Organizational Setting

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) was born in 1945 in Quebec City, Canada, and temporarily designated Washington D.C. as its headquarters before moving to Rome in 1951 as its permanent headquarters. 

FAO is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Our goal is to achieve food security for all and make sure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active healthy lives. With 195 members - 194 countries and the European Union, FAO works in over 130 countries worldwide.

Sudan is a FAO member country considered highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and continues to suffer protracted and new displacements due to recurring disasters caused by natural and manmade hazards. Enduring conflict and environmental degradation often interplay in the context of Sudan, with access to natural resources sparking disputes which lead to violence and displacement. In turn, conflict and displacement leave those affected less able to implement climate change adaptation and mitigation measures in the long term. 

The overall objective of the project “Strengthening the Security-Climate Nexus in Gedaref, Sudan” is a joint project implemented by IOM and FAO to contribute to enhancing peace and stability through disaster risk reduction and resilience-building strategies. The project aims to strengthen local understanding of drivers of fragility and conflict through a community-based inclusive process and analysis of local hazards and vulnerabilities as related to disasters. The project will work in parallel on two levels: the first will focus on strengthening local conflict resolution mechanisms and local resource management capacities to mitigate risks of conflict, and the second will focus on a) the implementation of renewable/alternative energy solutions and improved access to resources and b) implementation of disaster risk reduction capacities to support the rehabilitation and restoration of the environment to improve resilience.

Community land Use Planning is a fundamental component of good land governance, especially in those contexts where layers of rights coexist. It enables the community to agree on a shared vision of the management of common resources such as forests, water, land for grazing, roads, and services, or community land which is not being used. While the community has the freedom to plan its land use national planning rules provide the framework for local processes. Community land use planning will identify the rights holders, the resources, the uses, and the definition of a vision for the future. 

Reporting Lines

Under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative for Sudan, the direct technical supervision of the Technical Advisor, and in close collaboration with the FAO and IOM project team, and national project partners, the incumbent is expected to lead the development of community land use plans. 

Technical Focus 

The national consultant is tasked to support develop detailed 2D or 3D maps covering the administrative boundaries of each targeted locality to support the community decision-making process in developing community land use action plans with specific reference to the context of each locality. This will also enable communities to visually recognize the locality’s Landscape and different land use types and plan on its governance by delimiting agricultural lands from forests, animal migratory routes, water sources, and other land use types at the locality level. The process of developing the plan will be through community consultations and consensus-building with stakeholders.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Review existing all available secondary data of each selected locality. 
• Prepare a base map of each locality by Interpreting and digitizing all existing land use features and preparing different layers of information. (Digitization process shall include vectorization, symbolization facility, edge matching, topological integrity, and database linking facility.) 
• Generation of scale and detailed base maps with necessary data inputs under different layers such as locality boundaries, settlement areas, roads, waterbodies, important landmarks, physical features, forests, valleys, animal migratory routes etc. 
• Conduct stakeholder consultation to collect additional attribute information associated with identified features and add to the map layers. 
• Finalize 2D or 3D or highbred Base Maps and print one sample for validation. 
• With the help of State stakeholders and project staff, ensure key representations of different community segments, groups, livelihoods types, native administrations, and locality stakeholders are part of decisions made during the development of community land use plans, 
• Facilitate participatory community discussions to build consensus on divergent opinions and interests of different community groups to determine, delineate and describe existing land use types in the locality and its management by different users. 
• Incorporate all necessary inputs gained through participatory discussions and other technical means to produce a comprehensive community land use plan for each selected locality and validate with locality stakeholders before submission. 
• Indicate areas where land use changes may be needed that would lead to sustainable land uses and mitigate an existing conflict on land use,

Expected Outputs 

• Cleaning of source data for locality maps (Available),
• Converting source data/information into digital form (Available),
• Inclusion of Cartesian coordinates for elevated points such as hills and mountains and depressed points in valleys where applicable, 
• Reconstruction of digital Terrain model (DTM), 
• Placing essential contents such as settlements, roads, and water points, animal migratory routes, agricultural lands, forests etc.
• Symbolization of 2D or 3D maps, 
• Incorporate stakeholder inputs and delineate different land use in each locality, 
• Narrate the management of each land use as planned, 
• Summit final community land use action plan for each selected locality 

• An advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in GIS or a related field is required. A first-level university degree in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• At least 3 years working experience in developing 2D or 3D maps. 
• Excellent oral and written communication skills both in English,
• Research, analytical and problem-solving skills,
• knowledge of work procedures and United Nations Minimum Operating Security Standards (UN MOSS) requirements; 
• Availability to work on additional FAO tasks when required.

 To Apply:

 Download FAO Personal History Form from: http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Employment/docs/Personal_History_Form.doc

Send your completed FAO Personal History form/ updated CV by email to:

SD-Recruitment@fao.org (Attachments are not to exceed 3 MB)

Applicant should clearly quote the vacancy number and the duty station in the subject title

This vacancy is open to Sudanese national male and female candidates. Applications from qualified women candidates are encouraged.

FAO IS A NON-SMOKING ENVIRONMENT