African Development Bank Group (AfDB) – Established in 1964, the African Development Bank is the premier pan-African development institution, promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent. There are 80 member states, including 54 in Africa (Regional Member Countries). The Bank’s development agenda is delivering the financial and technical support for transformative projects that will significantly reduce poverty through inclusive and sustainable economic growth.
We are recruiting to fill the position below:
Job Title: Expressions of Interest: Feed Africa Special Envoy for Implementation of Country Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts – AHAI
Location: Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
Consultant type: Individual Consultant
Job family: Agriculture, Human and Social Development
Department issuing the request: Transition States Coordination Office (RDTS)
Duration of the Assignment: 12 months
Tentative Date of Commencement: 03 April2023
Department Issuing the Request:Agriculture and Agro-Industry Department —AHAI
Place of Assignment: The Consultant will be based at the Bank’s Headquarters in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire for the duration of the contract.
Brief Description of the Assignment
- The 36th African Union summit endorsed the outcomes of Dakar2 and called for the implementation of the Country Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts with time-bound and clearly measurable indicators for success, including concrete national policies, incentives, and regulations to establish an enabling environment for wider and accelerated investments across the agriculture sector.
- To implement this resolution, the African Development Bank (AfDB) seeks to hire a Special Envoy to engage with African governments on the implementation of the Country Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts and to provide support on the establishment of Presidential Delivery Councils.
- Under the direct supervision of the President of the Bank and guidance of Vice President, Agriculture Human and Social Capacity Development (AHVP), the Special Envoy will work closely with the Feed Africa Directors as well as external partners and stakeholders from the public, private and non-governmental sectors, Development Finance Institutions and the One CGIAR to guide implementation of the Country Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts.
Background
- The Feed Africa Strategy(FAS) of the African Development Bank(2016-2025), also known as Feed Africa was conceived in October 2015 at a High-LevelMeeting of senior public and private sector leaders held in Dakar, Senegal, and approved for implementation by the Board of Directors of the Bank in May 2016.
- The Strategy seeks to transform African agriculture into a competitive, inclusive, and agribusiness-oriented sector that creates wealth, improves lives, and secures the environment through an approach based on agricultural commodity value chains.
- The Feed Africa Strategy (FAS) aims, within ten (10) years of its inception, to end hunger and rural poverty and reduce food imports on the African continent.
- After seven years of implementation of Feed Africa, it is now evident that unlocking the agricultural potential of the continent by delivering climate-smart agricultural technologies to millions of farmers and the creation of an enabling environment of rural infrastructure and policy incentives possible in a short period of time through strong political will and investment by Development Partners and the private sector. A High-Level Summit of 34 African Heads of State, 75 Ministers and Heads of Development Partner organizations was therefore held in Dakar January 22-27 to mobilize political, financial and technical support for agricultural transformation on the continent at scale.
- The core of the Dakar 2 Summit were 41 boardrooms, chaired by Head of States and Heads of Government/Delegations, to discuss previously prepared Country Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts, that outlined production targets for key agricultural staples, a road map to reach those targets, and enabling policies, including smallholder farmers support, rural infrastructure, innovative financing amongst other policies. Another outcome of boardroom discussions was the establishment of the Presidential Delivery Councils to oversee the implementation of the Country Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts and ensure accountability for results. The Presidential Delivery Council will also advise on an enabling environment to unblock key bottlenecks along the commodity value chains.
- At the end of the 36th African Union summit, the African Union endorsed the outcomes of Dakar2 and called for the implementation of the Country Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts with time-bound and clearly measurable indicators for success, including concrete national policies, incentives, and regulations to establish an enabling environment for wider and accelerated investments across the agriculture sector.In about a month, the Dakar 2 Food summit mobilised more than $50 billion in investment to boost food and agriculture production across the continent.
- The African Development Bank aims to contribute $ 10 billion over five years. Othercommitments include:
- Islamic Development Bank: $7 billion
- International Fund for Agricultural Development: $3 billion.
- United States Agency for International Development:$5 billion.
- European Union: $4 billion.
- West African Development Bank: $1 billion.
- Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa: $2 billion.
- Germany: $14.34 billion
- Other donors are the European Investment Bank; the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa; the French Development Agency, Agence Française de Developpement; Ireland; the Netherlands; Switzerland, Norway and the United Kingdom.
- To implement the African Union resolution following Dakar outcomes, the African Development Bank (AfDB) seeks to hire a special Envoy to engage with African governments on the implementation of the Country Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts and to provide support on establishment of Presidential Delivery Councils.
Objectives
- The African Development Bank is seeking to engage the services of an experienced agriculture and rural development expert to serve as Special Envoy on the Implementation of the CountryFood and Agriculture Delivery Compact to ensure the timely delivery of priority interventions agreed at the Dakar 2 meeting.
- The Special Envoy on Feed Africa will report directly to the President of the African Development Bank and work with the Vice President, Agriculture Human and Social Capacity Development (AHVP) and Feed Africa Directorstoprovide strategic advice with respect to the Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts and Presidential Delivery Councils.
- The Special Envoy will also work closely with the AfDB ecosystem in the region and stakeholders from the public, private and non-governmental sectors.
- The Special Envoy will serve in this capacity for an initial period of one year
Role of the Special Envoy
- Feed Africa is a renewed and determined effort to transform African agriculture into a globally competitive, inclusive, and business-oriented sector that creates wealth, generates gainful employment, and improves the quality of life. It also seeks to replicate successful initiatives across Africa and beyond. The successful delivery of Feed Africa is contingent on garnering strong political support and sustainable investments in African agriculture.
- At the Dakar 2 Summit, 34 Heads of State chaired Country Food and Agriculture Delivery Compactboardrooms of their respective countries to discuss a roadmap to transform agriculture in their countries, solicited buy-in from development partners and the private sector and committed to politically take action for implementation.It is within this context that the President of the African Development Bank seeks to appoint a Special Envoy to provide strategic guidance and support with respect to the implementation of the Country Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts and Presidential Delivery Councils.
Scope of Work
- Under the direct supervision of the President of the Bank and guidance of the Vice President, Agriculture Human and Social Capacity Development (AHVP), the Special Envoy will work closely with the Feed Africa Directors as well as external partners and stakeholders from the public, private and non-governmental sectors, Development Finance Institutions and the One CGIARto guide implementation of the Country Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts. Specific functions of the special Envoywill include:
Mobilize and sustain country and development partners’ commitment for agricultural transformation.
- Special Envoy will work with Regional Member Countries, AfDB and key development partners to determine the priorities of Country Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts as agreed at DAKAR 2 and advise on investment projects to fund these priorities.
- Review and revise TORs for the establishment of the Presidential Advisory Council to provide oversight for the implementation of the Country Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts.
- Provide high-level policy guidance to the Presidential Delivery Councilson priorities, including but not limited to soil, land, and water development, climate-, water-and energy-smart irrigation, appropriate technologies, market development, financing, agricultural R&D and new innovations, etc. required by Regional Member Countries.
- Liaise, with the assistance of members of the Presidential Delivery Councils, with relevant Ministries, agencies, regulatory bodies, and national systems to ensure unfettered access to information and data that will be required to track the implementation of Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts.
Promotepartnershipswith the Agricultural R&D community to support African agricultural transformation:
- The Special Envoy will work and will provide leadership to leverage his/her professional expertise and experience to engage research and development partners such as the One CGIAR, National Research and Extension Systems and international research organizations to improve access of agricultural value chain actors to climate-, water-, and energy-smart agricultural technologies at scale.
- The Special Envoy may assume the role of Ambassador building global partnerships with an emphasis on raising awareness and advocating for political commitment to agriculture transformation on the African continent.
- The Special Envoy will work with key funding partners including development partners, governments, financial institutions, and the private sector to mobilize additional resources in and support of the agricultural R&D community.
Outputs and Deliverables
- Implementation of priorities of Country Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts started in at least 12 countries.
- Presidential Councils for Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts operational in at least 12 countries.
- A monitoring, evaluation, learning, and accountability system for implementation of the Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts in RMCs.
- Quarterly summary report on the status of Country Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts.
Qualifications, Skills, and Experience
- An advanced Degree (preferably Ph.D.) in Agriculture and Rural Development-related discipline with at least 25 years of experience in African agriculture.
- Demonstrated familiarity with drivers of food insecurity in different African contexts.
- Senior-level experience in designing and implementing multi-faceted food security initiatives.
- Excellent analytical capabilities and strong written and verbal communication skills.
- Good command of English. Knowledge of French would be an added value.
Selection Method
The individual Consultant shall be selected through a competitive process.
The evaluation criteria(
- General qualification for tasks to be performed
- Specific experience on the tasks to be performed
- Senior-level experience with international organizations
- Proficiency in French and English
- Knowledge of the African region
Duration:
- The Terms of Reference will be effective for 12 months beginning no later than03 April 2023
- Schedule of Payment
- The recruited Consultant shall be remunerated based on AfDB’s remuneration guideline for consultants that depends on the number of years of experience and availability of resources.
- Reporting Requirements The Consultant will work under the direct supervision of the President of the Bank and guidance of the Vice President, Agriculture Human and Social Capacity Development (AHVP), and will report to the Vice President, Agriculture Human and Social Capacity Development.
Application Closing Date
24th March, 2023. at 5:00 PM (Abidjan Time).
Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should should send their Application to: Beth Dunford: [email protected] and copy: Martin Fregene, [email protected]
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Click here for the Job Description (PDF)
Note
- Application CV should follow the model on the PDF above.
