Background

• Assist the public vocational colleges and Information Consultancy Centres in the development and delivery of innovative, relevant and effective training programmes and advisory services;
• Support the development of a national system to produce qualified human resources (multipliers) that can offer various types of trainings and services to farmers;
• Facilitate the setting up of a public private cooperation and partnership model for coordination and provision of VET and extension services in agriculture. 

ENPARD Ajara - Support to Agricultural Development in Ajara AR with financial assistance from the EU and Ajara Government will be implemented in 2013-2015 with the budget of 3.3 mln Euro. The project has two objectives: (1) to increase returns to farming in Ajara, and (2) to strengthen the capability of the Ministry of Agriculture of Ajara AR in policy analysis and related tasks. In the course of achieving these objectives, and in responding to the priorities set out in the Ajara Regional Development Strategy, support will be provided under three components:

• Increasing and improving services to small farmers;
• Development of business-oriented small farmer groups, associations and other forms of profit-based collaborative actions between farmers;
• Institutional development of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Autonomous Republic of Ajara. 

Duties and Responsibilities

• Providing strategic advice to UNDP Georgia and its national, regional and local partners on the issues related to the development of agriculture, and serving as a resource on relevant issues for UNDP Georgia and the  authorities of the Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia and the Ministry of Agriculture of Ajara Autonomous Republic;
• Participating in relevant national/ local discussions about the design of programs related to support to farmers, profit-oriented small farmers groups, and farmers service providers; and
• Providing valuable substantive analysis, insight and advice to UNDP Georgia and its partners from the international perspective, experience and lessons learned related to national policies on agriculture development, profit-oriented small farmers groups (cooperatives), and farmers’ service provision models. 

• Contributing to development of national, regional and local capacity assessments and capacity development plans; and
• Advising, coordinating and leading formal trainings, or day-to-day coaching of project and stakeholder staff on relevant issues if needed. 

• Advising the Project Managers (Modernization of the Vocational Education and Training and Extension Systems related to Agriculture in Georgia; ENPARD Ajara - Support to Agricultural Development in Ajara AR) and UNDP Georgia  on all substantive aspects of planning, implementing and monitoring the project activities;
• Providing regular advice and guidance to project staff on substantive issues related to their day-to-day responsibilities as well as strategic planning; and
• Serving as a resource person and contributing to the development of the internal capacities within the team as required. 

• Providing substantive advice to the UNDP CO on the topics of the improvement and development of programs related to the development of agriculture, grounded upon the expert experience, opinion and international practice;
• Liaising with respective international stakeholders and players and establishing lasting partnerships to include identifying areas of common interest for establishing joint approaches to identified problems and ensuring synergies at the local and national levels; and
• Support co-ordination with the other components of the ENPARD Programme being in close communication with the EU Delegation and take part in the Steering Committee Meetings of the overall ENPARD Programme.
• Cooperating and coordinating with related ongoing and proposed international projects in Georgia (e.g., EU, USAID, SDC, ADA) and promoting complementarities with these projects. 

• Supporting and contributing to the planning and implementation of key knowledge products (analytical reports, working papers, strategies/concepts, surveys, studies, mapping exercises and other) within the mentioned projects and developing follow up policy discussions; and
• Providing substantive contributions to reports on project achievements that will provide essential input for UNDP reports to project boards and donors.

While on duty, the Agriculture Adviser shall work at the offices based in Tbilisi and Batumi, Georgia. The assignment involves extensive travel to various regions in Georgia including regular visits to Ajara AR (maximum 50% of consultant’s time in Georgia).

Competencies

• Demonstrates commitment to UNDP’s mission, vision and values;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Highest standards of integrity, discretion and loyalty.

• Shares knowledge and experience;
• Actively works towards continuing personal learning, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills.

• Ability to perform a variety of specialized tasks related to Results Management, including support to design, planning and implementation of program, managing data, reporting;
• Ability to provide input to business processes re-engineering, implementation of new system, including new IT based systems;
• IT competencies in Word, Excel, Power Point and internet.

• Focuses on result for the client and responses positively to feedback.

Required Skills and Experience

• University degree or equivalent in Agriculture Sciences, Economics, Public Administration/Public or Development Policy or related field;  

• At least 7 years of relevant working experience (including at international level) in the field of agriculture policy planning and development, development of profit-oriented farmers groups, development of institutions related to delivery of services and skills development to farmers; working experience in agriculture-related issues in transitional countries will be an advantage.
• Demonstrated success in providing technical advice on the agriculture development, farmers’ services and education related issues in the context of multiple stakeholders.
• Demonstrated experience in working with counterparts at various levels within government structures on projects with complex technical dimensions in the sphere of agriculture development, farmers’ services and education, and profit oriented small farmers groups.
• Knowledge of the country specific social-economic context, farm sector, context as well as a prior experience in providing technical assistance within a comparable transition context would be a strong asset.
• Prior experience in providing technical assistance within a comparable transition context would be a strong asset. 

• Fluency in English is a must, and knowledge of Georgian and/or Russian would be an asset.