Agribusiness Officer (Value Chains)

The Agribusiness Officer (Value Chains) provides analytical and technical support on agribusiness and agrifood value chains development, focusing on economic competitiveness, sustainability, market requirements, policy environment, and financing opportunities. The role supports formulation and implementation of investment-related policies, programmes, projects, and capacity development activities within the FAO Investment Centre.

Responsibilities

• Participates in multidisciplinary teams for the 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 in food security, agriculture, rural development, natural resource management and agro-processing 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 productivity, market access, resilience, private sector engagement, support services, policy and regulatory frameworks, risk management, and food safety and sustainability standards.
• Identifies and analyses policy and institutional factors affecting enabling environment for investment, including crowding out of private sector participation.
• Identifies priority actions at country level to support performance, sustainability and resilience of selected value chains in collaboration with international financial institutions, donors and local stakeholders.
• 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 dialogue and contributes to design of 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 and finance, or a closely related field.
• Five years of relevant experience in value chain analysis, and/or development, agribusiness operations, procession, market access or closely related topics including experience in the analysis, 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.
• Work experience in developing countries and/or private sector experience is desirable.
• Experience in agrifood value chains development, including analytics on market dynamics, competitiveness, food safety, resilience and sustainability standards and/or in participating in public-private policy dialogue to promote investment in agrifood value chains.
• Experience in participating in multidisciplinary teams for the preparation of strategies, sector studies, and for the implementation of capacity development and technical assistance activities.
• Experience in investment design, implementation support, capacity development, advisory and technical assistance related to investment operations with FAO's main development partners, including International Financial Institutions.
• Experience working with private sector stakeholders and multi-stakeholder partnerships across agrifood value chains.
• Experience dealing with public institutions, government officials, development partners and other country stakeholders.
• Demonstrated capacity writing quality technical reports in English.
• Adherence to FAO Values of Commitment to FAO, Respect for All and Integrity and Transparency.

Skills

• Value Chain Analysis
• Agribusiness Management
• Agrifood Investment
• Market Access
• Agrifood Value Chain Development
• Food Safety Regulations
• Sustainability Standards Compliance
• Resilience Analysis
• Public-Private Dialogue
• Investment Design
• Capacity Development
• Technical Assistance
• Agricultural Economics
• Agribusiness Finance
• Multidisciplinary Team Collaboration
• Technical Report Preparation
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Public Sector Partnerships
• Development Partner Coordination
• Economic Competitiveness Analysis

Languages

English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish