FAO assists governments to develop policies, programmes and projects to address hunger and malnutrition, and provides technical support for the sustainable development of their agricultural, fisheries and forestry sectors and to respond to cries. FAO in collaboration with the Government of Malawi and with support of multiple development partners is implementing a wide range of activities to improve livelihoods of small-scale farmers as well as assisting a more inclusive and sustainable development in the country. FAO Malawi is currently supporting the Government to strengthen community-based resilience in vulnerable rural areas, facilitate a more sustainable management of natural resources and supporting nutrition-sensitive agriculture. Likewise, FAO provides and mobilizes technical assistance required by the country in areas related with agriculture production, agriculture economics and other areas relevant.
Reporting Lines
The National Expert on Irrigated Agriculture, Water Users Association (WUA) will be under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative, through the Assistant FAO Representative (Programmes), and the direct operational supervision of the Head of Technical Section, and close collaboration with the Project Coordination Section.
Technical Focus
The National Expert on Irrigated Agriculture, Water Users Association (WUA) will assist in ensuring quality assurance of the good agricultural practices in the implementation of the FAO projects, including community outreach activities.
The incumbent will specifically:
• Assist in carrying out orientation of the Department of Irrigation’s (DoI) technical staff to sustainable irrigation management and modernization and National irrigation master plan and investment framework (2015), National irrigation policy (2016) and Irrigation code of practice and equipment standards (2018).
• Conduct training needs assessment of the DoI technical staff to identify gaps in capacity of the technical staff.
• Liaise in conducting training, guidance and technical support in developing managerial and organizational capacity of the technical staff.
• Assist in carrying out the TCP Activity 1.3, training activates for the DoI technical staff on the following subjects: Irrigation water management; operation and maintenance of irrigation schemes; good agricultural practices in irrigated crop management; irrigation agronomy; FAO four betters; entrepreneurial skills development; business plan development; irrigation engineering instrumentation and measurement; irrigation water users associations' formation and governance.
• Liaise in producing O&M manual for training the WUAs.
• Assist in conducting on-the-job training to develop design reports for developing 8 small irrigation schemes.
• Liaise during training of the DoI trainees in the use of irrigation equipment procured under the TCP for collecting field data.
• Conduct training, guidance and technical support in developing managerial and organizational capacity of the Water User Associations (WUAs). Under guidance of the International Irrigation Expert, the National Expert on Irrigated Agriculture (WUA) will guide the DoI trainees in developing training materials for training WUAs on the following topics: Operation and maintenance (O&M) of irrigation systems; Efficient irrigation practices and on-farm water management (OFWM); Good agricultural practices (GAP) and climate smart agriculture; Integrated watershed management (IWM); Crop diversification and intensification; and Inclusive Value chain and Marketing.
• Advanced University degree in the field of Irrigation Engineering, Agricultural Water Management, Water Resources Management or related field.
• Minimum 10 years of relevant experience in institutional capacity building focusing on participatory irrigation O&M, agriculture water management and design of irrigation systems.
• Working knowledge of English.
• National of Malawi or a legal resident in the country with a valid work permit.
FAO Core Competencies
• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement
Technical/Functional Skills
• Excellent team work skills
• Ability to work independently
• Computer skills in Word, data processing and presentation
• Good oral and written communication skills in English
