Job: Agriculture Economist

Location: Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire 
Deadline: Thursday, 10 October 2013 

Description

Background / General description:

The Africa Region is committed to working with Africans and their development partners to make faster progress toward the MDGs, particularly cutting poverty levels in half by 2015. With a wide-ranging work program that covers the environment, agriculture and rural development, social and post conflict, water, urban, energy, and transport sectors, the Region's Sustainable Development (SD) Department is critical to the delivery of the region's goals for sustainable development in the region. The department has 320 staff and an overall portfolio (including IDA/IBRD, GU, large RE TF, and GEF) of about 250 projects with net commitments totaling about $30 bn.

The Africa Agriculture Program has been growing rapidly and is centered around four pillars, including:

(i) land and water management;

(ii) market access;

(iii) food security and vulnerability; and

(iv) agricultural technology. There is active collaboration with PSD and IFC to facilitate private sector investments in African agriculture. Nutrition and resilience to climate change are new areas of attention. The agriculture portfolio comprises of about 65 projects with net commitments exceeding US$ 4 billion. New lending is expected to exceed US$ 1 billion annually in the coming years.

The Africa agriculture sector grouping consists of three units (AFTA1 for West-Africa, AFTA2 for Central and Southern Africa and AFTA 3 for Eastern Africa). Each of the three units is managed by a Sector Manager. Each Sector Manager is also responsible for a number of relevant cross-cutting themes. The three units together have about 90 staffs of which 60% are based in country offices.

The Africa Agriculture, Rural Development and Irrigation Unit working in West-Africa (AFTA1) covers 17 countries including Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, The Gambia and Togo. Most of the work in the unit involves a large component of operational and project-related work, as well as AAA and TA.

AFTA1 seeks an Agriculture Economist to support its strategic, advisory, and operational work in Cote d'Ivoire. The Bank has a very active engagement on agriculture in Cote d'Ivoire, consisting of a significant portfolio of projects covering agricultural research, food security, community driven development, irrigation, and agribusiness. There is a very active policy dialogue and close coordination with other development partners. Agriculture also figures highly in Cote d'Ivoire's country partnership strategy which was approved recently.

Note: If the selected candidate is a current Bank Group staff member with a Regular or Open-Ended appointment, s/he will retain his/her Regular or Open-Ended appointment. All others will be offered a 3 year term appointment.

Duties and Accountabilities:

The Agriculture Economist will assist the AFTA 1 Sector Manager in delivery of the unit's work program, assurance of quality, interaction with internal and external clients, including the private sector, staff development and partnerships. The primary responsibility of the Agriculture Economist will be to provide technical and strategic support to the development and implementation of the AFTA 1 program in Cote d'Ivoire.

In particular, the Agricultural Economist will:

• Contribute to policy dialogue on agricultural and rural issues and interactions with the client and partners, and alert management (both country and sector) to issues requiring attention;
• Lead/initiate/participate in analytical and strategic work pertaining to agricultural growth and productivity, including work managed by AFTA1 and that managed by other units, but requiring input from agricultural staff, such as public expenditure analysis;
• Assume an active role in the Cote d'Ivoire country team with the aim to ensure adequate and appropriate integration of relevant aspects of the agriculture and rural development agenda in core Bank products, including country assistance strategy, country economic memorandum and the like.
• Contribute to, and where possible lead, key operations important to the agricultural sector, both within the portfolios within Sustainable Development, and as cross-support to operations in other sectors/networks. Assure timely delivery of these operations with high levels of quality;
• Serve as an active member of the AFTA1 technical and operational unit, contributing to the Region's strategic scale up of support for agricultural productivity.
• Participate in collaborative and coordination efforts with local donors to optimize synergy with Bank supported projects and programs and to leverage IDA resources where feasible.
• Participate in the dialogue with relevant representatives of the private sector in order to keep abreast with issues related to the business investment climate and identify possible areas of collaboration through public-private-partnerships.

Selection Criteria:

The Agriculture Economist will assist the AFTA 1 Sector Manager in delivery of the unit's work program, assurance of quality, interaction with internal and external clients, including the private sector, staff development and partnerships. The primary responsibility of the Agriculture Economist will be to provide technical and strategic support to the development and implementation of the AFTA 1 program in Cote d'Ivoire. In particular, the Agricultural Economist will:

• Contribute to policy dialogue on agricultural and rural issues and interactions with the client and partners, and alert management (both country and sector) to issues requiring attention;
• Lead/initiate/participate in analytical and strategic work pertaining to agricultural growth and productivity, including work managed by AFTA1 and that managed by other units, but requiring input from agricultural staff, such as public expenditure analysis;
• Assume an active role in the Cote d'Ivoire country team with the aim to ensure adequate and appropriate integration of relevant aspects of the agriculture and rural development agenda in core Bank products, including country assistance strategy, country economic memorandum and the like.
• Contribute to, and where possible lead, key operations important to the agricultural sector, both within the portfolios within Sustainable Development, and as cross-support to operations in other sectors/networks. Assure timely delivery of these operations with high levels of quality;
• Serve as an active member of the AFTA1 technical and operational unit, contributing to the Region's strategic scale up of support for agricultural productivity.
• Participate in collaborative and coordination efforts with local donors to optimize synergy with Bank supported projects and programs and to leverage IDA resources where feasible.
• Participate in the dialogue with relevant representatives of the private sector in order to keep abreast with issues related to the business investment climate and identify possible areas of collaboration through public-private-partnerships.

Selection Criteria & Competencies :

• Postgraduate degree in Agricultural Economics or related discipline
• A minimum of 8 years of relevant working experience in agriculture.
• Strong technical and analytical skills in a range of issues of relevance to ARD.
• In-depth knowledge of the issues faced by smallholders participating in modern value chains.
• Recognized and respected by peers; demonstrated commitment to team work and ability to interact effectively and collegially with peers at all levels.
• Demonstrated familiarity with Bank procedures, directives, business practices and experience in identifying, preparing, appraising, and supervising operations, as a task team leader or team member.
• Ability to think innovatively and strategically in dealing with policy issues while maintaining a strong client focus.
• Ability to take principled and balanced positions on complex issues and to communicate and defend them orally and in writing to Senior Bank management and Senior Government officials.
• Excellent interpersonal, problem-solving, and team skills with ability to think innovatively and strategically to find balanced, pragmatic and implementable solutions.
• High degree of discretion, ethics, tact and sensitivity in handling confidential and sensitive information;
• Ability to work under pressure while retaining perspective and a sense of humor.
• Very high level of energy, initiative and self-motivation, coupled with willingness to travel extensively and work under challenging conditions;
• English essential, French essential.

Competencies

• General Economic Knowledge and Analytical Skills - Possesses Cross-country knowledge in economic specialty and demonstrates ability to link the macro, institutional, and micro-level behaviors; able to support findings/policy recommendations with credible analysis and tools.
• Knowledge and Experience in Development Arena - Translates technical and cross-country knowledge into practical applications and contributions to country and sector strategies; interacts with clients at the policy level.
• Policy Dialogue Skills - Anticipates needs and requests in the field and conducts independent policy discussions with representatives of the government and non-government partners.
• Integrative Skills - Understands relevant cross-sectoral areas how they are interrelated; able to undertake cross-sectoral work in lending and non-lending operations.
• Agricultural Economics - Deep understanding of most of the economic concepts used in agriculture, with significant experience.
• Agriculture Policy, Strategy and Institutions - Solid understanding of agriculture policies, strategies, institutions, and regulations.
• Project Design for Impact and Sustainability - IL - Contributes to the design of projects and programs, based on an understanding of the country and sector context.
• Sector Dialogue - IL - Able to conduct a dialogue with the client on familiar topics, with a narrow scope, based on a solid understanding of the sector.
• Operational Project Management - Demonstrates in depth knowledge and understanding of project management tools & methodologies, as well as of Bank instruments and processes related to project preparation & implementation, resource management, and stakeholder communications.
• Operational Policies Application to the Project Cycle (fiduciary, disbursement, safeguard and GAC policies) - IL - Possesses a strong understanding of procurement and disbursement policies; knows what issues might arise and who to involve in problem resolution.
• Team Leadership - Leads teams to achieve challenging outcomes, providing a role model and enhancing the team-leadership skills of team members.
• Knowledge of Relevant Operational Policy and Associated Good Practices - DPL - Has a solid understanding of all aspects of OP 8.60 and associated Good Practice Notes; has experience in designing DPOs.
• Knowledge of Relevant Bank Procedures and Associated Guidance - DPL - Has a solid understanding of all aspects of BP 8.60 and associated Good Practice Notes; has experience in designing DPOs.
• ESW/TA Policy, Strategic and Technical Analysis for Country/Sector Issues - Participates fully in the production of quality AAA work and policy papers, leveraging relevant analytical tools and a grasp of issues surrounding policy and sector reform.
• Client Orientation - Maintains client relationships in the face of conflicting demands or directions and provides evidence-based advice and solutions based on sound diagnosis and knowledge.
• Drive for Results - Identifies the needed resources to accomplish results involving multiple stakeholders and finds solutions to obstacles affecting key deliverables.
• Teamwork (Collaboration) and Inclusion - Shows leadership in ensuring the team stays organized and focused, and actively seeks and considers diverse ideas and approaches.
• Knowledge, Learning and Communication - Leads in the sharing of best practice, trends, knowledge and lessons learned across units and with clients and partners, articulating ideas verbally and in writing in a clear and compelling way across audiences of varied levels.
• Business Judgment and Analytical Decision Making - Gathers inputs, assesses risk, considers impact and articulates benefits of decisions for internal and external stakeholders over the long term.

The World Bank Group is committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, nationality, culture, and educational background. Individuals with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.

The selected candidate will directly report to the Sector Manager, AFTA1. He/she will coordinate closely with the Country Director AFCF2 and the Sector Leader for Sustainable Development, both of whom are based in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire.

More Info and Application