Organizational Setting

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) contributes to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda through the FAO Strategic Framework by supporting the transformation to more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems, for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind. The Subregional Office for the Pacific Islands (SAP) is responsible for developing, promoting, overseeing, and implementing strategies and projects that drive the transformation of food, agriculture, and rural development. It also fosters and maintains relationships with subregional institutions. The Subregional Office is a subsidiary of the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (RAP)

This EOI is for the delivery of activities in Kiribati and Samoa under two projects. The UN joint program on accelerating progress towards Rural Women’s Economic Empowerment (UN JP RWEE) is a global initiative with an overarching goal to secure rural women’s livelihoods, rights and resilience in the context of sustainable development, agenda 2030 and SDGs. Phase II in 2022, focused on scaling up to new countries and contexts, currently operating in Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, Tanzania, Tunisia, and the Pacific Islands (Fiji, Kiribati, Solomon Islands, and Tonga). The program in the Pacific Islands, draws on the complementary knowledge and gender, agriculture, livelihood expertise of the four UN agencies, FAO, IFAD, UN Women and WFP. FAO will support Pacific countries with the implementation of relevant gender transformative approaches, policies and actions, such as climate smart agriculture, and gender value chain approaches.  

Samoa is at risk of droughts and other climate-related disasters due to several factors, including its location, topography, and the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). About 70% of Samoa's population and infrastructure are in low-lying coastal areas, making the country vulnerable to flooding. El Niño tends to bring droughts and forest fires. Samoa is experiencing more frequent long dry spells and more intense tropical cyclones. The Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment of Samoa (MNRE) developed a drought policy for Samoa in 2023 – Samoa Drought Policy (currently in process to be endorsed by Government). FAO received a request (May 2024) from MNRE for FAO’s support to develop relevant drought indicators and anticipatory actions on drought. In addition, MNRE Forestry requested FAO support to build capacity of Samoa Forestry staff on teak wood production, harvesting, and value adding. However, challenges include lack of data, lack of indicators to trigger drought, reliable modelling projections, early warning systems, anticipatory actions, limited technical capacity, and present challenges for decision making.

Reporting Lines

The Climate Smart Agriculture Expert – Agromet, Anticipatory action, biogas will be under the overall supervision of the FAO Subregional Coordinator (SRC) for the Pacific and will directly report to the project’s Lead Technical Officer (LTO) / Natural Resource Officer. He/she will liaise with other technical, operational and administrative colleagues.

Technical Focus

Knowledge of Pacific Island context, culture and communities; community development, stakeholder consultation; climate smart agriculture (CSA) practices; agrometeorology, anticipatory action research, project delivery; daily implementation, management, and project activities.  

Key focus areas

Climate smart agriculture (CSA) - meteorology, agromet, women farmer engagement, women’s development and empowerment, anticipatory action, and biogas.

Tasks and Responsibilities:

Kiribati

The Climate Smart Agriculture Expert – Agromet, Anticipatory, action, biogas will perform the following tasks:
•     Support delivery of climate smart agriculture training and take lead in the delivery of the training on biogas component;
•     Review progress and status of existing biogas systems in Kiribati including the recently installed digesters in 2025; 
•     Address issues and challenges of the existing biogas systems to ensure they are working as needed; 
•     Assist with installation of the Vinyl digester at Agriculture and Livestock Division (ALD); 
•     Provide clear instructions for maintaining digesters; 
•     Draft and finalize mission report on biogas

Samoa

Climate Smart Agriculture Expert – Agromet, Anticipatory, action, biogas will perform the following tasks:
•     Lead Drought hazard mapping - Conduct as assessment of information and develop a drought hazard mapping for Samoa with particular attention paid to agricultural impacts and conduct training of trainers with relevant stakeholders on drought hazard mapping.
•     Support efforts to strengthen the agriculture drought early warning systems and develop an agriculture drought trigger, embedded into the national early warning system
•     Work closely with government, farmers associations, and relevant stakeholders to share information to strengthen and develop early warning systems where needed, including thresholds, triggers and parameters for drought (i.e. develop a combined drought index). 
•     Support the development of standard operation procedures (SOPs) for drought preparedness and anticipatory actions in the agriculture sector based on information collected from stakeholders.
•     Support the training of trainers on relevant tools identified for monitoring and management of agriculture drought, and where necessary according to needs support adapt tools to be used in Samoa’s context. 
•     Provide technical inputs to the development of a SOP for the FAO Damage and Loss Methodology for MAF staff use and to support the collection, storing and analysis of information. 
•     Conduct a study of the potential use of remittances for anticipatory action in Samoa. 
•     Support validation workshops on SOP for Loss and Damage and SOP for Anticipatory Action.
•     Perform other duties as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

•     University Degree from an institution recognized by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/UNESCO in in Science, Agriculture, Environmental Science or related fields. 
•     Minimum 3 years of experience in biogas systems 
•     Minimum 2 years in Meteorology and Agrometeorology 
•     Working knowledge of English and fluent in Samoan or I-kiribati language
•     Experience working in Pacific Islands, especially in Kiribati and Samoa
•     National of Samoa and Kiribati

FAO Core Competencies

•     Results Focus
•     Teamwork
•     Communication
•     Building Effective Relationships
•     Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

•     Minimum experience of 5 years in providing technical advice in relation to national agriculture projects.
•     Demonstrated project management experience.
•     Demonstrated knowledge of stakeholder engagement, CSA, disaster risk management and emergency responses and activities.
•     Demonstrated engagements with Country Strategic Frameworks, and/or related document development.
•     Demonstrated experience with implementation, monitoring and reporting of pilot demonstrations. 
•     Experience working with a cross-section of stakeholders, including senior government officials, women organizations, non-government organization in Tonga. 
•     Strong writing and reporting skills and language proficiency

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION