Job: Livelihoods Agronomist

Location: Geneva
Closing Date: Sunday, 01 December 2013

Terms of Reference

Post Title: Livelihoods Agronomist

Duty station: HQ based with frequent travel to the field and HQ

Duration of assignment: 6 months

General Background

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is mandated to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees. It strives to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another State.

While UNHCR's primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees, our ultimate goal is to help find durable solutions that will allow them to rebuild their lives in dignity. There are three durable solutions pursued by UNHCR for 6.4 million refugees in protracted situations: voluntary repatriation; local integration; or resettlement to a third country. While pursuing durable solutions UNHCR additionally tries to increase the self-reliance and livelihood opportunities of refugees. The challenges faced by refugees and displaced populations in finding decent economic opportunities have been subject to growing attention in UNHCR operations globally. Efforts to strengthen the organisation's understanding of refugee livelihoods and capacity to deliver adequate services and useful livelihoods programs is continuing while the number of operations that have flagged their interest in boosting their activities in this area is growing every year. The national, legal and policy environment in refugee hosting countries places varying degrees of restrictions on refugees' right to work and freedom of movement. In spite of these, refugees use different strategies to generate income, mostly through daily labouring jobs in the informal sector. The initial assets that refugees can rely on - such as their skills, access to financial capital, physical health, social networks - are critical in widening their options to access safe and productive work or engage in income generating activities. In many cases however, these assets are either insufficient from the start, or have been eroded by years of displacement. Consequently, a significant proportion of refugees are exposed to various forms of economic exploitation, and to arrest and detention by authorities. The UNHCR livelihoods team is developing a Global Livelihoods Strategy that will better define opportunities for UNHCR staff and partners and other relevant actors to develop and implement sustainable livelihoods programmes. A large proportion of displaced populations and host communities of concern to UNHCR reside in rural areas, either in camps or within local communities. It is therefore crucial to develop an appropriate and realistic agricultural stream for the global strategy in order to provide technical guidance throughout the design and implementation of agricultural livelihoods programmes in UNHCR is searching for an accomplished and highly motivated technical expert in agriculture and livestock to develop the rural/agriculture stream of the Global Strategy and provide technical assistance and guidance to UNHCR agricultural programmes in the field. The consultant will be responsible for support to and follow-up of activities related to agriculture and livestock, ensuring provision of required inputs, technical support, strategic planning, monitoring and training. The consultant will contribute to project design of agricultural components and identify and develop new solutions, scale up successful UNHCR agriculture and livestock initiatives, compile best practices and identify and establish strong strategic partnerships with academia, public and private sector actors in agriculture and livestock.

Responsibilities

The agronomist is responsible for implementation and follow-up of project activities, ensuring provision of required inputs to targeted People of Concern (PoC), technical support and training and organization of groups enhancing sustainability of activities.

Outputs:

• Rural/agriculture stream of the Global Strategy developed, incorporating current best practice, identification of necessary data/assessments for planning programs,
• identification of key partners and M&E tools and an implementation plan.
• Common agricultural approaches and best practices identified within the current UNHCR context, based on information from field offices and partners, including contextual opportunities and constraints, and shared with selected field operations.
• Technical support to selected field operations provided, including an outline of a context-specific agriculture strategy and the necessary components to support successful implementation and monitoring in line with the global UNHCR Livelihoods Strategy provided.

Specific tasks:

• Significant travel to various field locations to provide technical support, supervise and train staff and partners on applications of scientific methods and appropriate cultivation and develop local/national strategies in line with national development plans;
• Provide recommendations on how to incorporate agricultural value chains, including production, harvesting, storage, transportation, and marketing;
• Build knowledge and learning systems to ensure that agricultural and farming innovations and agricultural best practices are widely disseminated;
• Provide cross-sectoral technical support to other members of the organization;
• Create opportunities for field/HQ mutual learning and collaborating in sharing best display:
• Develop recommendations on current livelihoods activities to enhance value chains, improve post-harvest measures, incubate innovations and scale up pilots;
• Contribute to development of monitoring and evaluation tools for on-going agricultural programmes;
• Review reports for agricultural programmes and set up systems of reporting to ensure effective monitoring of program quality and results;
• Build and manage strategic technical partnerships with other organizations to strengthen technical capabilities to achieve self-reliance goals;
• Conduct multi-stakeholder consultations to identify and confirm all agriculture options including their costs, benefits and risks, within a livelihoods framework;
• Support preparation of agricultural assessment to set baselines, identify value chains Provide technical guidance in the broader areas of agriculture program identification and assessment in the face of climate change and its impact on food security;
• Provide recommendations on agricultural development strategies for the global livelihoods strategy.
• This will include analysis of different approaches in terms of their relevance and anticipated impact, methods to improve crop production, farming systems, access to markets, cost-effectiveness, and sustainability, among others;
• Develop a performance framework and assist in identifying project monitoring and evaluation indicators.

Qualification (academic, experience)

• Advanced University degree (Master Level minimum) in Rural Development (agronomy, agro-zoo technician, veterinary, agro-economy and natural resource management), Development studies, Economics, Agricultural economics, Labour economics, Socio-conomic studies, or other related field. Additional areas of experience could include water and sanitation, agro-ecology, land and water management and livestock management; economics, business administration or management.
• Minimum of 10 years of relevant practical field experience within one or more of the following areas: agricultural policy development and programmes related to self-reliance and livelihoods development in rural areas, gender analysis, risks and vulnerability assessment, community development and participation, urban and rural small business development, cooperatives and/or microfinance, agriculture/livestock, rapid and participatory rural appraisal, rural labour and employment issues.
• Comprehensive understanding of rural development theory and practice; experience in strategic planning and implementation of programmes linking rural employment, poverty reduction and food security.
• Proven experience in planning, implementing, and monitoring livelihoods programmes
• Knowledge of latest development in the livelihoods sector, and in-depth knowledge of agriculture and livestock as a subsector.
• Experience in value chain, market assessment and agro-business development.
• Experience in working effectively with UN organisations, international and national NGOs, and with government authorities at national level; familiarity with the FAO, IFAD, ILO and the UN System approach relating to decent work, and with priorities and approaches of workers' and employers' organizations representing rural men and women would also be an asset.
• Fluency in English required. Knowledge of another UN language will be an asset.

Skills: -

• Excellent analytical and communication skills in English -
• Demonstrated publications record, covering research, technical, and policy areas; -
• Ability to work as a part of a multi-cultural and international team; -
• Excellent networking skills with private and public sector institutions; -
• Extensive computer skills including excel, word and power point.

Duration

Initially for 6 months (starting 1 January 2014) with the possibility of extension.

Enquiries/How to apply

Please send an email with your CV and cover letter before 1 December 2013 to livelihoods@unhcr.org

More Info and Application