Background

The Agriculture Transformation Agenda (ATA), unveiled by the Honorable Minister for Agriculture presented opportunities for the provision of technical assistance and other support to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) for the scale up of positive inclusive markets experience in Nigeria. The ATA is aimed at establishing a sustainable agriculture and agribusiness in Nigeria to raise the income of rural farmers. UNDP through its project, Facility for Inclusive Markets (FIM) has offered to support the Government of Nigeria (GoN) in key demand areas that include developing and implementing key value chains in agriculture and agro-industry and enhancing inclusiveness. FIM will also work towards its goal of catalyzing the scale up of positive Inclusive Market experience in Nigeria and as a platform for capturing knowledge in and out of Nigeria.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) is providing, through UNDP, long term technical assistance to the Agricultural Transformation Implementation Group (ATIG) as the organ established by the FMARD to implement the Agricultural Transformation Agenda. This support will complement the UNDP-FIM project and ensure the successful delivery of the goals of the ATA. This project will provide critical technical expertise to strengthen the capacity of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to successfully implement the ATA. The UNDP-BMGF technical assistance to FMARD will support term technical assistance for capacity development and the expansion of value chains in agriculture and agro-industry, institutional policy support and direct intervention to farmers and other small holder value chain actors that are vital to ensuring inclusiveness and sustainable results in the creation of business opportunities and jobs at the grassroots.

To be able to effectively execute the transformation plan, the office of the Minister requires the support of a professional Knowledge Management Adviser to develop a comprehensive and interactive knowledge management strategy and plan, which seeks to respond to the demand for a multidimensional private sector-wide platform for agriculture. The Knowledge Management unit will promote the development and availability of cutting-edge research and development materials and up-to-date information, data and knowledge on agriculture and agribusiness and economic empowerment.  The unit will support the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to codify the experience of its Agricultural Transformation Agenda to inform other developing countries embarking on similar agricultural reform agenda and the scaling up transformative knowledge in West Africa.

This post is a DPF (Development Project Funds )

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of Key Functions:

• Lead the development of  a  knowledge management strategy and implementation plan for the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development addressing the needs of the Agricultural Transformation Agenda with the Directorate for Policy Research and Statistics Department which constitutes the knowledge hub for all matters pertaining to agriculture in Nigeria. 
• Lead the development of  a comprehensive  mapping audit of agricultural data and information sources,  identifying specific institutional roles and responsibilities, and systems and processes currently employed for collecting, managing, analysing,  and sharing data and information with policymakers and other stakeholders.
  
• Lead the development of a detailed Monitoring and Evaluation framework to allow the performance assessment of implementation of the Agriculture Transformation Agenda.
• Lead the creation and implementation of an appropriate and agreed mechanism for capturing and documenting key lessons learned, including successes and failures, from interventions on the ATA.  Create processes to collaborate with the Communications Unit to package information into knowledge products such as success stories and newsletters for dissemination to stakeholder audience within and outside Nigeria.
• Lead the codification of the experience of the Nigeria Agricultural Transformation Agenda to presentation at international seminars and conferences and assisting countries in West Africa embarking on similar reform agenda. Support the establishment of a KM platform on agricultural best practices to support learning and capacity building in the region.
• Liaise with relevant counterparts on agricultural best practices through ECOWAS for exchange of experience, mapping and coordinating regional activities for KM experts. Interact with the UNDP, Bureau of Development Programme (BDP) to facilitate the implementation of the KM framework in support to regional strategic plans relevant to developmental agriculture and partnership in the region.
• Manage the on-going requirements of a  knowledge management system in which relevant data, information and knowledge relating to the ATA and issues pertaining to agriculture in Nigeria, in general, are systematically acquired, continuously refined and disseminated internally and externally to counterparts partners, donors, media and other stakeholders as appropriate.
• Support the needs of the Ministry to collate an up-to-date, easy-to-access database of lessons learned and best practices in the areas of policy innovation, programme planning, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation to inform  the Ministry’s Policy programme guidance and policy dialogue.    Ensure evidence based information and results on programmatic evidence and evaluation-is systematically gathered, extracted, managed, analyzed, curated in the database  and disseminated on an on-going basis within the country and outside.
• Create a systemized and responsive approach for guiding ongoing  analyses needed to address observed policy and programmatic gaps and for identifying opportunities for innovation and policymaking adjustments, drawing on data and information from evaluations carried out on the FMARD; and lessons learned and best practices from within the country and abroad are identified and acquired. Establish key knowledge management system performance indicators  and regular performance reports against which objectives of the knowledge management strategy are regularly evaluated, performance is assessed to guide continuousimprovement and  effectiveness of the system. 
• Oversee capacity building and support for internal knowledge creation, acquisition, management and sharing; ensure relevant communities of practice are developed and strengthened.  Support development of staff, consultants and key partners and collaborators to become “knowledge professionals” through the identification of learning opportunities to ensure a pipeline of professional expertise and advice on all aspects of knowledge management as required.
• Facilitate the development of core Knowledge Management capacity within the FMARD through capacity building and the supervision of relevant knowledge management staff. 
• The KM Adviser may be delegated to represent the Ministry on KM related matters, including on public discussions/presentations)

Impact of Results

The key results have an impact on creation of effective Knowledge and Information Management systems and dissemination of information on the activities of the Ministry and the ATA as a national development network. In particular, the key results allow systematic tracking of the success of the implementation of the ATA Agenda and Knowledge Management strategy, as well as reaching out and sharing best practice and capacity development within the country and the West Africa region. Knowledge Management becomes a strong and indicative component of the success of the ATA.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:      

Advocacy/Advancing a Policy-Oriented Agenda

• Creates effective advocacy strategies
• Contributes to the elaboration of advocacy strategies by identifying and prioritizing audiences and communication means.
• Uses the opportunity to bring forward and disseminate materials for advocacy work.

Building Strategic Partnerships

• Sensitizes UN Partners, donors and other international organizations to the UNDP’s strategic agenda, identifying areas for joint efforts.
• Promotes UNDP’s agenda in inter-agency meetings.

Promoting Organizational Learning and Knowledge Sharing

• Makes the case for innovative ideas documenting successes and building them into the design of new approaches.
• Identifies new approaches and strategies that promote the use of tools and mechanisms.

Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise

• Understands more advanced aspects of primary area of specialization as well as the fundamental concepts of related disciplines.
• Continues to seek new and improved methods and systems for accomplishing the work of the unit.
• Keeps abreast of new developments in area of professional discipline and job knowledge and seeks to develop him/her professionally.
• Demonstrates comprehensive knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments.

Creating Visibility for UNDP/Supporting UNDP’s Capacity to Advocate

• Develops promotional activities based on monitoring/evaluation information identifying areas requiring higher visibility
• Develops messages for use by UNDP staff when working with partners, internationally and nationally.
• Reviews documents and materials intended for use within and outside the organization in order to ensure consistency and validity of messages.

Global Leadership and Advocacy for UNDP’s Goals

• Creates effective global advocacy messages and strategies.
• Contributes to the elaboration of a global advocacy strategy by identifying and prioritizing audiences and messages.

Conceptual Innovation in the Provision of Technical Expertise

• Leverages different experiences and expertise of team members to achieve better and more innovative outcomes.

Client Orientation

• Anticipates and responds quickly to client needs
• Works towards creating an enabling environment for a smooth relationship between the clients and service provider
• Demonstrates understanding of client’s perspective and importance of primary good quality data

Core Competencies:

• Promoting ethics and integrity, creating organizational precedents
• Building support and political acumen
• Building staff competence,  creating an environment of creativity and innovation
• Building and promoting effective teams
• Creating and promoting enabling environment for open communication
• Creating an emotionally intelligent organization
• Leveraging conflict in the interests of UNDP & setting standards
• Sharing knowledge across the organization and building a culture of knowledge sharing and learning. Promoting learning and knowledge management/sharing are the responsibility of each staff member.
• Fair and transparent decision making; calculated risk-taking.

Required Skills and Experience

Education: 

• Advanced university degree in knowledge management and/or development related area (social policy research and analysis, agribusiness or international development, Information, Communication, Monitoring and Evaluation,  Economics, Sociology, Logistics Management,  Public Administration, Public Policy, Development Management, International Relations, Agriculture, Business Administration, etc.)

Experience:

• 10 years of relevant professional working experience in Knowledge Management Systems and processes.
• Proven experience in developing and managing multi-stakeholder knowledge management strategies
• Experience in the design and development of knowledge management  and M&E system, organizational development, business process improvement, or organizational/systems change management.
• Familiarity with current KM techniques and trends
• Strong analytical skills and reporting skills.
• Experience using different data analysis tools/techniques (STATA, SPSS, SAS, etc).
• Experiencing preparing written reports and documents for policy audience, including working closely with communications division on policy briefs, white papers, and official communication.
• Experience managing teams of experts including staff and consultants.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English and good working knowledge of French desirable.

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.