Job Opportunity at WFP, Programme Policy Officer (Agronomy & Food Systems)

• facebook

Position: Programme Policy Officer (Agronomy & Food Systems) at WFP

WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status, physical or mental disability.

ABOUT WFP

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. WFP pursues a vision of the world in which every man, woman and child has access at all times to the diverse food needed for an active and healthy life.

WFP Tanzania has been connecting smallholder farmers to markets since the launch of the Purchase for Progress (P4P) pilot in 2009. WFP has been supporting Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to strengthen the ecosystem in which smallholder farmers access affordable inputs, services and markets. Finally, with the Government of Tanzania, WFP supports local and smallholder purchasing to meet local and regional demand for WFP food assistance.

WFP’s strategy to support smallholder farmers highlights the importance of women and youth in rural development, livelihoods, strengthening value chains, and improving food systems. The strategy is committed to empower over 405,000 farmers in the next five years (2022-2027), generating over USD 150 million of aggregated annual purchasing demand in the Country.

In support of the strategy, the upcoming “Strengthening Food Systems to Empower Smallholder Farmers and Young People” project will support MSME development and scale support to the maize, sorghum, beans and horticulture value chains, targeting smallholder farmers and youths, especially women.

Furthermore, the upcoming “Strengthening Smallholder Agriculture Value Chain, Gender Equity and Peace in Refugee Hosting Districts” project will enhance food security and nutrition amongst vulnerable groups, strengthen community-based organizations to become active contributors to social cohesion, gender equality and peace, and increase smallholder farmers agricultural and financial capacities for market engagement and resilient livelihoods

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education: University degree in one or more of the following disciplines: Agriculture, Agriculture Economics or a field relevant to agricultural value chain management. An advanced degree in the relevant field is an advantage.

Language: Fluency in both oral and written communication in English and Swahili and any other official UN language would be an asset.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

Under the overall guidance the Head of Smallholder Farmers Unit, the incumbent will play a key role in working with partners promote the uptake of sustainable farming practices and develop targeted value chains. The incumbent will build and support a multi-stakeholder implementation plan (including farmer groups, aggregators, extension service providers, input suppliers, weather/crop loss insurance providers, credit providers). The incumbent will liaise with government counterparts to provide technical assistance, and support effective knowledge management, implementation, and monitoring of agriculture programmes.

JOB PURPOSE

To provide support to policy and programme activities that effectively meet organizational needs and objectives in implementation of sustainable farming practices.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

• Provide agronomic technical guidance and serve as technical lead for farmer productivity to ensure sustainable and environmentally friendly practices are adopted by smallholders. This may include, but is not limited to, the review of implementing partner practices, capacity strengthening and addressing risks with appropriate risk mitigation tool;
• Work closely with Government counterparts to provide technical support at all levels of production and ensure district agroecological zones are observed. Organize regular strategic meetings (preliminary and follow up) at the national and regional levels;
• Lead the development of alternative extension models, refine scalable approaches for increased productivity, review training materials/manuals in collaboration with project partners. Guide partners on extension services, farmer mobilization and trainings, and ensure timelines are met;
• Maintain the reports and records of extension services delivered (including budget records and other documentation) and make information available for colleagues;
• Create, capture, and synthesize knowledge and best practice extension approaches that can be utilized by WFP, Government, and partners;
• Provide consistent and timely technical advice to meet the needs of partners, allowing partners to participate in planning, and adjust services as required along the farming cycle;

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES CONTINUED:

• Engage effectively in forums such as trade fairs, policy dialogue workshops, and exhibitions;
• Coordinate food production/productivity assessments with M&E, provide analysis, develop, implement, and monitor action plan;
• Ensure and/or perform accurate, timely recording of data (e.g., resource utilization, programme status, performance) and consistency of information presented to stakeholders (incl. government, partner agencies, implementing partners and beneficiaries);
• Ensure that the implementation plan, budgets, reports and program documents are kept up to date, as required by donors;
• Serve as a daily focal point for WFP on the food systems agenda for the Local and International stakeholders or partners from both public and private sectors;
• Perform any other related duties as required.

4Ps CORE ORGANISATIONAL CAPABILITIES

Purpose

• Understand and communicate the Strategic Objectives: Understands WFP’s Strategic Objectives and the link to own work objectives.
• Be a force for positive change: Flexibly adapts individual contributions to accommodate changes in direction from supervisors and internal/external changes (such as evolving needs of beneficiaries, new requirements of partners).
•  Make the mission inspiring to our team: Recognizes and shares with team members the ways in which individual contributions relate to WFP’s mission.
•  Make our mission visible in everyday actions: Sets own goals in alignment with WFP’s overall operations, and is able to communicate this link to others.

People

• Look for ways to strengthen people’s skills: Assesses own strengths and weaknesses to increase self-awareness, and includes these in conversations on own developmental needs.
•  Create an inclusive culture: Participates in open dialogue, and values the diverse opinion of others, regardless of background, culture, experience, or country assignment.
•  Be a coach & provide constructive feedback: Proactively seeks feedback and coaching to build confidence, and develop and improve individual skills.
•  Create an “I will”/”We will” spirit: Participates in accomplishing team activities and goals in the face of challenging circumstances.

Performance

• Encourage innovation & creative solutions: Shows willingness to explore and experiment with new ideas and approaches in own work.
•  Focus on getting results: Consistently delivers results within individual scope of work on time, on budget and without errors.
•  Make commitments and make good on commitments: Commits to upholding individual accountabilities and responsibilities in the face of ever-changing country or functional priorities.
•  Be Decisive: Makes rational decisions about individual activities when faced with uncertain circumstances, including in times of ambiguity regarding information or manager direction.

Partnership

• Connect and share across WFP units: Seeks to understand and adapt to internal or cross-unit teams’ priorities and preferred working styles.
•  Build strong external partnerships: Demonstrates ability to understand and appropriately respond to and/or escalate needs of external partners.
•  Be politically agile & adaptable: Portrays an informed and professional demeanor toward internal and external partners and stakeholders.
•  Be clear about the value WFP brings to partnerships: Provides operational support on analyses and assessments that quantifies and demonstrates WFP’s unique value as a partner.

FUNCTIONAL CAPABILITIES

Capability Name                         Description of the behaviour expected for the proficiency level

Programme Lifecycle & Food Assistance    Displays ability to identify the main hunger problem at                                                                             the national or subnational level to design and implement                                                                          context-specific programmes that integrate complex                                                                                 analysis and the full range of food assistance tools. Nafasi za kazi tanzania 2018