Agriculture Economist

Job # : req28234 Organization : World Bank Sector : Agriculture Grade : GF Term Duration :  3 years 0 months Recruitment Type : Local Recruitment Location : Panama City,Panama Required Language(s) : English, Spanish and Portuguese Preferred Language(s) : French Closing Date : 7 / 26 / 2024 (MM / DD / YYYY) at 11 : 59pm UTC

Description

Description

Working at the World Bank Group provides a unique opportunity for you to help our clients solve their greatest development challenges. The World Bank Group is one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries; a unique global partnership of five institutions dedicated to ending extreme poverty, increasing shared prosperity and promoting sustainable development. With 189 member countries and more than 120 offices worldwide, we work with public and private sector partners, investing in groundbreaking projects and using data, research, and technology to develop solutions to the most urgent global challenges. For more information, visit

The Agriculture and Food team in the Latin America and Caribbean Region (SLCAG) working under the direction of the Latin America & Caribbean Sustainable Development Department (SLCDR), helps countries tackle their most complex development challenges, including in the areas of climate change and food security. SLCAG’s work program covers seven LAC Country Management Units (CMUs), and is led by a Practice Manager (PM), and a team of agricultural economists and specialists based at HQ in Washington, DC and across six country offices. The Unit manages a large portfolio of operational and analytical tasks. SLCAG also works in a collaborative manner with other units on landscape management, irrigation, rural roads, fisheries, land use, nutrition, rural risk / insurance and policies.

The focus of the SLCAG team’s work going forward is on the future of agri-food systems, green and resilient transitions, including inclusiveness, diversification of economies, jobs, agricultural competitiveness and linking farmers to markets, one health, leveraging the private sector, climate-smart agriculture, digital agriculture, financial innovation, resilience, fragility and conflict, regional and cross-sectoral collaboration.

Duties & Accountabilities :

The WBG is recruiting an Agriculture Economist based in Panama City, Panama. The Agriculture Economist will provide operational and technical support to the PM and the unit’s task teams to deliver the unit’s work program and up to 50% of their time will be used to support the implementation of various regionally focused activities, especially coordination with various FOLUR country project teams. The primary responsibilities of the Agriculture Economist are listed below and will provide direct support to the PM on the unit’s work program. The Agriculture Economist will be a highly-engaged member of the SLCAG team, reporting directly to the SLCAG PM.

To perform its duties, the Agriculture Economists is expected to be on regular mission travel within Brazil and other LAC countries.

The Agriculture Economist’s responsibilities will include, but will not be limited to the following :

1) Contribute to the delivery of LAC SD and SLCAG's objectives, through providing technical, operational and strategic support for the development and implementation of the unit's work program;

2) Contribute to the preparation and supervision of investment projects led by the AGF team and cross-GP agri-food interventions, assuring timely and high-quality delivery of operations in the LAC region, with an initial focus on Brazil;

3) Lead or co-lead the design and delivery of analytical and advisory activities to support overall business development in the LAC region, with an initial focus on Brazil.

4) Lead proposal development and management of grant programs supported by external partners and donors, including operational pilots, advisory services, and analytical outputs.

5) Contribute to Country Engagement products and core country diagnostics (SCD, CPF, CEU, CEM, CCDR, PER, Poverty Assessment), including work led by SLCAG or cross-regional / cross-GP work.

6) Foster partner relations, coordinate and follow-up with government counterparts, other stakeholders and consultants, providing support to / inputs into high-quality dialogue and outreach (including via dialogue, briefings, and relevant research) relating inter alia to themes pertaining to agribusiness, climate resilience, natural resources management, agro-ecology, agro-logistics, agri-tech innovation, and rural development;

7) Participate in collaborative and coordination efforts with other donors and partners to optimize complementarities with Bank supported projects and programs;

8) Contribute to operational (project preparation, implementation support and analytical work - LEN, SPN & ASAs) quality review tasks and portfolio management, working with the Practice Manager;

9) Contribute to regional and global knowledge agenda.

10) Assist the World Bank FOLUR Project Task Team Leaders (TTL) in coordinating with country project teams in his / her assigned region :

a.The consultant will liaise with FOLUR Impact Program associated country government officials and implementing agencies in FOLUR countries. The consultant may be required to travel to assigned countries on a periodical basis.

b.The consultant will monitor progress of the FOLUR country project implementation in all assigned countries and will provide regular reporting to the FOLUR GP TTLs.

c.The consultant will provide operational support to the TTLs in report writing / preparation of presentations, and coordination activities for regional dialogues.

11) Provide support in preparation of FOLUR program annual report and annual progress review.

12) Perform any other duties that may be assigned by the FOLUR Task Team Leaders related to technical support in project implementation and coordination activities. For more information on FOLUR please follow this link -

Selection Criteria

• Fluency in oral and written English, Portuguese, and Spanish required; fluency in oral and written in French preferred;
• Advanced degree (A Master’s Degree or a PhD) in Agricultural Economics / Economics / Public Policy related field or equivalent;
• Strong technical, analytical and operational expertise in supporting operations related to agriculture and food systems;
• Not less than eight (8) years post first-degree working experience in the international organisation, government, consulting or private sector.
• Demonstrated experience in analytics (academic or technical report experience), formulating strong policy recommendations and activity concepts based on analytical work.
• Demonstrated track record of working across sectors, practices and disciplinary boundaries, and with multiple stakeholders;
• Teamwork, Results-orientation, Strong Work Ethics.
• Experience in World Bank or other multilateral financing institution operations is desirable.
• Competence in project management is desirable.
• Good analytical approach to technical details and ability to arrive at situations and propositions.
• Excellent interpersonal communications, coordination skills and ability to liaise with senior government officials is required.
• Computer literate and conversant with Microsoft Office, and relevant databases and spreadsheets.

The World Bank Group offers comprehensive benefits, including a retirement plan; medical, life and disability insurance; and paid leave, including parental leave, as well as reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities.