Digital Agriculture Officer

POSITION TITLE:	Digital Agriculture Officer (PROR-F)
TYPE OF CONTRACT:	Consultancy
UNIT/DIVISION:	Food Systems and Smallholder Support Unit (PROR-F)
DUTY STATION (City Country):	Rome, Italy (remote working with trips to Rome could be considered)
DURATION	11 months

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

The Food Systems and Smallholder Support (PROR-F) Unit provides guidance and technical support to country offices designing and implementing programmes that contribute to improved smallholders’ livelihoods and sustainable food systems. The Unit designs and disseminates tools that facilitate the implementation of smallholder agricultural market support programmes (SAMS), post-harvest loss interventions, local and regional food procurement and food systems coordination initiatives, allowing country offices to achieve the SDG targets.

Over the past few years, the PROR-F Unit has collaborated with the Technology Division (TEC) to develop and roll out Farm2Go to selected country offices implementing SAMS programmes. Farm2Go is WFP's internally developed digital solution to support WFP's smallholder farmer programme activities. It facilitates the connection between different actors in the value chain to ensure smallholder farmers can sell their commodities to new markets.

By proving its relevance and success in pilot countries such as Rwanda, Mozambique and Bangladesh, the Farm2Go product has now reached the maturity to be embedded into a broader WFP digital agriculture roadmap.

As a leading stakeholder in WFP’s smallholder support work, the PROR-F unit will lead the development and implementation of a digital roadmap for WFP's smallholder farmer support programmes.

Under the direct supervision of the PROR-F Programme and Policy Officer and in close collaboration with the TEC Farm2Go Product Manager, the incumbent will be responsible for the successful digital transformation of the PROR-F business capability, with a focus on reviewing Farm2Go and other digital agriculture initiatives to support WFP's smallholder farmer programme activities.

MAIN ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES (not all- inclusive)

1. Lead the development of a digital agriculture roadmap for PROR-F, defining and suggesting the digital solutions that will be needed to improve decision-making and reporting on programmatic outcomes.

1. Coordinate and manage engagement with other WFP teams, units, divisions and departments (e.g. TEC, PROR-L, PRO-C, SBP, NUT, SCOP-F, SCOL-R, INKA, STR, Mastercard Foundation Programme Coordination Team etc.) to foster their contribution to the digital agriculture roadmap.

1. Ensure oversight and coherence across digital innovations for agriculture that are being piloted and implemented by COs.

1. Represent PROR-F Unit in relevant internal digital meetings (such as the Programme Division Digital Advisory Board) and external digital and innovation meetings, gatherings and events.

1. Conduct a mapping of all other relevant digital agriculture solutions, reach out to private sector service providers and map their solutions to WFP's smallholder farmer programme requirements and existing digital solutions.

1. Establish relationships with other UN agencies also interested in, and/or implementing, digital agriculture initiatives.

1. Define and articulate the pros and cons, and related implications, of promoting Farm2Go as an internal operational/project management tool or as external tool, to be used/handed over to Governments, private sector, NGOs, or other UN agencies.

1. Develop sustainable business model(s) for digital agriculture initiatives, such as Farm2Go, to determine if the digital solution will continue to be funded (either internally, externally or a combination) in the future.

1. Lead resource mobilization and fundraising strategy for digital agriculture and Farm2Go roadmaps’ implementation.

1. Work in close collaboration with the TEC Farm2Go Product Manager to monitor the scale up of Farm2Go in existing country implementations and use the feedback to further populate the Farm2Go roadmap.

1. Collaborate with the Farm2Go Product Manager to ensure Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the adoption of Farm2Go by country offices are developed and kept up to date.

1. In collaboration with the Farm2Go Product Manager, prepare and manage the budget for Farm2Go roadmaps’ implementation, conducting regular reviews to ensure efficient use of resources.

1. Collaborate with the PROR-F and TEC Communications and Knowledge management officers for the development and dissemination of internal and external communication products related to digital agriculture and Farm2Go.

1. Work in collaboration with monitoring and evaluation officers to ensure Farm2Go data are used to improve evidence generation and performance monitoring of SAMS programmes in WFP.

1. Lead the organization of webinars and workshops with digital agriculture and Farm2Go stakeholders, including co-leading the organization of the Digital Agriculture Community events with Farm2Go Product manager.

1. Orient, train, coach and mentor the Farm2Go implementers at the different Regional Bureau and Country Office level or facilitate that these activities take place with the goal to achieve operational excellence.

1. Document country office mission terms of reference and be willing to travel to countries where implementation review and field requirements analysis is required.

1. Regularly update and guide the leadership at PROR and TEC on Digital Agricultural and Farm2Go’s roadmaps scale up by providing bi-weekly updates.

1. Any other duties as required.

DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT:

1. Digital agriculture roadmap and suggested direction is documented.

1. Farm2Go roadmap is documented and aligned with overall PROR-F digital strategy.

1. Other relevant units, divisions and departments are engaged and contribute to the definition and implementation of the roadmaps.

1. SOPs for Farm2Go adoption by COs are developed and regularly updated and implemented.

1. Sustainable business model(s) for Farm2Go are developed and kept up to date.

1. Consensus on Farm2Go internal vs. external usage is reached.

1. Budget and funding for roadmaps implementation are successfully managed and secured, including through resource mobilization and fundraising strategy.

SPECIFIC QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Knowledge & Skills:	Expertise in Information communications technology (ICT) and innovation strongly desired. In-depth knowledge and proficiency with product and service management (vision and strategy), product backlog management (analyse and prioritize product backlog items based on the business roadmap), Agile & Scrum methodologies, business process analysis, and knowledge of Human-Centred Design and Service Design is required. In-depth knowledge of application development and leveraging data for decision making. Good command of customer-centric methodologies to assess and improve the customer experience, strong customer empathy, and proven knowledge of how to build great user experiences across web and mobile devices. Experience in business development, budget management and business model creation. Knowledge of smallholder value chain development, food systems, agriculture market access programmes is strongly desired. Knowledge of WFP digital tools and application development process will be an asset. Ability to lead and manage projects and teams. Strong interpersonal skills for consensus building and collaborative result accomplishment required. Excellent document writing skills. Good planning skills and ability to work well in a team setting required. Ability to work independently and take initiative required. Proficient in MS Office (Word, Excel, Power Point) required
Education:	Bachelors or master's degree in one or more of the following disciplines: business management, business administration, economics, social sciences, information technology, communication or agriculture.
Experience:	At least 8 years of progressively professional experience in business transformation, service design and implementation, product management, or related innovation fields are required. Experience with introduction and scale up of innovations Experience with product management with WFP and/or other UN agencies is desirable.
Languages:	Fluency in English. Knowledge of another UN official language will be considered an asset.

Closing Date 28.11.2022

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