Agricultural Value Chain Consultant

2021-09-28

LIVESTOCK COMMERCIALIZATION PROJECT (LCP)

The Government of Mongolia has received a loan from the World Bank toward the cost of the Livestock Commercialization Project (LCP). The project development objective is to improve livestock health, productivity, and commercialization of targeted value chains in project locations and to provide immediate and effective response in the event of an eligible crisis or emergency. The project is structured as an IPF financed by an IDA credit in the amount of US$30 million over five years.

The project is now seeking to recruit qualified individual for the following position:

Agricultural Value Chain Consultant

Purpose of the assignment: The specialist will join the Project Preparation Team (PPT) to support the Green and Smart Agriculture Lead Consultant in developing the full proposal of the proposed project, which shall be submitted to the World Bank in order to secure funding worth for project implementation. The specialist will formulate evidence-based strategies for strengthening the value chains of selected agricultural commodities, channelling public support to the value chain actors and developing product clusters within the wider policy framework of promoting green, responsible and competitive agriculture and livestock in Mongolia. This will enable the project to facilitate an increase in the productivity and marketable quantity of selected commodities and to support certification and standardization and improve food production and safety.

The specialist will bring to the project planning process previous experience with analysis and development of agricultural value chains, preferably in connection with multi-stakeholder initiatives such as public-private partnerships (PPPs), and designing of product clusters. It is also desirable that the specialist has a solid understanding of digital transformation and climate-resilience of the agriculture and livestock sectors as to consider these cross-cutting issues in planning of project intervention for value chain development.

Specific tasks will include the following:

  • Collect data and information in the target areas and identify the project baseline in terms of current policies, projects and stakeholders that are relevant to the project;
  • Review current demand and supply of selected agricultural commodities with spatial and seasonal variations in Mongolia, at aimag and country level, taking account of impacts by dzuds;
  • Review current gaps in infrastructure, markets, and services for the supply of selected agricultural commodities to meet the demand of end users concerning product quantity, quality and safety;
  • Propose interventions to build up critical infrastructure, commodity clusters, market functions, and government and private sector supplies and services for efficient and reliable value chains to promote green and smart agriculture in Mongolia;
  • Co-facilitate technical and consultative meetings with local government and community stakeholders to assist project planning;
  • Contribute to the institutional capacity assessment for institutions to be involved in the project implementation, and drafting of a capacity building strategy to ensure successful project implementation;
  • Contribute to the information management needs assessment, which will particularly focus on the agro-geo based information management system and GIS, and drafting of a strategy for improving knowledge-based decision making;
  • Develop a draft Results Framework (including Outcomes, Outputs, activities, Indicators and Risks/Assumptions) of the proposed project interventions for value chain development;
  • Contribute to the writing of the full proposal as well as guidelines and quality standards.

 

Qualifications:

  • Graduate degree in agriculture, resource economics, management or other related fields;
  • A minimum of 10 years of professional experience in development of agricultural value chains;
  • Solid experience in working with agricultural producers, understanding local needs and operational context;
  • Work experience with international development institutions, hands on understanding of their requirements and work ethics;
  • Ability to plan and prioritize work duties as well as work competently under pressure and tight deadlines;
  • Ability and willingness to frequently travel to and work effectively in countryside;
  • Good interpersonal, communication and participatory skills with the ability to function effectively and collaboratively in a team environment;
  • Ability to work effectively in a team of diverse skills and disciplines;
  • Excellent computer literacy, particularly, with MS Office;
  • Excellent command in both written and spoken English and Mongolian is required.
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DURATION OF CONTRACTS AND RECRUITMENT TIMETABLE:

The assignment will begin on November, 2021. Duration of the contract will be for 4 months.

Interested candidates are invited to submit a Cover Letter, CV (Curriculum Vitae), copy of diplomas along with two reference letters in a sealed envelope indicating the position applied for, no later than 11AM on 12 October, 2021, to LCP Project Implementation Unit, at the following address: Room 602, 6th Floor, Park Place Office, 1st Khoroo, Sukhbaatar District, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Contact information: phone: 8000-9915, email: bulgaa.amarsaikhan@gmail.com. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.