National Agriculture Disaster Risk Reduction/ Climate Change Adaptation (DRR/CCA) Specialist – FAO jobs in Nepal

• Location: Nepal 
• Vacancy No: N/A 
• Salary: N/A
• Organization: FAO
• Gender: Both
• Deadline: 2024-03-03

Organizational Setting

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is a specialized technical agency of the United Nations established in 1945 whose mission is to contribute to eradicating hunger and achieving food security for all. FAO contributes to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda through FAO’s Strategic Framework by supporting the transformation to MORE efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable agri-food systems, for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind.

Currently in Nepal, FAO projects focus on technical capacity building, policy development, enhancing agri-production, strengthening food systems, improving food & nutrition security, enhancing resilience to Disasters and impacts of Climate Change as well as threats posed by zoonotic diseases to human health through the One Health approach. FAO also contributes to the coordination of humanitarian assistance/relief and transition to livelihoods recovery within the agriculture sector, under the framework of the food security cluster.

Nepal’s agriculture and livestock sector forms the backbone of its economy, providing livelihoods for about 66% of the total population. The sector is highly exposed to various hazards due to the country’s geographical location and changing climate patterns. Disasters like floods, drought, cold waves, heat waves, landslides, incidence of insect pests and diseases, glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), etc. can lead to crop and livestock losses, natural resources depletion, biodiversity losses, damages to agricultural infrastructures, and ultimately increases cost of per unit production. These lead to food insecurity, huge economic losses and long-term impacts on the sector development and dependent livelihoods. The impacts are most pronounced for smallholders and marginal farmers, who are already living in poverty and food insecurity. Hence, proactive and timely interventions are urgently needed to prevent/reduce disaster and climate risks and build resilience in the agriculture sector (encompassing crop, livestock and fisheries in Nepal).

Nepal’s current landscape of disaster risk management is guided by its Constitution (2072) (2015 AD) and the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) Act 2074 (2017 AD). The spirit of the constitution suggests that local governments shall do as much as they can on their own, and where they cannot, provincial and federal governments shall provide back-up or assume primary responsibilities for disaster risk reduction and management. However, the spirit is not well translated into actions mainly due to lack of capacity, and also due to ambiguity and confusion about roles, responsibilities and accountability between all three tiers of governments. Lack of clear strategic planning document on DRM in agriculture sector has been found one of the bottlenecks for timely preparedness, reducing risks and effective response activities in case of various disasters with clearly defined roles and responsibilities at all levels.

The A-DRMP will allow agricultural stakeholders at local, provincial and national scales to determine the best possible strategies for preventing or reducing the impact of future disastrous events. The A-DRMP will promote the adoption of available innovations, scale up disaster risk management solutions, including enhancing early warning and anticipatory actions in the agriculture sector. The A-DRMP is expected to guide in planning and implementing disaster risk management measures in the agriculture sector’s regular plans and programs, to identify capacity gaps and adequate resources to be allocated for actions at all levels. Moreover, a well-defined DRM strategy and action plan can effectively safe people and properties by facilitating timely and effective rescue, relief and rehabilitation thereby reducing losses and impacts including trauma among people.

Developing a five-year DRM strategy and action plan for the agriculture sector is essential for ensuring food security, building resilience and sustainable development of the farming communities in Nepal. The A-DRM Plan will also facilitate the urgently needed integration of multisectoral and multi hazard DRM strategies and measures into agriculture policies and programmes.
This project is a collaborative effort with the Ministry of Agriculture and livestock (MoALD) to develop this five-year Agriculture Sector Disaster Risk Management Strategy and Action Plan (A-DRMP), the implementation of which will enhance the capacity of farming communities to prevent, reduce and manage disaster risks in agriculture sector, reducing damage and loss, building resilience and strengthening the quality of life of farming communities through, amongst others, risk-informed planning and implementation of agriculture development interventions.

The A-DRMP will help the agriculture sector to combine resources and coordinate with various stakeholders at all levels responsible to manage disaster risks. It will contribute to make the sector resilient and contribute to the FAO’s Strategic Objectives of four Betters; Better Production, Better Nutrition, Better Environment and Better Life, Leaving No One Behind, and the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

In this context, FAO Nepal seeks to hire a national specialist who will support/lead in the process for the formulation of the A-DRMP for Nepal.

Reporting Lines

Under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative (FAOR) in Nepal, the direct supervision of Assistant FAOR (Programme), and the technical supervision of the RAP Senior Resilience Officer/ Lead Technical Officer (LTO), Emergency and Resilience coordinator at FAO Nepal, the incumbent will support/lead the process for formulation of the A-DRMP. The incumbent will work in close consultation and coordination with Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MoALD), National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), Nepal Agriculture Research Council (NARC), other relevant organizations, departments and ministries at federal, province and local level.

Technical Focus

Provide needful support for programme and project operations as envisioned in the Terms of Reference (TOR).

Tasks and responsibilities

The National Agriculture Disaster Risk Reduction/ Climate Change Adaptation (DRR/CCA) Specialist will be responsible to carry out the following tasks for the TCP/NEP/3906/C3: Support to Development of Agriculture Sector Disaster Risk Management Plan for Nepal (A-DRMP).

Key responsibilities include but not limited to the following: 

•    Desk review: review and analysis of existing agriculture sector and national, provincial, and local level DRR and CCA related documents such as Agriculture Development Strategy (ADS), DRR policies, National Adaptation Plan (NAP), Acts, other related strategies, and plans, and guidelines to identify the overarching policy framework for the A-DRMP.
  •    Submit an inception report with a list of documents reviewed and its coherence to the tasks and a detailed workplan for the assignment.
  •    Initial collection of secondary data on disaster and climate risks in the agriculture sector, encompassing, but not limited to the following: hazards, exposure (of sub-sectors i.e. crops, livestock, fisheries and major farming systems) and vulnerabilities. Methodologies such as INFORM RISK (https://drmkc.jrc.ec.europa.eu/inform-index/INFORM-Risk) can be adapted/used.
  •    Consultation and Field visits: Support to conduct initial workshop and perform a rapid Vulnerability, Risks and Capacity Assessment (VCA) of the agriculture sub-sector at federal and provincial level based on the following:
  Review, analyse and develop risk profile, and validate it with input from all the related departments and also provinces.
  Facilitate meetings and workshops for prioritizing hazards, analyzing agriculture sector vulnerabilities and capacities, and identify priority actions for DRM/building resilience for the A-DRMP formulation.
  Facilitate discussions, meetings, workshops among the stakeholders for finalizing the risk profile, planning and finalization of the five-years disaster risks management strategy and action plan in agriculture sector with one year preparedness action plan.
  Disaster risk mapping at provincial level to enable risk/agriculture production monitoring, anticipatory and early actions, historical agriculture damage and loss – to get ready for the Loss and Damage funding mechanisms. As part of the risk profiling, review the existing systems for agriculture damage and loss data/information collection, analysis and reporting, identify gaps and priority actions to help Nepal be ready for the UNFCCC COP established Loss and Damage funding mechanisms.
  •    Drafting the five years strategy with one year action plan: Draft the strategy and plan after secondary data analysis, stakeholders’ consultations and conducting sample field visits. The draft strategy will be reviewed by FAO technical officers and MOALD.
  •    Support to organize validation workshop and compile the received A-DRMP inputs and comments. Incorporation of the inputs/comments received from validation workshops, field consultation and finalize the plan.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements   

•    Master’s degree in agriculture science, disaster risks management, Environmental Science/Natural Resources Management and/or relevant discipline with practical and policy level experiences in climate resilient smallholder agriculture, early warning and anticipatory actions in agriculture sector.
  •    At least 5 years of working experience in the Disaster Risk Management (DRM) in agriculture sector, early warning and anticipatory actions, agriculture sector policy and strategy development.
  •    Working knowledge of English proficient – Level C and working knowledge of Nepali language.
  •    National of Nepal or resident of 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

•    Competency and demonstrated practical experience in agriculture processing, marketing and value chain and working experience with development partners and government of Nepal.
•    Good knowledge of the MS Office applications, Internet, and office technology equipment.

Selection Criteria

•    Experience of working with the MOALD, NDRRMA, local, provincial and federal ministries and departments etc.
  •    Experience in developing climate change adaptation, DRM and disaster preparedness plans, preferably in the agricultural sector
  •    Excellent stakeholder engagement and negotiation skills and ability to coordinate with diverse stakeholders.
  •    Prior knowledge of FAO processes and procedures and experience of working with FAO will be an additional asset.
  •    Excellent communication, writing and presentation skills in English and Nepal.
  •    Extent of relevant experience in the areas related to the programme and project implementation.
  •    Ability to work with a multidisciplinary and multicultural team.
  •    Prior working experience with development partners and government of Nepal.
  •    High degree of team ethics, well-organized, result focused and dynamic personality.
  •    Previous experience of working with UN agencies and Government services will be an asset.

Please note that all candidates should adhere to FAO Values of Commitment to FAO, Respect for All and Integrity and Transparency

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• FAO does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing).
• Incomplete applications will not be considered. If you need help or have queries, please contact: Careers@fao.org
• Applications received after the closing date will not be accepted.
• Only language proficiency certificates from UN accredited external providers and/or FAO language official examinations (LPE, ILE, LRT) will be accepted as proof of the level of knowledge of languages indicated in the online applications.
• For other issues, visit the FAO employment website: http://www.fao.org/employment/home/en/
• Appointment will be subject to certification that the candidate is medically fit for appointment, accreditation, any residency or visa requirements, and security clearances.

HOW TO APPLY

• To apply, visit the recruitment website atJobs at FAO and complete your online profile. We strongly recommend that your profile is accurate, complete and includes your employment records, academic qualifications, and language skills
  • Candidates are requested to attach a letter of motivation to the online profile
  • Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application
  • Candidates may be requested to provide performance assessments and authorization to conduct verification checks of past and present work, character, education, military and police records to ascertain any and all information which may be pertinent to the employment qualifications
  • Incomplete applications will not be considered
  • Personal information provided on your application may be shared within FAO and with other companies acting on FAO’s behalf to provide employment support services such as pre-screening of applications, assessment tests, background checks and other related services. You will be asked to provide your consent before submitting your application. You may withdraw consent at any time, by withdrawing your application, in such case FAO will no longer be able to consider your application
  • Only applications received through the FAO recruitment portal will be considered
  • Your application will be screened based on the information provided in your online profile
  •  We encourage applicants to submit the application well before the deadline date.

If you need help or have queries, please create a one-time registration with FAO’s client support team for further assistance: https://fao.service-now.com/csp

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