Innovation Associate

The FAO Representation to the Arab Republic of Egypt opened in 1978. Over the past years, the Organization has participated in a large range of agricultural and rural development activities targeting Egypt’s specific needs. FAO’s support includes strategy, policy and institutional development, promotion of good agricultural practices and South-South Cooperation. The Organization has also taken the lead in supporting investments agriculture.

The UNV assignment falls under RP1: Rural Transformation and Inclusive Value Chains. RP1 aims at enhancing inclusive economic growth by boosting productivity and income of small-scale farmers, focusing on youth and women empowerment, the development of inclusive value chains, the promotion of decent rural employment, agripreneurship and economic inclusion. Conducive to this goal is, inter alia, the strengthening of rural institutions and services that support transformative processes for socioeconomic empowerment of smallholders and their associations, facilitating multi-stakeholder processes and collective action, and developing capacities for innovation, sustainable intensification, market-orientation, and farming as business.
As part of the RP1 team, the youth UNV is expected to support the work under the thematic area of innovation and digital transformation for inclusive growth. This area of work aims to leverage innovation and digital tools to accelerate rural transformation, by identifying strategies and solutions that enhance agricultural productivity, bridge the urban-rural divide, increase access to markets, and promote equitable economic opportunities. It involves exploring how new technologies and innovative practices can enhance access to services, improve rural livelihoods, empower rural communities, and foster inclusive growth that benefits all stakeholders in the agricultural sector.

Under the direct supervision of the Senior Programme Officer/ Lead of RP1 Rural Transformation team, the Innovation Associate will undertake the following tasks:

• Participate in scoping innovation initiatives and digital agriculture solutions developed and implemented in countries of the region, and derive lessons for accelerating inclusive transformation.
• Contribute to documenting and drafting briefs/fact-sheets/good practices/presentations on digital agriculture related initiatives and activities to capitalize on experiences and good practices from different countries in the region.
• Assist in moderating the Digital Exchange Group (DEG) among FAO country offices for sharing information, experience, and awareness on digital agriculture related initiatives in respective countries.
• Participate in webinars, meetings and events related to digital agriculture, accelerating innovation and agricultural technologies, learning from the experiences and contributing with highlights on related initiatives in RNE, where applicable.
• Contribute to maintaining and updating a dedicated regional webpage on digital agriculture, including identifying new knowledge resources, stories and in-puts from the DEG.
• Assist in the design and implementation of digital agriculture initiatives and projects for the advancement of digital agriculture and innovation in the region.
• Assist in maintaining records and databases, and draft summaries, updates and inputs to documents and reports as relevant to innovation and digital transformation.
• Support the organization of workshops/webinars/events and follow-up meetings, drafting background notes, presentations, minutes and related inputs.
• Performs other related duties as reasonably required.