DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

27 September 2024-23:59-GMT+02:00 Central Africa Time (Lusaka)

WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status or disability.

ABOUT WFP

The World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity, for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

At WFP, people are at the heart of everything we do and the vision of the future WFP workforce is one of diverse, committed, skilled, and high performing teams, selected on merit, operating in a healthy and inclusive work environment, living WFP’s values (Integrity, Collaboration, Commitment, Humanity, and Inclusion) and working with partners to save and change the lives of those WFP serves.

To learn more about WFP, visit our website: https://www.wfp.org and follow us on social media to keep up with our latest news: YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter.

WHY JOIN WFP?

• WFP is a 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.
• WFP offers a highly inclusive, diverse, and multicultural working environment.
• WFP invests in the personal & professional development of its employees through a range of training, accreditation, coaching, mentorship, and other programs as well as through internal mobility opportunities.
• A career path in WFP provides an exciting opportunity to work across the various country, regional and global offices around the world, and with passionate colleagues who work tirelessly to ensure that effective humanitarian assistance reaches millions of people across the globe.
• We offer an attractive compensation package (please refer to the Terms and Conditions section of this vacancy announcement).

BACKGROUND

In July 2023, the World Food Programme (WFP) Zambia commenced a new five-year Country Strategic Plan (CSP), informed by, and aligned with national and United Nations priorities and global commitments under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It embraces the Government’s long-term Vision 2030; aligns with 16 key strategic areas of the 8th National Development Plan (NDP8); and contributes to the joint Zambia-United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF).

WFP Zambia’s integrated and pragmatic CSP shifts away from unsustainable localized and micro-level interventions, to embrace more effective advocacy and engagement with national policies, systems, and programmes to achieve national impact on SDG2. Given the Government’s commitment to budgetary support for nutrition, social protection, and agriculture, despite the constraints in the country’s fiscal position, WFP’s overarching strategy seeks to strengthen the government’s capacities to meet its national priorities through stronger systems, expertise, and resources for implementation. This means a decisive shift of WFP’s country positioning towards the provision of innovative, sustainable, upstream technical assistance to support nationally owned solutions.

Advancing the global WFP Strategic Plan (2022-2025), the CSP addresses both SDG2 and SDG17, and WFP’s Strategic Results 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. WFP will implement seven activities to achieve five Strategic Outcomes (SO) under the CSP. These SOs include: (SO1) responding to crises and shocks ensuring that crisis-affected people, including refugees, are able to meet their urgent food and nutrition needs; (SO2) addressing the root causes of malnutrition; (SO3) building the resilience, enabling environment and market access for smallholder farmers, especially women; (SO4) supporting government institutions to provide social protection systems (including home grown school meals) and disaster preparedness and response; and (SO5) improving access to supply chain services for humanitarian and development actors.

JOB PURPORSE AND REPORTING

Under the overall guidance and supervision of the Strategic Outcome Manager and reporting to the Activity 3 Manager – Resilience, the incumbent will be required to support the implementation of innovative smallholder production interventions including irrigation, water harvesting and crop production among smallholder farmers and schools.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive, within delegated authority):

Support in building synergies between the schools and the Ministry of Agriculture Extension Services System and the private sector players to ensure sustainability of school production units. Support capacity building of Field Office staff, schools, and extension staff to ensure they have adequate capacity to support the production gardens and transfer of knowledge on various irrigation technologies. Support the design and installation of irrigation systems to enable smallholder farmers to engage in all year-round production of crops. Support the design and installation of water harvesting systems to leverage both rainwater and underground water for crop production. Support schools in setting up production units and irrigation systems to ensure optimal crop production to support the home-grown school meals (HGSM) programme. Support development and review of reference and guidance materials to support effective implementation of school food production units and smallholder farmer irrigation systems. Support capacity building of smallholder farmer groups and their respective committees to ensure effective management and long-term sustainability of the irrigation and production systems. Support smallholder farmer groups to develop crop production calendars to optimize irrigation systems and other resources. Support smallholder farmer groups to establish linkages with private sector agro-dealers to ensure timely supply of various agro-inputs including but not limited to seeds, fertilisers, chemicals, and other productivity enhancing technologies. Other tasks as required.

DESIRED EXPERIENCES FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE:

• At least five (5) years’ experience in an International Organization or agricultural private sector involved in irrigated horticulture farming, crop, and pest management.
• Thorough knowledge of different irrigation systems and horticultural crop production.
• Excellent interpersonal, writing, and oral presentation skills.

STANDARD MINIMUM ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS:

Education: First University Degree in Agricultural Engineering, Agriculture, Horticulture, Natural Resource Management, Agriculture Science, or related field. Or a Diploma in Agricultural Engineering, Agriculture, Horticulture, Natural Resource Management, Agriculture Science, or related field with two (2) years additional work experience.

Knowledge & Skills:

• Computer skills in word processing and spreadsheet applications.
• Ability to plan and organize work with minimal supervision; resourcefulness, initiative, maturity of judgment, tact, and ability to establish and maintain effective working relations with other UN agencies, Government departments, cooperating partners, and communities of different national and cultural background.

Language: Fluency in both oral and written communication in English language.

WFP LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK

WFP Leadership Framework guides to the common standards of behavior that guide HOW we work together to accomplish our mission.

Click here to access WFP Leadership Framework

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION

WFP is dedicated to fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion. Our recruitment process is inclusively crafted to welcome candidates of all backgrounds, celebrating diversity and ensuring a respectful environment for all. We aim for an accessible and fair recruitment journey. Should you need any reasonable accommodations or have accessibility concerns, please reach out to us confidentially at global.inclusion@wfp.org. Our DEI team is here to ensure your full participation in our recruitment process.

NO FEE DISCLAIMER

The United Nations does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Furthermore, please note that emblems, logos, names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore, you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web.

REMINDERS BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION

• We strongly recommend that your profile is accurate, complete, and includes your employment records, academic qualifications, language skills and UN Grade (if applicable).
• Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application.
• Please make sure you upload your professional CV in the English language
• Kindly note the only documents you will need to submit at this time are your CV and Cover Letter
• Additional documents such as passport, recommendation letters, academic certificates, etc. may potentially be requested at a future time
• Please contact us at global.hrerecruitment@wfp.org in case you face any challenges with submitting your application
• Only shortlisted candidates will be notified

All employment decisions are made on the basis of organizational needs, job requirements, merit, and individual qualifications. WFP is committed to providing an inclusive work environment free of sexual exploitation and abuse, all forms of discrimination, any kind of harassment, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. Therefore, all selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.