Programme Policy Officer (FTMA), SC8 at World Food Programme: (Deadline 3 April 2025)

Programme Policy Officer (FTMA), SC8 at World Food Programme: (Deadline 3 April 2025)

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

3 April 2025-23:59-GMT+02:00 Central Africa Time (Kigali)

WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status or disability.

ABOUT WFP

The World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity, for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

At WFP, people are at the heart of everything we do and the vision of the future WFP workforce is one of diverse, committed, skilled, and high performing teams, selected on merit, operating in a healthy and inclusive work environment, living WFP’s values (Integrity, Collaboration, Commitment, Humanity, and Inclusion) and working with partners to save and change the lives of those WFP serves.

To learn more about WFP, visit our website: https://www.wfp.org and follow us on social media to keep up with our latest news: YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok.

WHY JOIN WFP?

• WFP is a 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.
• WFP offers a highly inclusive, diverse, and multicultural working environment.
• WFP invests in the personal & professional development of its employees through a range of training, accreditation, coaching, mentorship, and other programs as well as through internal mobility opportunities.
• A career path in WFP provides an exciting opportunity to work across the various country, regional and global offices around the world, and with passionate colleagues who work tirelessly to ensure that effective humanitarian assistance reaches millions of people across the globe.
• We offer an attractive compensation package (please refer to the Terms and Conditions section of this vacancy announcement).

BACKGROUND:

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the United Nations frontline agency for fighting hunger. WFP reaches more than 80 million people every day – delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with smallholder farmers, communities, and governments to improve nutrition and build resilience.

WFP Rwanda supports the Government of Rwanda with its ambitious food systems transformation goals to ensure equitable access to sustainable livelihoods and healthy diets for all, as described in the PSTA5. The Food Systems Team works with government and private-sector partners to foster sustainable systems change from food production to food consumption.

The existing food systems portfolio puts an emphasis on:

Job creation for young people in food value chains, especially young women in rural communities. Strengthening pro-smallholder value chains in partnership with public and private off-takers, credit and input providers, and farmers cooperatives. Home-grown school feeding, especially on the provision of local, nutritious foods for healthy meals at schools, in support of the National School Feeding Programme. Rural women’s empowerment, though a joint programme with FAO, IFAD, and UN Women. Supporting the food systems innovation ecosystem, including innovative microfinance for rural communities, and supporting small ventures with local solutions that promote food security. Promoting conservation agriculture practices amongst farmers cooperatives.

The Food System Team aims to increasingly transition towards building national capacities (public and private) to formulate, manage and implement projects for food systems transformation.

PURPOSE AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

Ahead of the launch of the new WFP Rwanda Country Strategic Plan 2025 – 2029, WFP Rwanda is seeking an NOA to provide support to policy and programming activities that support smallholder farmers, farmer service centers and other food system players in line with the Food Systems Team activities.

The position is based in Kigali.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

In collaboration with members of the Food Systems Team and the direct supervisor:

• Contribute to the quality implementation of initiatives and projects that support market development for smallholder farmers, aligning with WFP mandates, priorities, and government objectives. These include initiatives related to access to finance; knowledge and skills on Good Agricultural Practices and reducing post-harvest losses; gender inclusion; and improved governance for farmers cooperatives.
• Contribute across the portfolio to projects supporting smallholder farmers, including the joint programme on rural women’s economic empowerment, farm to market alliance, Shora Neza, and conservation agriculture projects.
• Support the capacity-building programmes for smallholder farmers organizations (FOs) in areas such as organizational strengthening, business management, collective marketing, financial management, business planning, record keeping, capitalization and contract management, to integrate and profit from agricultural value chains and markets.
• Connect smallholder farmers through their cooperatives to financial institutions to access the credit needed to run their businesses and access public and private markets, with a focus on institutional buyers.
• Collaborate across programme teams, particularly Home-Grown School Feeding (HGSF), to support partnerships between cooperatives and schools under HGSF, facilitating food supply through district-led procurement for long shelf-life commodities and directly with schools for fresh commodities.
• Ensure proper monitoring and evaluation of smallholder agricultural market support activities to enhance results, knowledge management, and accountability.
• Contribute to the consolidation of the market system in favor of smallholders through advocacy, policy, infrastructure development, partnerships, and network support.
• Provide operational coordination and guidance to support procurement projects and activities, following standard procedures to contribute to the effective procurement of goods and services related to SAMS and School Feeding.
• Other duties as required. Including support to learning, partnerships, and internal processes.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education:

Advanced University degree in economics, business administration, agricultural economics, or other degrees related to rural development, or First University Degree with additional years of related work experience and/or trainings/courses

Experience:

3-5 years of relevant post-graduate experience in the implementation or monitoring and evaluation of smallholder support projects.

Knowledge & Skills:

• Has experience in partnership building and working with the private sector.
• Experience in building capacities with smallholder farmer organizations.
• Has worked cross-functionally and can navigate uncertainty with curiosity, poise, and a solution-oriented mentality.
• Excellent communication/presentation skills, with the ability to write strategy documents, to develop business plans and to write and deliver presentations.
• Able to interact with a broad range of stakeholders and external audience with maturity and tact.
• Collaborative spirit, able to partner with a wide range of people at all levels and across different cultures and to act with credibility and diplomacy.
• Self-motivated and able to work with a high degree of autonomy, proactively seeking support and guidance when needed.
• Sets a high-level of ownership over projects to achieve impact for WFP constituents.
• Fully committed and motivated to achieve the aims of the UN World Food Programme

Languages:

Fluent in English and Kinyarwanda.

WFP LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK

WFP Leadership Framework guides to the common standards of behavior that guide HOW we work together to accomplish our mission.

Click here to access WFP Leadership Framework

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION

WFP is committed to supporting individuals with disabilities by providing reasonable accommodations throughout the recruitment process. If you require a reasonable accommodation, please contact:  [email protected]

NO FEE DISCLAIMER

The United Nations does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Furthermore, please note that emblems, logos, names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore, you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web.

REMINDERS BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION

• We strongly recommend that your profile is accurate, complete, and includes your employment records, academic qualifications, language skills and UN Grade (if applicable).
• Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application.
• Please make sure you upload your professional CV in the English language
• Kindly note the only documents you will need to submit at this time are your CV and Cover Letter
• Additional documents such as passport, recommendation letters, academic certificates, etc. may potentially be requested at a future time
• Please contact us at [email protected] in case you face any challenges with submitting your application
• Only shortlisted candidates will be notified

All employment decisions are made on the basis of organizational needs, job requirements, merit, and individual qualifications. WFP is committed to providing an inclusive work environment free of sexual exploitation and abuse, all forms of discrimination, any kind of harassment, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. Therefore, all selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.

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