Organizational Setting
The Agrifood Economics and Policy Division (ESA) conducts economic research and policy analysis and provides evidence-based support to national, regional and global policy processes and initiatives related to monitoring and analysing food and agricultural policies, agribusiness and value chain development, rural transformation and poverty, food security and nutrition information and analysis, resilience, bioeconomy and climate-smart agriculture. The Division also leads the production of two FAO flagship publications: The State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) and The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI).
The position is based at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy, within the Investments for Sustainable Markets, Agribusiness and Rural Transformations (iSMART) team within ESA. The iSMART team’s primary focus lies in conducting economic analyses to promote investments transforming agrifood value chains and making agrifood systems more efficient, resilient and inclusive. This involves providing state-of-the art measures and categorization of territories, firms and household groups in terms of poverty, economic growth potential and environmental vulnerabilities. Providing innovative solutions to tackle existing challenges requires a deep analysis of public and private incentives, institutional designs e.g. contract farming, public-private partnership and digital innovations. The team evaluates these solutions through robust evidence generation in order to propose the most efficient options for scaling up. These analyses are crucial in understanding and promoting processes of inclusion, inequalities, resilience, sustainability, and transformation within agrifood value chains.

Reporting Lines
The Economist reports to Economist (iSMART), ESA, under the overall supervision of the Senior Economist of the iSMART team.

Technical Focus
The Economist in this role will specialize in micro-economic analysis, techniques and tools, integrating advanced econometrics, survey design, sampling methodologies, resilience and risk analysis, spatial analysis and impact evaluation techniques in the study of agrifood systems and agrifood value chains. This multifaceted position requires a comprehensive understanding of poverty and inequalities issues, in the context of the agrifood sector of low- and middle-income countries. Robust quantitative and analytical skills are needed to drive innovative economic research, policy formulation, strategic planning, and impact. The Economist will harness a variety of data sources, including surveys, administrative data and remote sensing, to analyse trends, trade-offs and synergies within the agrifood sector to deliver an inclusive and sustainable transformation pathway. By structuring analyses around these pillars, the Economist will contribute to providing a comprehensive understanding of agrifood dynamics and inform effective strategies and investments for sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development. More specifically, the Economist will support activities that relate to FAO’s technical network on poverty analysis (THINK-PA); activities under the United Nations Common Country Analysis (CCA) for the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF); and overall, in support to guiding policies and investments at country level in agrifood systems sectors that can lead to the acceleration of poverty reduction, the eradication of hunger, and the sustainable management of natural resources.

Key Results
Collection, analysis and review of information, data and statistics, and project/meeting services to support programme products, projects, publications and services.

Key Functions
• Collects, reviews/cross checks and/or analyses relevant agricultural, economic, trade, market, social, environmental, nutrition/food composition and/or gender related data, statistics and information to support delivery of programme projects, products, publications and services.
• Undertakes analysis, provides technical input for plans and reports and edits/revises technical documents and/or publications.
• Participates in the development of improved tools and methodologies.
• Updates databases and web pages.
• Participates in multidisciplinary project/work teams.
• Participates in the development of training materials and the organization of workshops/seminars, etc.
• Participates in the organization, conduct and follow-up of meetings, consultations and conferences, the development/production of required materials and the provision of information and assistance to partners.

Specific Functions
• Conducts poverty, vulnerability and inequality analysis by utilizing state-of-the-art econometric methods and sampling techniques to understand the causes and dynamics of poverty, vulnerability and inequality in low- and middle-income countries across the agrifood system.
• Analyses the impact of policies, investments and interventions that promote food security and nutrition, inclusive growth, increase incomes, reduce inequalities and improve livelihoods of small-scale farmers and workers in the agrifood system.
• Supports the coordination and mobilization of studies and research programmes under the Technical Network on Poverty Analysis (THINK-PA), the FAO’s Inequality Knowledge Hub and the UN Common Country Analysis (CCA).
• Provides quantitative assessment in agrifood value chains by leveraging quantitative tools to evaluate data pertaining to production, distribution, prices and consumption processes.
• Implements investment prioritization techniques in selected territories by developing and applying precise spatial quantitative analysis to shed light on the most strategic and high-impact investment opportunities in chosen areas. This process includes extensive spatial analysis, data evaluation and economic modeling to understand the potential returns and risks associated with different investment opportunities.
• Drafts various reports, briefs and other technical documents related to economic assessment of agrifood systems and policies.
• Performs other duties as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements
• Advanced university degree in economics, econometrics, agricultural economics, spatial economics, development economics or a related field.
• Three years of relevant experience in economic and quantitative analysis of agrifood system, including experience with advanced econometric models, spatial analysis, management of large datasets, survey and sampling design, research on food security and rural poverty, resilience and vulnerability and practical application in policy formulation and strategic investment prioritization within the agrifood sector, particularly in developing countries.
• Working knowledge (proficient – level C) of English and limited knowledge (intermediate – level B) of another official FAO language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish).

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, particularly in field positions.
• Extent and relevance of experience in applied quantitative research in the field of agrifood systems, including experience in preparation of papers and/or reports for publication.
• Extent and of experience in economic and policy analysis of issues in agrifood systems and food security at a national, regional and/or global scale.
• Extent and relevance of experience in conducting quantitative economic analysis, economic modelling and/or applying econometric techniques in one or more of the relevant subject areas above.
• Excellent programming skills in specialized software, particularly R, but also others such as STATA, ArcGIS, Python or others are desirable.
• Quality of both oral and written communication in English, including the ability to write clearly and concisely for publications.
• Demonstrated ability to manage, analyse and present quantitative information clearly and effectively.
• Capacity to work effectively in multidisciplinary teams with minimal supervision and to plan workflows to meet tight deadlines.