Agribusiness Officer

The Agribusiness Officer provides analytical and technical support on agribusiness and value chains development and agricultural support services to formulate, implement and evaluate investment policies, strategies, programmes and projects in food and agriculture, rural development, natural resource management and agro-processing. The role supports investment and finance solutions to transform agrifood systems in line with the FAO Strategic Framework.

Responsibilities

• Participates in multidisciplinary teams for identification and preparation of investment and finance support solutions in food security, agriculture, rural development, natural resource management and agro-processing, including pre-appraisal and appraisal missions.
• Supports implementation of investment and finance support solutions and preparation of final evaluations.
• Participates in preparation of food security, agriculture, rural development, natural resource management and agro-processing studies and strategies, and formulation of national sector and/or sub-sector investment plans and programmes.
• Supports development of inclusive and sustainable food systems involving producers, private sector actors, civil society organizations and governments.
• Contributes to capacity development activities for investment support to government staff, non-state actors and private sector organizations.
• Prepares reports in accordance with governments and financing partners' requirements.
• Promotes knowledge sharing and best practices at international meetings and conferences and interacts with international and national partners.
• Supports promotion and maintenance of relationships with relevant Programme Priority Areas, FAO technical units and Decentralized Offices to ensure synergies between investment, policy and innovation work.
• Supports resource mobilization activities in accordance with the FAO Strategic Framework.
• Supports analysis of selected agrifood value chains with interaction with public, private and civil society stakeholders.
• Analyses key constraints and opportunities for investment across selected value chains including private sector engagement, support services, trade and policy frameworks, risk management, and food safety standards.
• Identifies and analyses agricultural investment-related policy issues and possible agribusiness solutions.
• Identifies options and designs country-level interventions and related investments in selected value chains with partners.
• Analyses agrifinance constraints and develops solutions to improve access to finance across value chains including de-risking instruments and blended finance solutions.
• Supports development of knowledge products including analytical work and practical tools related to agribusiness, marketing and value chain development.
• Participates in public-private platforms and policy dialogs and designs strategies to strengthen enabling environment for scaling up investments along the value chain.

Requirements

• Advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in agriculture, agro-industry, business administration, agribusiness, economics, agricultural economics finance or a closely related field.
• Five years of relevant experience in the practical application of value chain analysis and development, agribusiness and market development, processing, including experience in the formulation and/or implementation of agrifood investment operations in developing countries.
• Working knowledge (proficiency - level C) of English and intermediate knowledge (intermediate proficiency - level B) of another FAO official language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish).
• Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in field positions is desirable.
• Experience in food security, agriculture, rural development, natural resource management and agro-processing analytical studies, feasibility studies and programme evaluation and/or in participating in public-private policy dialogue to promote investment.
• Experience in multidisciplinary teams for preparation of strategies and sector studies, formulation, implementation support or evaluation of investment and finance support solutions with focus on financial and economic aspects.
• Experience in design, implementation support and evaluation of investment operations with FAO's main development partners, including International Financial Institutions.
• Experience in capacity development for design and implementation of food security, agriculture, rural development, natural resource management and agro-processing investments.
• Demonstrated experience in dealing with government officials, development partners and other country stakeholders.
• Demonstrated capacity writing high quality technical reports in English.

Skills

• Value Chain Analysis
• Agribusiness Development
• Market Development
• Agrifood Investment
• Food Security Analysis
• Rural Development Policy
• Natural Resource Management
• Agro-Processing
• Feasibility Studies
• Programme Evaluation
• Public-Private Dialogue
• Investment Strategy Development
• Sector Studies Preparation
• Investment Implementation Support
• Financial Analysis
• Economic Analysis
• Capacity Development
• Technical Report Preparation
• Stakeholder Engagement
• International Financial Institutions

Languages

English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish