Job: Agricultural Specialist

Location: Kabul, Afghanistan
Deadline: Sunday, 24 November 2013

Background / General description:

This is a country office position in Afghanistan subject to local recruitment under the Afghanistan compensation plan. The World Bank offers a locally competitive package and is committed to attract and maintain a diverse, highly qualified and dedicated workforce. Equally qualified women and members of disadvantaged groups are encouraged to apply.

The mission of the South Asia Rural Development Unit (SASDA) is to reduce poverty by helping the countries of South Asia formulate policies and implement programs that improve the livelihood of their rural populations. SASDA's approach includes:

• building meaningful consensus with a broad spectrum of stakeholders on: (a) rural and agricultural development strategies; (b) agricultural policy and natural resource management; and (c) water resources and irrigation development;
• promoting rural decentralization and community-based development;
• adopting a program approach and scaling up best practice;
• emphasizing learning and knowledge transfer; making the best use of global knowledge and good practices from other relevant groups within the Bank;
• forming inter-sectoral task teams to develop integrated approaches to projects and programs; and ensuring strong and appropriate skill mix in staff.

The Bank is heavily engaged in agricultural and rural development in Afghanistan particularly in rural livelihoods, irrigation and water resources management, agriculture development related to both food security and commercial agriculture, and policy dialogue on improving agriculture productivity, extension and research. The Bank also hopes to expand its engagement in these areas, particularly in agriculture productivity improvements in coordination with water for irrigation availability and efficient use, and related institutional strengthening and reforms. The Bank also has a strong engagement with the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL), the Ministry of Energy and Water and the Ministry of Reconstruction and Rural Development. There are several multi-lateral and bi-lateral donors supporting the agriculture and irrigation sector in Afghanistan, and coordination of strategy, technical approaches and funding among these development partners is critical to donor effectiveness. The Bank plays its role in national level poverty alleviation, agriculture and water sector/thematic consultative groups and a wide range of international fora.

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 2 year term appointment.

Duties and Accountabilities:

The SASDA unit of the Sustainable Development Department of the South Asia Region (SAR) is seeking to recruit an excellent candidate to serve as Agriculture Specialist based in the World Bank office in Kabul, Afghanistan. The incumbent will report to the Agriculture and Rural Development Sector Manager for SAR while working as an integral part of the SASDA team based in the Bank's offices in Kabul, Afghanistan and Washington DC, USA.

This position requires the incumbent to be innovative, familiar with best technical and operational practices of the sector and have a strong operational background. Experience in leading and/or being a key member of teams which have worked on irrigation and water resources management projects or agriculture development projects will be an advantage. Given the Bank's emphasis on governance and the Country's own needs, the candidate should have sufficient knowledge and operational experience in identifying, assessing and mitigating governance risks associated with the design and implementation of projects in the agriculture, irrigation and water sectors.

• Carries out responsibilities for a variety of operational tasks (e.g. participating as a full member of a multi-disciplinary team and undertaking straightforward assignments of project preparation, appraisal and supervision in field of expertise).
• Carries out responsibilities for a variety of operational tasks relevant to the sector, e.g. technical review and analysis of various client reports, sector reports, design and preparation of projects for Bank and Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF) lending technical assistance interventions and participation in project review missions.
• Analyzes, reviews and processes operational documents, coordinating across disciplines and project components with other team members related with lending preparation and implementation supervision of Bank and ARTF funded projects.
• Participates in missions in his/her areas of specialization and participates in discussions with the Government and project counterparts in an analytical, advocacy, advisory manner.
• Responds to ad hoc information requests from internal and external parties.
• Works independently on agricultural, irrigation/water and rural development related matters seeking guidance on complex projects/issues from senior Bank staffs.
• Employs appropriate methodologies for handling simple and complex procurement tasks and/or issues related with the operational tasks.
• Participates with sector specialists of the team in developing and implementing sector strategy and assists in country-specific policy work.
• Works closely with the other Task Team Leaders and team members to integrate irrigation/water, agriculture and rural development sector interventions with other programs to maximize development outcomes.
• Works closely with counterparts in government and in a variety of international and other partner organizations, academia, etc. and internal counterparts within and across sectors, networks, Country Management Unit, etc.

Selection Criteria:

Required Competencies

• Integrative Skills - Working to develop an integrated view across all facets of current sector.
• Agricultural Technology - Solid skills on the array of agricultural technologies available, and their suitability, for different agro-ecological conditions.
• Agricultural Economics - Solid understanding of many of the economic concepts used in agriculture, with hands-on experience.
• Agriculture Policy, Strategy and Institutions - Familiarity with agriculture policies, strategies, institutions, and regulations.
• General Economic Knowledge and Analytical Skills - Possesses a demonstrated track record of working with economic and sector data and analytical tools and models to conduct economic analyses and produce user-friendly written outputs; understands underlying statistical concepts.
• Knowledge and Experience in Development Arena - Understands policy making process; distills operationally relevant recommendations/lessons for clients.
• Policy Dialogue Skills - Identifies and assesses policy issues and plays an active role in the dialogue with the government and/or other stakeholders.
• Client Orientation - Takes personal responsibility and accountability for timely response to client queries, requests or needs, working to remove obstacles that may impede execution or overall success.
• Drive for Results - Takes personal ownership and accountability to meet deadlines and achieve agreed-upon results, and has the personal organization to do so.
• Teamwork (Collaboration) and Inclusion - Collaborates with other team members and contributes productively to the team's work and output, demonstrating respect for different points of view.
• Knowledge, Learning and Communication - Actively seeks knowledge needed to complete assignments and shares knowledge with others, communicating and presenting information in a clear and organized manner.
• Business Judgment and Analytical Decision Making - Analyzes facts and data to support sound, logical decisions regarding own and others' work.

Other Selection Criteria:

• Masters in an agricultural discipline with five or more years of experience in irrigated and dry-land agriculture; agricultural technology development, agricultural technology transfer, and sustainable crop production in a developing country environment;
• Experience with field-based projects and being an effective team member in proposal development, development project cycle in agriculture and water resource management sectors with insight in the opportunities presented by newer technologies and value chain development to convert competitive advantage to commercial advantage in different farming systems;
• Familiarity with the country/region specifically the unsettled nature/conflict/post conflict scenario in the region;
• Familiarity with systems transitioning to decentralized approaches to service delivery in agriculture technology development and transfer, irrigations and drainage, value addition and value chain development;
• Field experience in other countries in the region, or spanning more than one region, highly desirable;
• Excellent soft skills are required, including strong interpersonal and problem solving skills in multicultural work environment;
• English, essential. Dari and Pashto, desired. Other regional language(s) will be an added advantage

More Info and Application