The FAO Regional Office for Near East and North Africa’s core functions are to service Member Countries through the production of assessments and sectoral analysis, the provision of technical support and development of capacities of institutions dedicated to agriculture and food security sectors, building regional partnerships and alliances, providing up-to-date information, knowledge and data and assistance to governments in evidence-based policy formulation. The Office supports countries through four regional priorities. Regional Priority 3 (RP3) seeks to address sustainability in food systems by adopting and scaling up climate-smart solutions to address the degradation of land and water resources and biodiversity loss. Besides supporting the implementation of nature-based solutions and economically viable green value chains, RP3 supports integrated water resources management as well as climate change adaptation and mitigation actions.
Reporting Lines
The consultant(s) will report to relevant project Team Leaders/Officers, primarily the Natural Resources Officer (Climate Change & Sustainability), the GEF-GCF Partnerships Officer, and FAO Representatives.
Technical Focus
The Regional Office (RO) is supporting countries to respond to climate change by providing technical, knowledge and capacity support to the development and implementation of programmes to identify, prioritize and scale up climate-smart and climate-resilient practices, and integrating such priorities into national and sectoral policy processes. This support takes into consideration the particular challenges of the Arab region – water scarcity, challenges of sustainable management of land and soil resources, and conflict – as well as opportunities to build resilience of livelihoods and agrifood systems in the face of climate change. The RO supports Member Countries in the development and implementation of climate finance projects, such as but not limited to the Green Climate Fund (including Readiness projects), Global Environment Facility, Adaptation Fund, and others.
Specialists with strong technical background in climate change and demonstrated experience in developing, implementing and/or monitoring GEF, GCF and/or Adaptation Fund projects are sought to implement and/or provide technical support on a number of main areas:
1) Assessment and design of action and/or investment plans on climate-smart/climate-resilient agriculture
2) Readiness and capacity building activities
3) Activities related to enhancing the enabling environment for implementing effective and equitable climate action in agriculture sectors
4) Project preparation and proposal design-related activities, including development of idea notes, concept notes, and project proposals.
A roster of climate change specialists is sought for one or more of the following tasks and responsibilities at both national and regional levels, with the guidance of FAO technical experts (regional, subregional and national), and utilising FAO knowledge and tools where relevant:
1. Climate-smart/climate-resilient agriculture:
• Assessments of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices in sectors such as crop production, livestock, fisheries, plant protection, and sustainable land and water management:
• Profiling and analyses of the enabling environment for CSA implementation and scaling-up;
• Capacity building on CSA;
• Development of climate change and CSA curricula for agricultural training programmes;
• Design of CSA action plans or investment plans, in general or for subsectors/foci such as soil & water, crops, livestock, forestry, aquaculture & fisheries, in alignment with national strategies such as the NAP and sectoral climate change strategies.
2. Activities related to enhancing the enabling environment for implementing effective and equitable climate action in agriculture sectors, including GCF Readiness activities towards the strengthening of NDAs’ capacities on designing and implementing climate finance pipelines. These include but are not limited to:
• Capacity building of the NDA and relevant stakeholders on GCF modalities and project design;
• Stakeholder analysis and stakeholder engagement plans;
• Development of NDA no-objection procedures;
• Climate change profiling (adaptation and/or mitigation) of countries;
• Stocktaking of national climate knowledge and information;
• Technical assistance to climate modelling and downscaling activities in cooperation with relevant national authorities and FAO technical and country officers;
• Assessment of agrometeorological and climate information services;
• Gender analysis and action plans for mainstreaming gender into climate change projects and strategies;
• Climate change skills and capacities assessments.
3. Project preparation and proposal design-related activities, including but not limited to:
• Lead, write and finalize the development of quality proposals for GEF/GCF funding in line with the GEF/GCF strategies and countries’ and FAO’s priorities at concept and full-proposal stages under the guidance of FAO-RNE and the FAO-GEF and GCF Units and in consultation with FAO country offices;
• Support related national project consultation processes;
• Provide guidance to national consultants in conducting specific technical assessments and analyses for the formulation of concrete FAO GEF/GCF projects and programmes, including gender analysis, environmental impact, vulnerability, risk and other environmental and social assessments, as per GEF/GCF relevant policies;
• Preparation and submission of concept notes and the fully-fledged project document according to the templates from the GEF/GCF.
Candidates are expected to conduct field missions where required.
• University degree in agronomy, agriculture, geography, environmental science/studies, natural and biological sciences, international development, climate & environmental policy, political science, or social sciences, or relevant work experience in lieu of an advanced degree.
• At least 1 year for category C, 5 years for category B, 12 years for COF category A/ 15 years for PSA category A of relevant experience in climate change and environmental project design or climate change assessments or climate-smart agriculture
• Working knowledge (level C) of English and limited/intermediate knowledge (level B) of another FAO language for Consultants are required. For PSA.SBS, working knowledge of English is required.
FAO Core Competencies
• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement
Technical/Functional Skills
• Work experience in more than one location or area of work
• Extent and relevance of experience in climate change policy (including NAPs, NDCs, national communications, LTS, NAMAs), climate information analysis, climate change adaptation, and/or mitigation
• Extent and relevance of experience in working on sustainability and climate resilience of agriculture sectors
• Demonstrated strong skills in writing and analysis of environmental information, including proven record of scientific and peer-reviewed publications, policy briefs and/or submitted/published project proposals in relevant fields (candidates are strongly encouraged to attach the relevant documents to their application)
• Knowledge of Arabic and/or French are an asset.
• Proficiency in MS Word, Excel, and use of remote conferencing tools
Selection Criteria
• Professionalism and teamwork, with willingness to work closely with national counterparts, focal points, consultants and country offices
• Task-oriented and problem-solving outlook
