World Bank seeks to recruit an E T Consultant – Yaounde, Cameroun
| Job #: | req1081 |
| Organization: | World Bank |
| Sector: | Agriculture |
| Grade: | EC2 |
| Term Duration: | 1 year 0 months |
| Recruitment Type: | Local Recruitment |
| Location: | Yaounde, Cameroon |
| Required Language(s): | English,French |
| Preferred Language(s): | English,French |
| Closing Date: | 12/7/2018 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC |
Description
Established in 1944, the WBG is one of the world’s largest sources of funding and knowledge for development solutions. In fiscal year 2017, the WBG committed $59 billion in loans, grants, equity investments and guarantees to its members and private businesses, of which $19 billion was concessional finance to its poorest members. It is governed by 188 member countries and delivers services out of 120 offices with nearly 15,000 staff located globally. For more information, please visit www.worldbank.org.
Agriculture is an essential pathway to meeting the World Bank Group’s (WBG) twin goals—eliminating extreme poverty by 2030 and promoting shared prosperity. Food production must increase by at least 35 percent to meet the needs of the rising global population. Thus, ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity cannot be achieved without more and better investment in agriculture, food security, and nutrition. Meeting today’s challenges on the food and agriculture agenda will require major strides in agricultural innovation and climate smart agriculture, efficiency in food production and distribution systems, promoting environmentally and socially sustainable production practices, strengthening agricultural policy and institutions, supporting agribusiness value chains, and joint private and public sector action. The Agriculture Global Practice (GP) of the WBG, working closely with the International Finance Corporation (IFC),supports a Global Vision for Food and Agriculture with agriculture able to feed every person, every day, in every country with a safe, nutritious and affordable diet, and where jobs and income gains in the food system are sufficient to meet poverty reduction targets.
To help the achievement of the twin goals, the strategic focus of the Agriculture GP, as reflected in the Agriculture Action Plan, is to help client countries one the issues mentioned above. Our current work program (150+ operations) consists of engagement in policy dialogue, investment, and forging partnerships across the globe seeking to (i) raise agricultural productivity, (ii) link farmers to markets and strengthen value chains, (iii) support rural non-farm income, (iv) reduce risk, vulnerability, and gender inequality, and (v) enhance environmental services and sustainability.
The Agriculture GP is led by a Senior Director, who has overall responsibility for the GP. The Senior Director is assisted by the Director, who serves as the Chief Operating Officer of the Practice. The Agriculture GP Management Team, which is the group that leads and manages the GP, consists of the Directors mentioned above and ten Agriculture Practice Managers, who manage the roughly 250 staff working on Agriculture in all six Regions and on global programs. About a third of the staff are located in Country Offices.
The Agriculture GP works with and across multiple sectors, in recognition of the fact that Agriculture outcomes often depend on actions that lie outside the
Practice, and the GP actively collaborates on work managed by other Global Practices such as Water, Transport and Digital, Environment, and Education and the International Finance Corporation. Accordingly, a capacity to work across GP boundaries,forge coalitions and influence multi-practice solutions is essential for achieving the major objectives of improving agriculture outcomes.
The Africa Region has three Agriculture GP Units. The GFA07 Unit covers Central, Eastern and Southern Africa, and consists of 26 staff, half of whom are in the Country Offices. The Unit has a portfolio amounting to about US$2.4 billion (IBRD/IDA), covering four Country Management Units (CMU) in the Africa Region. The WBG engagement in Cameroon has been growing, especially in the agricultural sector, which employs about 60% of the population and most of the poor draw their livelihood from agriculture,livestock, and fisheries. The WBG agriculture program in Cameroon focuses on increasing agricultural productivity and climate resilience, linking farmers to the markets, supporting the emergence of value chains, and facilitating the engagement of the private sector.
Duties and Accountabilities :
The ET Consultant will contribute to the delivery of the work program, assurance of quality, interaction with internal and external clients,including the private sector, and partnerships.
The primary responsibility of the selected candidate will be to provide technical, operational and strategic support to the development and implementation of GFA07’s work program in Cameroon and other GFA07 countries as needed. S/he will report to the GFA07 Practice Manager based in Washington, DC. S/he will work closely with the Senior Livestock Specialist, the Sustainable Development Program Leader and the Country Management Unit in the Yaounde office of the World Bank.
In particular, the selected candidate will :
- Contribute to the preparation and supervision of agriculture operations in Cameroon, led by the Agriculture GP and those projects supporting agriculture and food system related activities managed by other GPs. Assure timely delivery of these operations with high levels of quality ;
- Initiate/participate in analytical and strategic work pertaining to agricultural and food systems development, including work managed by GFA07 and those that are managed by other GPs, but requiring input from agricultural staff ;
- Coordinate and follow up with government counterparts and consultants, provide high-quality research and analytical support, including drafting policy notes related to complex agriculture, agribusiness and water policies ;
- Contribute to policy dialogue on agricultural and rural issues and interactions with the client and partners, and alert management (both country and sector) to issues requiring attention ;
- Assume an active role in the Cameroon country team with the aim to ensure adequate and appropriate integration of relevant aspects of the agriculture and rural development agenda in core Bank products, including the country partnership framework, country economic memorandum and the like ;
- Serve as an active member of the GFA07 team in AFR, contributing to the Region’s strategic scale up of support for agricultural and food systems development ;
- Participate in collaborative and coordination efforts with other donors and partners to optimize synergy with Bank supported projects and programs and to leverage IDA resources where feasible ;
- Participate in the dialogue with relevant representatives of the private sector in order to keep abreast with issues related to the business investment climate and identify possible areas of collaboration through public-private-partnerships.
Selection Criteria :
- Masters or PhD in Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Sciences or related disciplines. A minimum of 5 years of relevant working experience in related to agriculture, agriculture economics, gribusiness, and other disciplines related to food systems ;
- Recognized and respected by peers; demonstrated commitment to team work and ability to interact effectively and collegially with peers at all levels ;
- Familiarity with the institutional context of Cameroon and experience interacting with institutions involved in agriculture and rural development ;
- Ability to think innovatively and strategically in dealing with policy issues while maintaining a strong client focus ;
- Excellent interpersonal, problem-solving and team skills with ability to find balanced, pragmatic and implementable solution ;
- Ability to work across various disciplines and multi-disciplinary teams; while being diplomatic and sensitive to cultural, political and gender issues ;
- Ability to contribute to the design and execution of policy and/or research initiatives, project design, organization and management ;
- Ability to work under pressure while retaining perspective and a sense of humor; high level of energy, initiative and self-motivation, coupled with willingness to travel extensively and work under challenging conditions ;
- Proven written and oral communication skills in English and French, including the ability to present complex issues to specialists as well as to non-specialist audiences.
Required Competencies :
- General Agriculture/Economic Knowledge and Analytical Skills – Possesses strong quantitative analysis capability; able to support findings/policy recommendations with credible analysis using advanced statistical/econometric techniques ;
- Agriculture and Water Policy, Strategy and Institutions – Solid understanding of agriculture and water policies, strategies, institutions, and regulations ;
- Integrative Skills – Understands relevant cross-sectoral areas how they are interrelated; able to undertake cross-sectoral work in lending and non-lending operations ;
- Lead and Innovate: Contributes new insights to understand situations and develops solutions to resolve complex problems. Adapts as circumstances require and manages impact of own behavior on others in context of WBG’s values and mission. Identifies and pursues innovative approaches to resolve issues ;
- Deliver Results for Clients: Adds value by constantly looking for a better way to get more impactful results; sets challenging stretch goals for oneself. Immerses oneself in client experiences and perspective by asking probing questions to understand unmet needs.Demonstrates accountability for achieving results that have a development impact and financial, environmental and social sustainability. Identifies and proposes solutions to mitigate and manage risks ;
- Collaborate Within Teams and Across Boundaries: Appropriately involves others in decision making and communicates with key stakeholders ;
- Approaches conflicts as common problems to be solved. Actively seeks and considers diverse ideas and approaches displaying a sense of mutuality and respect. Integrates WBG perspective into work ;
- Make Smart Decisions: Seeks diversity of information and inputs, researches possible solutions, and generates recommended options. Identifies and understands risks and proposes recommendations. Based on risk analysis makes decisions in a timely manner within own area of responsibility ;
considering the interests and concerns of stakeholders.
Note : The selected candidate will be offered a one-year appointment, renewable for an additional one year, at the discretion of the World Bank Group, and subject to a lifetime maximum ET Appointment of two years.
The World Bank Group values diversity and encourages all qualified candidates who are nationals of World Bank Group member countries to apply, regardless of gender, gender identity, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability. Sub-Saharan African nationals, Caribbean nationals, and female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.