Sr. Agriculture Specialist/ Agriculture Economist

Sr. Agriculture Specialist/ Agriculture Economist

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Description



We are on a mission to change the world; do you want to join us where it matters the most? Invest in your personal and professional development and acquire the skills that are vital for a global career in international development. A role in an FCS (Fragile and Conflict Affected Situations) location will be a truly impactful experience!



Fragility Conflict and Violence: https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/fragilityconflictviolence



Working at the World Bank Group provides a unique opportunity for you to help our clients solve their greatest development challenges. The World Bank Group is one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries; a unique global partnership of five institutions dedicated to ending extreme poverty, increasing shared prosperity and promoting sustainable development. With 189 member countries and more than 120 offices worldwide, we work with public and private sector partners, investing in groundbreaking projects and using data, research, and technology to develop solutions to the most urgent global challenges. Visit www.worldbank.org.



AGRICULTURE GLOBAL PRACTICE


Agriculture is an essential pathway to meeting the World Bank Group’s (WBG) twin goals—eliminating extreme poverty by 2030 and promoting shared prosperity. Food production must increase by at least 35 percent to meet the needs of the rising global population. Thus, ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity cannot be achieved without more and better investment in agriculture, food security, and nutrition. Meeting today’s challenges on the food and agriculture agenda will require major strides in agricultural innovation and climate smart agriculture, efficiency in food production and distribution systems, promoting environmentally and socially sustainable production practices, strengthening agricultural policy and institutions, supporting agribusiness value chains, and joint private- and public- sector action.



The Africa Region has four Agriculture GP Units. The SAFA2 Unit covers Central, Eastern and Southern Africa, and consists of 26 staff, half of whom are based in the Country Offices. The Unit has a portfolio amounting to about US$2.4 billion (IBRD/IDA), covering four Country Management Units (CMU) in the Africa Region. The WBG engagement in DRC, ROC, Burundi and CAR has been growing, especially in the agricultural sector, which employs the major share of the population and most of the poor draw their livelihood from agriculture, livestock, and fisheries. The WBG agriculture program in the DRC CMU comprising DRC, ROC, Burundi and CAR, with total commitments of around $625 million and an additional $500 million in the pipeline, focuses on increasing agricultural productivity and climate resilience, promoting nutrition smart agriculture, linking farmers to the markets, supporting the emergence of value chains, and facilitating the engagement with the private sector.



Job Duties and Responsibilities:



The Senior Agricultural Specialist/Agriculture Economist will support the delivery of the work program, assurance of quality, interaction with internal and external clients, including the private sector, and partnerships. The primary responsibility of the selected candidate will be to provide technical, operational and strategic leadership to the development and implementation of SAFA02’s work program in the DRC CMU which covers DRC, CAR, Burundi, and ROC. Burundi is currently staffed with a GG IRS. S/he is expected to serve as the focal point for the Agriculture GP in DRC. S/he will, along with the LRS ETC, support the implementation and oversight of the DRC portfolio. S/he is also expected to take up the TTL-ship of the CAR operation. S/he is expected to participate in several missions within these countries during the year, which may include travel to remote areas in the countries concerned. S/he will report to the SAFA02 Practice Manager based in Washington, DC. S/he will work closely with the World Bank team, including Agriculture Specialists based in Washington DC and the Agriculture Economist (ETC), the Sustainable Development Program Leader, the SD team members in Kinshasa and HQ, and the Country Management Unit in the Kinshasa office of the World Bank.



• Lead and support the preparation and supervision of agriculture operations in DRC, CAR, Burundi, and ROC led by the Agriculture GP and those projects supporting agriculture and food system related activities managed by other GPs. Assure timely delivery of these operations with high levels of quality;


• Initiate and maintain a high level and quality of engagement and dialogue with key stakeholders, including government, civil society, private sector and research/academic community on strategic and policy issues concerning agriculture and agribusiness in DRC, Burundi, CAR, and ROC;


• Remain up-to-date with relevant pieces of analytical work in the sector. Initiate, lead, and /participate in analytical and strategic work pertaining to agricultural and food systems development, including work managed by SAFA2 and those that are managed by other GPs, but requiring input from agricultural staff;


• Initiate and lead inbound and outbound knowledge sharing relevant for agricultural and agribusiness development in DRC, CAR, Burundi, and ROC;


• Serve as an advisor to colleagues who are themselves TTLs of demanding operations, providing them with support and advice as required;


• Assume an active role in the CMU country team with the aim to ensure adequate and appropriate integration of relevant aspects of the agriculture and agribusiness development agenda in core Bank products, including systematic country diagnostics, country partnership frameworks, country economic memorandum and the like.


• Serve as an active member of the Agriculture Global Practice, including contributing to the scale up of the Bank’s engagement on agriculture in AFR; and


• As necessary, represent the Bank and the Agriculture and Food GP management at public events which have an agriculture sector focus.


• Participate in collaborative and coordination efforts with other donors and partners to optimize synergy with Bank supported projects and programs and to leverage IDA resources where feasible.


• Participate in the dialogue with relevant representatives of the private sector in order to keep abreast with issues related to the business investment climate and identify possible areas of collaboration through public-private-partnerships.



Selection Criteria



• Masters or PhD in Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Sciences or related disciplines. A minimum of 8 years of relevant working experience in related to agriculture, agriculture economics, agribusiness, and other disciplines related to food systems


• Strong technical, operational and analytical skills in a range of issues of relevance to agriculture, value chain development, food safety, and food systems in general;


• Strong implementation experience and problem solving abilities in FCVcontexts;


• Recognized substantive leadership in one or more of the strategic/ technical areas noted above;


• Recognized and respected by peers; demonstrated commitment to team work and ability to interact effectively and collegially with peers at all levels;


• Demonstrated ability to translate analytical work related to agriculture, rural development, and food systems into policy advice and actionable, practical recommendations for FCV clients;


• Demonstrated ability to conduct constructive policy dialogue with senior Government officials and technical staff and with other stakeholders;


• Demonstrated familiarity with Bank procedures, directives, business practices and experience in identifying, preparing, appraising, and supervising operations, as a task team leader and team member;


• Excellent interpersonal, problem-solving, and team skills with ability to work across various disciplines and multi-disciplinary teams; while being diplomatic and sensitive to cultural, political and gender issues.


• High degree of discretion, ethics, tact and sensitivity in handling confidential and sensitive information;


• Familiarity with the institutional and policy context of DRC, CAR, and/or ROC, Burundi, and experience interacting with institutions involved in agriculture, rural development and food systems;


• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English, including the ability to present complex issues to World Bank management and senior Government representatives, as well as to non-specialist audiences.



Competencies:


• Knowledge and Experience in Development Arena - Translates technical and cross-country knowledge into practical applications and contributions to country and sector strategies; interacts with clients at the policy level.


• Policy Dialogue Skills - Anticipates needs and requests in the field and conducts independent policy discussions with representatives of the government and non-government partners.


• Integrative Skills - Understands relevant cross-sectoral areas how they are interrelated; able to undertake cross-sectoral work in lending and non-lending operations.


• Agricultural economics - Deep understanding of concepts used in agricultural economics, with significant experience in their application.


• Agriculture Policy, Strategy and Institutions - Solid understanding of agriculture policies, strategies, institutions, and regulations.


• Project Design for Impact and Sustainability - Contributes to the design of projects and programs based on an understanding of the country and sector context.


• Sector Dialogue - Able to conduct a dialogue with the client including on complex issues, based on a solid understanding of the sector.



For information about WBG Core Competencies, please visit: https://bit.ly/2kbIA7O.



Poverty


has no borders, neither does excellence. We succeed because of our differences


and we continuously search for qualified individuals with diverse backgrounds


from around the globe.