International Agro Meteorology Specialist Full-Time

Organizational Setting

FAO Mozambique seeks to engage a part time Agro-Meteorological Expert to play a very active role: guiding and supporting the start-up of agro-meteorological activities under the climate change adaptation project. He/she will work closely with all relevant national agencies and stakeholders and provide direct support to INAM and IIAM to guide the installation of equipment in selected areas of Maputo, Gaza, Manica, Sofala and Tete provinces, establish maintenance and operational plans for equipment with INAM and IIAM and to develop a work plan and budget for agro-meteorological development in collaboration with DINAS-DECAP to be supported by the project. During this initial year, the expert will support the project implementation together with INAM, IIAM , and MASA/DECAP and other related institutions to set the overall national institutional framework in place for the establishment of a basic agro-meteorological information system in the target areas in Mozambique. By the end of the project INAM and IIAM and other relevant staff will be able to operate the national agro-meteorological system independently and will be competent to continue to strengthen the agro-meteorological system in Mozambique following the end of the project.

Reporting Lines

The consultant will work under the direct supervision of the project Chief Technical Adviser and with straight cooperation with Lead Technical Officer.

Technical Focus

• Organize and conduct 5 to 7 missions to Mozambique in support of project implementation and in close cooperation with national institutions;
• Support the training of technicians from the National Institute of Meteorology to implement anti-theft housing for the small parts of the weather stations;
• Support the 3-month training for technicians from IIAM, INAM and MASA/DCAP;
• Support the hiring of a consultant to create the SmartCampo Mozambique, as well to organize the missions (field visits, meetings with stakeholders, and trainings) and define the format and content of the system;
• Certificate, according to approved equipment specifications, the provision, installation, inspection, put into operation and maintenance of purchased meteorological and telecommunication equipment, hardware purchased by the project;
• Support production of regular information to farmers (i.e. seasonal climate outlooks and weather forecasts translated and tailored to local context for practical advice concerning seed selection, planting date selection, fertilizer use, etc.);
• Support INAM, IIAM, DNSA-DCAP and other related institutions in establishing agro-meteorological Early Warning Systems and other public communication tools to reduce vulnerability of small farmers to meteorological conditions. For example, Boletim Meteorológico Mensal (BMM) and Boletim Climático Anual (BCA), Forum Nacional de Antevisao climáticas and other tools/products;
• Plan and provide technical guidance on implementation of all agro-meteorological activities including, capacity building, data collection, database development, data analysis, agro-meteorology information products and dissemination tools;
• Prepared appropriate documents and training materials, organize and deliver training workshops in the framework of the Farmers Field School (FFS) of the project;
• Prepared appropriate documents and training materials, organize and deliver training workshops to engage extension agents to use climate/weather information to assist growers to modify crop management to adapt to climate variability and change;
• Preparation of progress reports and other technical reports according to FAO format and guidelines;
• Detailed end-of-assignment report describing the work undertaken, progress towards achieving assignment objectives together with a detailed work plan concerning the activities to be performed by national staff after completion of assignment.

 Tasks and responsibilities

• Define a detailed work plan to cover the duration of the assignment. This work plan is to be produced taking into consideration the assessment result during the first mission and in accordance with national institutions and project needs;
• Refine and implement the capacity building strategy to be supported by the project based in identified gaps in INAM, IIAM, ISPM, MASA/DECAP and other related institutions;
• Provide technical guidance to the implementation of all activities under output 2.5 and related outputs including the recruitment of national staff, consultants and development related Terms of Reference;
• Supervise the installation of new weather stations and rain gauges;
• Elaborate the Annual work plan and budget of output 2.5 of the project;
• Coordinate the establishment of technical and human capacity of the staff within the Agromet Units of INAM, IIAM and MASA/DECAP;
• Promote strengthened coordination among INAM (climate information’s producers), IIAM (agronomic research), DNSA-DCAP (early warning system for crop production) and DNEA (agricultural extension);
• Assist in the selection, installation and exploitation of appropriate software for data collection, archiving, processing and analysis for the three Agromet Units;
• Plan and coordinating all agro-meteorological activities of the three Agromet Units;
• Liaise with other related projects, i.e. World Bank Mozambique’s Strategic Program for Climate Resilience (SPCR);
• Transform Hydrological and Meteorological Services Project in all meteorology-related activities;
• Prepare appropriate documents and organizing the regular workshops in the framework of the Farmers Field School (FFS) of the project;
• Organize with other stakeholders a process to validate and disseminate the information for the farmers and extension agents;
• Prepare detailed manuals concerning the procedure for data collection, processing, analysis and dissemination, in collaboration with project staff and consultants;
• Identify training needs and related curricula for all required staff of the project and the elaboration and delivery of specific training programs with appropriate institutions;
• Develop and implement procedures and formats for disseminating climate and agro-meteorological information in the framework of Farmers Field School (FFS);
• Assist in the on-the-job training in order to develop the national capacity to sustain the system beyond the end of the project;
• Ensure the preparation of annual work plans and budget revisions are timely completed and submitted;
• Maintain and develop the partnership with other ministries, departments and agencies for relevant inputs and outputs;
• Provide support to the Project Steering Committee (PSC) to ensure their regular monitoring of the day-to-day implementation of the activities, review the achievements and plans of the project on a regular basis, facilitate the resolution of the problems met and advise the CTA on any matter relevant to project’s activities;
• Provide information to progress reports and other technical reports according to FAO format and guidelines;
• Provide a detailed end-of-assignment report describing the work undertaken, progress towards achieving assignment objectives together with a detailed work plan concerning the activities to be performed by national staff during year 2 of the project;
• Undertake any other duties in support of the project as may be required by the CTA.

 Candidates will be assessed against the following

Minimum Requirements

• Master’s degree in agro-meteorology, meteorology, agronomy, environmental studies or closely related fields. Technical and practical knowledge of the impacts’ assessment of climate variability and climate change on agriculture is critical;
• A minimum of 5 years of progressive and relevant experience in the field of operational agro-meteorology;
• Working knowledge of English and limited knowledge of another FAO language (for Consultants). Working knowledge of English (for PSAs).

 FAO Core Competencies

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

 Selection Criteria

• Experience in agro-meteorology activities for agriculture and food security, particularly in developing countries;
• Experience in the use of specific agro-meteorological software for crop monitoring and yield forecasting;
• Experience in producing and disseminating agro-climate information for rural farming communities;
• Experience in the use of remote sensing products and GIS software for environmental monitoring;
• Excellent understanding of the linkages among agriculture, climate variability, vulnerability and climate change adaptation in rural farming communities;
• Past working experience in Southern Africa would be an asset;
• Knowledge of Portuguese would be an asset.