and operational requirements
Coordinate with national stakeholders (government, UN Agencies, NGOs, food security cluster) involved in food security and livelihoods assessments or surveillance, and promote multi-actors initiatives
Contribute to advising and strengthening the capacity of the Department of Agriculture and local surveillance systems
Monitor the publication of studies and data produced by other stakeholders in the country
Collect and analyse baseline and secondary data to enable comparisons and triangulation. Secondary data can refer to food prices, agricultural inputs prices, international trade, food production and stock changes, food security outcomes, containment measures, social protection measures, remote-sensing-based seasonal monitoring, farming systems etc.
Define survey objectives and areas of interest based on information gaps and programmatic needs
Assist in the choice of data collection modalities (Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviews, web surveys, or face-to-face) and interfaces (international service provider, local partner, in-house call centre etc.)
Search for existing sampling frames and consolidate lists of respondents with phone numbers
Assist in the adaptation of generic questionnaires and monitoring tools to context-specific circumstances and objectives
Contribute to the programming of tools (take the lead for Kobo / ODK interface)
Develop training materials and participate to enumerator training sessions
Communicate with relevant authorities on the implementation of the surveys
Conduct additional semi-structured interviews with key informants in order to dig for specific issues, as needed
Contribute to the analysis and interpretation of collected data and in the formulation of appropriate interventions and recommendations based on assessment findings
Discuss and validate the results with the global assessment team, regional offices and hubs, Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS) and any other relevant FAO units
Help draft and review monitoring reports and visual products (e.g. dashboards), using standard templates
Communicate assessment findings and reports to other actors, including national stakeholders involved in the development of response plans in the country, through Food Security Clusters for instance
Contribute to COVID-19 response and programme design as requested
Contribute to FAO corporate learning processes and documentation about COVID-19 impact assessments.
Support data collection and needs assessment activities for other major crises or disasters occurring in supported countries.
Carry out other relevant duties within his/her technical competence as requested by the FAO Representative.
CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING
Minimum Requirements
Advanced university degree in agronomy, rural statistics, agricultural economics, relevant social or natural sciences, or other related discipline relevant to the mandate of the Organization;
Minimum of seven (7) years' of proven knowledge and experience in assessments, surveillance systems, or monitoring and evaluation in the context of emergencies and food crises;
A national of the Philippines
FAO Core Competencies
Results Focus
Teamwork
Communication
Building Effective Relationships
Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement
Technical/Functional Skills
Ability to work under pressure and adapt to an evolving and complex humanitarian context and within multidisciplinary and different cultural background teams;
Strong analytical skills and knowledge of agriculture, food security, livelihoods, food systems and value chains in the context of the Philippines;
Experience or familiarity with food security and livelihoods assessments methodologies, including surveillance or monitoring systems, Post-Disaster Needs Assessments, Damage and Losses assessments, agricultural production assessment, market analysis, and/or value chain analysis;
Experience in survey design, sampling, data collection, data analysis, and interpretation for assessment processes in agriculture and food security;
Expertise in remote data collection including phone or web-based surveys and/or remote-sensing would be a plus; Working knowledge of advanced statistics with ability to use statistical software packages (in particular SPSS , STATA and/or R);
Experience in using and programming questionnaires in digital data collection tools (Kobo toolbox, ODK);
Proven data visualization and reporting skills;
Coordination skills with strong individual planning capacity;
Knowledge of humanitarian principles.
General knowledge and skills in the use of standard office software, such as MS Office (Word, Excel, Power Point).
Language requirement: Excellent written and oral communication skills in English and Tagalog
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
FAO does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing)
Incomplete applications will not be considered. If you need help please contact:
Applications received after the closing date will not be accepted
Only language proficiency certificates from and/or FAO language official examinations (LPE, ILE, LRT) will be accepted as proof of the level of knowledge of languages indicated in the online applications
For additional employment opportunities visit the FAO employment website:
FAO

Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila
Permanent
Full-time