National Value Chains and Rural Finance Specialist – SURAGGWA

ABOUT FAO

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations leads international efforts to improve food security, reduce poverty and support sustainable agriculture and natural-resource management.

JOB SUMMARY

The National Value Chains and Rural Finance Specialist will support the SURAGGWA project with technical expertise in Non-Timber Forest Products, value-chain development, rural livelihoods, restoration and community capacity strengthening.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Prepare technical information on the contribution of wild foods and forests to healthy diets and nutrition.

• Support communication on bioeconomy and sustainable food and agriculture.

• Identify learning needs among target communities and project stakeholders.

• Develop training materials and technical tools.

• Review project activities and identify training requirements relating to Non-Timber Forest Product promotion.

• Conduct baseline assessments on NTFPs.

• Facilitate community-level training on landscape restoration and value-chain strengthening.

• Support communities to understand restoration planning and implementation.

• Train communities on establishment of NTFP nurseries.

• Provide technical guidance on forest-based contributions to sustainable agrifood systems.

• Support assessments of wild-food consumption and ecological sustainability of NTFP harvesting.

• Strengthen availability and quality of NTFP data.

• Develop technical guidelines for wild-food and NTFP interventions.

• Participate in project technical meetings and workshops.

• Prepare progress reports and technical deliverables.

• Prepare Terms of Reference, presentations and technical reports.

• Assess institutional gaps.

• Develop institutional capacity-strengthening strategies.

• Develop frameworks for inter-agency coordination.

• Support stakeholder engagement.

• Support establishment of institutional monitoring and reporting systems.

• Facilitate training for government, National Agency for the Great Green Wall and community actors.

• Support institutional reform and governance improvement.

• Carry out other technical duties assigned by FAO.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• Nigerian national.

• Advanced university degree in Environmental Studies, Value Chain Development or related discipline.

• Minimum five years of relevant professional experience.

• Experience in forestry and/or community mobilisation.

• Working knowledge of English.

• Working knowledge of Hausa.

• Kanuri and/or Fulfulde language ability is an advantage.

TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES

• Experience implementing environmental, restoration or natural-resource programmes.

• Experience with land-restoration initiatives.

• Community participation and stakeholder coordination.

• Non-Timber Forest Product value chains.

• Climate-resilient livelihoods.

• Monitoring and reporting.

• Data analysis relating to biodiversity and climate.

• Experience delivering workshops and training.

• Understanding of climate-smart traditional crops.

• Knowledge of equitable NTFP value-chain benefit distribution.

FAO CORE COMPETENCIES

• Results Focus.

• Teamwork.

• Communication.

• Building Effective Relationships.

• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement.

HOW TO APPLY

Applications must be submitted through FAO’s official recruitment portal.

FAO does not charge applicants at any stage of the recruitment process.

Deadline: 24 September 2026.