Integrated Landscape Management Specialist
Job Posting: 22/Jun/2021
Closure Date: 20/Jul/2021, 4:59:00 PM
Organizational Unit: NSL
Job Type: Non-staff opportunities
Type of Requisition: Consultant / PSA (Personal Services Agreement)
Grade Level: N/A
Primary Location: Home-Based
Duration: Up to 11 months or when actually employed basis
Post Number: N/A
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Please note that Closure Date and Time displayed above are based on date and time settings of your personal device
FAO is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality, background, and culture
Qualified female applicants, qualified nationals of non-and under-represented member nations, and person with disabilities are encouraged to apply
Everyone who works for FAO is required to adhere to the highest standards of integrity and professional conduct and to uphold our values. FAO has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and FAO, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority, and discrimination
All selected candidates, therefore, will undergo rigorous reference and background checks
All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality
The incumbent may be re-assigned to different activities and/or duty stations depending on the evolving needs of the Organization
Organizational Setting
The Land and Water Division (NSL) aims to enhance agricultural productivity and advance the sustainable use of land and water resources through integrated landscape management (ILM) approaches and the promotion of governance, conservation and development of sustainable natural resources.
It addresses the challenges member countries face in ensuring enhanced productivity and efficient use of land and water resources in order to meet present and future needs for agricultural products and ensuring the long-term sustainability of both quantity and quality of these resources. The Land and Water Division (NSL) promotes the sustainable use and equitable access to these natural resources with a view to enhance productivity, supporting food security and resilient livelihoods.
Purpose
The purpose of this call is to provide FAO’s Land and Water Division with a Roster of qualified candidates for a number of profiles with different specializations to enhance the divisional ILM programme of work related to the Division’s four workstreams: (i) Decision-support for mainstreaming and scaling out of sustainable land management, (ii) Sand and Dust Storms work stream, (iii) Land Degradation Neutrality, land tenure and governance, and the inter-relation of these streams in integrated landscape management approaches; and iv) UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration priority assessment..
Contracts will be Home-Based until new modalities and protocols post-pandemic has been assessed by FAO.
Reporting Lines
The ILM Consultants will work under the overall guidance of the Director, Land and Water Division, and the technical supervision of the Senior Land and Water Officer, in close collaboration with the other team members, technical networks of the natural resources and productivity stream and relevant work streams and inter-departmental working groups.
Technical Focus
Supporting the policy development, providing strategic guidance, providing technical and field capacity support, conducting of data assessment, mapping and analysis, and quality control and effective implementation of FAO’s programme and projects in support to member countries relevant to integrated landscape management, specifically in the following areas:
land degradation assessment and land degradation neutrality, including implementation of measures and development of policy guidelines,
combatting sand and dust storms (SDS) through risk and impact assessment in agriculture sub-sectors (crop, forestry, livestock and rangeland),
land resources planning,
better management of soils to increase soil organic carbon (SOC) content to contribute to climate change mitigation, including capacity to assess SOC sequestration potential
land tenure and governance,
sustainable land management practices,
cost and benefit analysis, aggregating data,
incentives for adoption of best practices,
evidence-based investment opportunities, data collection and data information system of family farms typology, land degradation and land use system,
ecosystem restoration priority needs assessments and relevant indicators monitoring, and
impact of natural resource base degradation and depletion on rural livelihoods and ecosystem services,
Tasks and Responsibilities
Decision-support for mainstreaming and scaling out of sustainable land management stream:
Support the collection, analysis and dissemination of pertinent information regarding (inter alia) the status of land resources, land use, and other natural resource potential, competition over land resources and issues related to land resources assessment, monitoring and sustainable land use, decision support for mainstreaming and scaling out of sustainable land management, identification of barriers and incentives required for sustainable land management, agricultural/rural and environmental development;
provide substantive support, with selected partners/resource persons to develop a harmonized multi-scale land use systems’ classification and database, with regional specificities as required, building on existing classification systems and supporting integrated and sectoral land use assessments;
provide technical support to the execution of projects and programmes in adapting and applying up-to-date tools and methods in the assessment of ecosystem services, selection of sustainable land management options and their mainstreaming into national policies and strategies, incentives to support their adoption and promotion of activities for land resources assessment and management, including application of FAO tools at regional and (sub-) national levels; and
conduct of mapping, data analysis (including cost and benefits) of ‘bright spots’ and ‘hot spots’, data aggregation for impact analysis
Land Degradation Neutrality, land tenure and governance work stream:
Support the design of comprehensive landscape approaches, both for normative work, and for technical support to country projects linked especially to the GEF 7 portfolio and GEF 8 formulation, to address the broad multi-faceted nature of land degradation by addressing the trade-off and conflicts between competing land uses. This will include advising the development of strategies for: (i) applying cross-sectoral comprehensive land use planning approaches; and (ii) advising the development of strategies to increase coherence of national policy frameworks and investment, harmonize government resource allocations and assess effectiveness of allocations, to catalyse and better target national financing streams to mobilize domestic and private sector funding including LDN fund; integrating responsible governance and VGGT in LDN implementation and address harmful subsidies in the agriculture sector and provide incentives for reducing pressures on land use systems.
Support the co-ordination and collaboration between FAO and the UNCCD Secretariat on the SDG process under SDG target 15.3 on LDN and with the Global Mechanism including on LDN transformative projects and programmes.
Support the co-ordination and collaboration between FAO and the UNCCD Secretariat to support countries in their efforts to creating an enabling environment for Land Degradation Neutrality with the focus on land governance and secure land tenure through integration of VGGT in LDN.
Support the organization of the outreach activities and events for relevant platforms as UNCCD CRIC/ COP.
Support the organization of awareness-raising/ capacity-building events at regional levels
Support the organization, facilitation and follow-up of multi-stakeholder meetings, consultations and conferences and the development/production of knowledge and communication products.
Sand and Dust Storms work stream:
Provide technical and strategic guidance on the mapping of SDS-source areas;
Support the review of the identified high impact, context-specific practices and interventions for SDS source and impact mitigation and support the inclusion in relevant FAO good practices databases
Contribute to SDS-specific vulnerability and risk assessments and risk reduction planning at national and decentralized levels ensuring linkages to overall SFDRR planning (SFDRR target E national DRR planning and SDG 3.2 indicator) and priorities.Support the monitoring and assessment of SDS impacts on agriculture, in line with the Sendai Framework Monitor, indicator C-2;
Provide technical backstopping and monitoring and evaluation of SDS-specific projects and programmes;
Contribute to the formulation and development of project documents, technical and working papers, plans and reports, policy documents, training and capacity building tools;
Support the organization, facilitation and follow-up of multi-stakeholder meetings, consultations and conferences and the development/production of required materials;
Represent FAO at multi-lateral meetings related to SDS;
UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration
Support to priority needs assessments of restoration activities and relevant Task Forces of the Decade (e.g. on Best Practices) through the use of a range of tools (e.g. and degradation assessment, land use planning, World Agriculture Watch family farming typology), for alignment with the Framework on Ecosystem Restoration Monitoring (FERM), and with a focus on productive landscapes and sustainable livelihoods;
Update and revamp of the LADA, GLADIS and ECOCROP database, maps and information, and re-design to meet the needs of the new ILM team vision and projects, including ILM and SOLAW21 webpages updated and integration to the Hand-in-Hand Initiative.
General technical support:
lead in the formulation of new projects, and contribute to design of projects in the pipeline and the implementation of existing projects;
write and review technical reports, training materials and strategic documents including the analysis of status and trends related to land degradation, sustainable land and water resources management and sources of financing to support sustained adoption;
participate in country missions as necessary and provide technical assistance in capacity development, project implementation and evaluations/impact assessment;
prepare technical content for working papers, advocacy materials, web pages, articles and information material for technical networks, workshops, conferences and other outreach events, present on FAO work as required;
liaise with other FAO divisions, international agencies, government institutions, civil society and the private sector and other partners on land resources assessment and management with a view to making available effective partnerships, resource mobilization, and harmonization of methods, tools and approaches;
perform other related duties as required.
CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING
Minimum Requirements
University degree in natural resources management, agricultural sciences, environmental sciences, geography, disaster risk management, social science, climate change or closely related field.
One to four years for base level consultants, minimum of five years of relevant practical experience for middle level consultants, and 12 to 15 years of experience for senior level relevant to at least one of the four workstreams
Working knowledge of English, French or Spanish and limited knowledge of one of the other two or Arabic, Chinese, Russian (for Consultants). For PSA.SBS working knowledge of English might be sufficient.
FAO Core Competencies
Results Focus
Teamwork
Communication
Building Effective Relationships
Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement
Technical/Functional Skills
Demonstrated ability to deliver results within deadlines.
Selection Criteria
Candidates will be assessed against the following criteria as appropriate:
Extent and relevance of experience in land resources management, disaster risk management, knowledge and use of tools and methods, ecosystem assessment/management and geo-statistical/spatial analysis for sustainable agricultural and rural development;
Familiarity with the use of land resources assessment/management tools and methods, and application for integrated landscape management;
Extent and relevance of experience or knowledge of cross-sectoral issues related to land resources management and agriculture (including forestry, rangelands) in relation to climate change mitigation and adaptation, sustainable agriculture and forestry in developing countries;
Extent and relevance of knowledge of financing options to support adoption of sustainable land management, including incentives for ecosystem services (IES), payment for Ecosystem Services (PES), valuation and economics of ecosystem services and other innovative financing mechanisms;
Familiarity with UNCCD processes and LDN target setting program and/or LDN transformative program and project.
Familiarity with the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration priority actions and implementation modalities;
Extent and relevance of experience in programme/project formulation, implementation and monitoring and evaluation.
Ability to prepare, edit, analyse and revise technical and scientific information, to write and communicate clearly and concisely, including technical reports, project documents and effective oral presentations;
Extent of experience in (co-)organizing international technical meetings, workshops and/or conferences;
Relevance of the academic background; and
Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in field positions, is desirable.
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 any fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview, processing)
Please note that FAO will only consider academic credentials or degrees obtained from an educational institution recognized in the IAU/UNESCO list
If you are in possession of language certificate/s from UN accredited external providers and/or FAO language official examinations (LPE, ILE, LRT), please attach the certificate/s when submitting the application.
For more information, visit the FAO employment website
HOW TO APPLY
To apply, visit the recruitment website at Jobs at FAO and complete your online profile. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Only applications received through the recruitment portal will be considered.
We encourage applicants to submit the application well before the deadline
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