Job Opportunity as an Agro-Ecological Zoning Consultant at FAO in UAE

FAO offers a job opportunity as an Agro-ecological zoning consultant. The project activities will be geared towards four outputs and will lead to the development of a master plan through a sequential, logical, inclusive, and consultation process. The key deliverables of the project will include: (a) a Theory of change for the master plan; (b) a decision support tool; (c) preparatory studies to inform the master plan; and (d) the Master plan document, based on the above deliverables. You will work under the overall guidance of the SNG coordinator, the technical supervision and guidance of the Head of FAO Lead Technical Unit NSL, in close coordination with the project manager and the project Lead Technical Officer (LTO) and various technical departments at FAO Headquarters (HQs), in close collaboration with the ADAFSA and FAO assigned task forces. The Agro-ecological zoning consultant will be responsible for analyzing the functional needs required for a National Agro-Ecological Zones (NAEZ) and Land Resources Information Management Systems (LRIMS), and identify data requirements and core information existing in the country to be included in the systems and inform the master plan document.

Eligibility:

You must have: 

• Advanced university degree (Ph.D. will be preferred) in Information Systems, Natural Resources Sciences, Computer Science, GIS, or the equivalent combination of education and relevant professional experience.
• Seven years’ experience in information technology applications and GIS for agriculture, natural resources, land-use suitability evaluation and scenario development.
• Extent and relevant experience in GIS for climate change and scenario development, projects and programs, and database management for modeling and analysis.
• Experience in management of agricultural production assessment and monitoring and geospatial-based projects and programs.
• Experience in GIS/RS and relevant geospatial analysis techniques required for agriculture, natural resources, land-use suitability evaluation and scenario development.
• Familiar with the agro-ecological zoning studies and formation methodologies and best practices at the country level.
• Extent and relevant of experience in spatial data handling, analysis, GIS and database management for modeling and analysis.
• Please note that all candidates should adhere to FAO Values of Commitment to FAO, Respect for all, and integrity and transparency.
• FAO does not charge any fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview, processing).
• Proven experience in organizing training and workshops as well as in drafting technical material and reports.
• Ability to work in a multicultural team with national counterparts, under very tight deadlines.
• Working knowledge of English and limited knowledge of one of the other FAO languages (French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Russian), preferably Arabic.

The required FAO core competencies:

• Results focus.
• Teamwork.
• Communication skills.
• Building effective relationships.
• Knowledge sharing and continuous improvement.

Your Responsibilities:

 You will be responsible for:

1. Lead on developing land resource database, including soil, water, terrain, socio-economic, land management, land cover, etc., and data, with the help of RS (remote sensing) and GIS tools.
2. Apply methodologies and tools to produce agro-ecological zones, agro-climate zones.
3. Prepare tools for an estimate of the crop suitability, crop potentials, crop economics, yield gaps for the selected crops.
4. Provide data for decision support tool (DST) and support on LRIMS activities.
5. Provide technical support to the generation of the detailed work-plan for related components of the project, and relevant to the AEZ databases and analysis.
6. Support national experts on the integration of existing datasets on land resources.
7. Work in close collaboration with ADAFSA and counterpart staff, providing information and guidance on the implementation of technical activities related to AEZ.
8. Participate in technical missions to discuss the AEZ with national stakeholders and collect relevant information/data.
9. Apply methodologies and tools to produce agro-ecological zones, agro-climate zones.
10. Provide and organize related technical workshops and training sessions for enhancing national technical capacity.
11. Work in close collaboration with ADAFSA and counterpart staff, providing information and guidance on the implementation of technical activities related to AEZ.

About the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO):

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Its goal is to achieve food security for all and make sure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active healthy lives. With over 194 member states, FAO works in over 130 countries worldwide. It believes that everyone can play a part in ending hunger.

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