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 Forestry Division (NFO) leads FAO’s work in promoting sustainable forest management and providing leadership on the environmental, social and economic dimensions of forestry, including its contributions to poverty reduction and food security and nutrition. It liaises with Members, civil society and the private sector in aspects ranging from development of effective forest policies to forest conservation and management issues and strengthens the role of forests in climate change mitigation and adaptation. The Division also collects analyses and disseminates information on the world’s forest resources and on the production trade and consumption of wood and non-wood forest products.

The Forest and Landscape Restoration Mechanism (FLRM) has been established during the 22nd Session of the Committee on Forestry (COFO) in June 2014. The FLRM is built on the advantages of a UN Agency with expertise and experience in several of the land-use sectors and its extensive network of country, subregional and regional offices. The FLRM aims at scaling-up, monitoring and reporting on FLR activities to contribute to the Bonn Challenge and Biodiversity targets. It helps to coordinate and facilitate the development and implementation of projects, programmes and related activities in FAO member countries, in full collaboration with other key actors. The FLRM operates globally by developing financial intelligence functions (raising awareness on FLR and fundraising actions towards key donors), preparing guidelines and standards for baselines and verification of successful efforts and contributing to more effective reporting to the Rio Conventions.

Reporting Lines

The Forest and Landscape Restoration Mechanism Specialist will report to the Senior Forestry Officer within the Forest and Restoration Mechanism team, Forestry Division.

Technical Focus 

Technical and programmatic support to the activities of The Forest and Landscape Restoration Mechanism in Africa and to NFO’s work on the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.

Tasks and responsibilities

The Consultant will be responsible for the following tasks organized in different work packages:

The Great Green Wall Flagship selected in the context of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration
•    Support the launch and implementation of Component B of the GGWSSI flagship in partnership with the FAO country offices in Niger and Burkina Faso, leveraging extensive project management and stakeholder engagement skills to ensure effective program rollout. This includes the following activities:
o    In the countries, assessment of local organizations to support the deployment of the program’s entrepreneurship training curriculum.
o    Adjustments and finalization of the training materials to meet the local demands and address the identified needs, integrating practical experience from managing training solutions across cultural contexts.
o    Implementation of the training solutions, in-person when feasible and online otherwise, in coordination with the selected local support organizations.
o    Coordination with the flagship’s other components to ensure alignment between the program’s elements and with the broader ecosystem of stakeholders.
o    Documentation of results, lessons and insights to inform future version of the training curriculum.
o    Scoping of potential post-program partners to provide capacity building continuity to the trained entrepreneurs.

•    Support the Lead Technical Officer (LTO) and the international consultant in the FLRM team to follow and provide technical/operational advice on the implementation of the GGWSSI Flagship, in particular:
o    Support the preparation of annual technical progress reports.
o    Support the preparation of annual workplans and budgets in close collaboration with the national teams, the Lead Technical Officer (LTO) within NFO (FLRM).
o    Support communication and outreach efforts, utilizing multimedia experience, data analysis, website development, content creation and public speaking expertise to enhance visibility and impact of the project.
o    Submit best practices of FLR in the Sahel to the UN Decade platform.

Targeted support Flagships selected in the context of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration
•    Support the upscaling of the Restoration Explorer and Factory program in more UN Decade’s relevant geographies:
o    Contribute to the design and early implementation strategy for the Restoration Factory program in the Democratic Republic of Congo, leveraging insights from previous ecosystem restoration projects.
o    Provide support to design the deployment strategy of the Restoration Explorer program in the context of the UN Decade’s Small Island Developing States (SIDS) flagship, using experience in adapting environmental initiatives to various global contexts.
•    Facilitate the UN Decade’s Flagship Targeted Support in Pakistan, Nepal led by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Agroforestry in Dryland led by Trees For the Future (TREES) and Regreening Africa led by International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF).

Achieving AFR100 with forest and farm producers
•    Support the project’s third component that addresses value-added innovation and business incubation focusing on restoration-related value chains, creating green jobs and livelihoods in Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi.
o    Gather information on existing organizations delivering incubation and acceleration services at landscape level and support the selection process of incubators in selected landscapes.

Synthesis paper on ecosystem restoration and certifications
•    Support the case studies and synthesis paper on ecosystem restoration and certifications in collaboration with RainForest Alliance:
o    Finalize the selection of cases;
o    Coordinate the writing of the cases with authors and reviewers;
o    Arrange a collaborators’ meeting to validate the synthesis.

Terminal evaluation of closed projects
•    The FLRM is implementing the global project GCP/INT/296/GER (BMU) “The Paris Agreement in action: upscaling forest and landscape restoration to achieve nationally determined contributions”. This project will end in June 2024. The specialist will support the terminal evaluation of the project of in close collaboration with the FAO evaluation office, the national teams, the Lead Technical Officer (LTO) within FLRM;
•    The FLRM is implementing the global project GCP /GLO/900/GFF “The Restoration Initiative” (TRI) ending in 2024. The specialist will support in collaboration with the FAO evaluation office, the national teams, the Lead Technical Officer (LTO) within FLRM and the CTA; the preparation and implementation of the final evaluation.

LDCF Niger
•    The FLRM is supporting the FAO Country office in Niger and the FAO-GEF Unit to develop the full project document of the project called “Gestion intégrée de la doumeraie du bassin versant du Goulbi N’kaba et des écosystèmes adjacents (Région de Maradi)“ that was endorsed by the Least Developped Country Fund (LDCF) of the GEF-8 at the board in February 2024. The specialist will support the international project designer and the national consultants’ team to develop the project as required with a focus on identification of incubators in Niger.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

•    University degree in Environmental Science, Natural Resources or a related discipline
•    At least two years of relevant experience in with Mentorship, especially the Restoration Factory or Restoration Explorer Programs
•    Working knowledge (level C) of English

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills 

•    Work experience in more than one location or area of work.

Selection Criteria 

•    Working knowledge (level C) of French is an asset.
•    Experience working in the UN system, especially related to the finance sector.
•    Having received mentorship in the past from experts around business development.
•    Experience working in Africa, especially around entrepreneurship
•    Extensive knowledge on the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration