Organizational Setting

The main aim of the FAO country offices, which are headed by an FAO Representative (FAOR), is to assist governments to develop policies, programmes and projects to achieve food security and to reduce hunger and malnutrition, to help develop the agricultural, fisheries and forestry sectors, and to use their environmental and natural resources in a sustainable manner. For the period 2022-2026, the FAO Office in Zimbabwe is supporting Government efforts through the Country Programme Framework (CPF) which is based on three pillars: (I) Promotion of inclusive and sustainable agrifood systems to address food security and nutrition
(ii) Building resilience to climate change, agricultural threats and crisis; (iii) Sustainable management of natural resources and environmental protection.

About the Projects

Zimbabwe is one of the national pilot countries under Integrated Platform for the Innovative Use of Earth Observations (EO) Technology and Farmer Registry for the Production and Validation of Crop Data (ESTELLA). Building on existing national Earth Observation infrastructure, farmer registry initiatives, and an established national coordination framework, the project seeks to demonstrate and institutionalize EO–farmer registry integration through a focused Sen4CAP operational pilot, while ensuring alignment with national policy information needs, institutional workflows, and IT systems. The Agrifood Economics and Policy Division (ESA) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in collaboration with the FAO Subregional Office for Southern Africa (FAO SFS) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), is implementing the Integrated Regional Platform for the Innovative Use of Earth Observations Technology and Farmer Registry for the Production and Validation of Crop Data (ESTELLA).

In Zimbabwe, ESTELLA is supported by a Steering Committee providing strategic guidance and oversight, complemented by thematic Technical Working Groups (TWGs) covering EO methodologies, survey integration, platforms and IT infrastructure, farmer registries and administrative data, and capacity development. These mechanisms are designed to ensure institutional coordination and sustainability of EO-based approaches within national systems. ESTELLA is implemented through an established governance and coordination framework at regional and national levels, designed to support the progressive institutionalization of Earth Observation (EO)–based agricultural data and statistics, and decision-support tools within national systems.

The FAO Zimbabwe Country Office in collaboration with UNDP is implementing a four-year Zimbabwe Resilience Building Fund 2 Programme, which focuses on the preservation of globally important fragile ecosystems as well as livelihood resilience for communities in the Northern and Southern Zimbabwe. A key component of the project will be the mobilization and capacity building of Community Conservancy trusts which have been identified as the key institution for the planning and implementation of livelihood-based resilience activities in addition to playing a crucial role in ensuring human-wildlife co-existence. To reach the project outcomes, the project will adopt an Integrated Landscape Management (LIM) approach which will allow for the planning of natural resource management with environmental and livelihood considerations. As part of the ILM in the target areas, an additional key component of the project is the design application of an interactive GIS/Remote sensing platform to track progress on Human Wildlife co-existence in defined communal areas close to and adjacent to wildlife conservation areas. It is expected that the project will link to on-going FAO projects such as the Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWM) and GEF 7 projects.

Reporting Lines

Agriculture Information Specialist (Geographic Information Systems and Earth Observation) reports to AFAOR-Programmes with technical support from the Earth Observation for Statistics (EOSTAT) Team Leader at a global level.

Technical Focus

The assignment focuses on:

•    the operational deployment and running of a Sen4CAP pilot using predefined workflows;
•    the integration of EO-derived indicators with farmer registry data; and
•    the development or configuration of IT solutions, including mobile applications, to enable farmer or extension-level data collection and system interoperability.
•    the development of an interactive GIS platform to track ecological health and biodiversity progress.

Tasks and responsibilities

Support the implementation of a limited, policy-driven Sen4CAP operational pilot in Zimbabwe, focusing on practical integration with the national farmer registry and priority policy use cases under ESTELLA.

Specific tasks include:

•    Participate in targeted consultations with key national stakeholders (including Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Water Resources Development (MAMWRD), Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT) AFC Commercial Bank / AFC Land and Development Bank (AFC) and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
•    to confirm priority EO-derived indicators, aggregation levels, and use cases, including exploratory applications for EO–Credit and agricultural finance.
•    Translate agreed policy needs a concise operational mapping of required Sen4CAP outputs, formats, and delivery mechanisms.
•    Support the operational deployment and running of a Sen4CAP pilot, using predefined workflows and methodological guidance provided by FAO and University catholique of Louvain (UCLouvain) under the ESTELLA Letter of Agreement.
•    Coordinate the ingestion and validation of a limited set of farmer plot boundaries and basic attributes into Sen4CAP workflows, in collaboration with farmer registry custodians and relevant national institutions.
•    Execute pre-defined Sen4CAP processing chains to generate EO-derived indicators linked to registered farmer plots, ensuring traceability, basic documentation, and reproducibility.
•    Package and deliver policy-relevant EO outputs in clear and standardized formats suitable for institutional use by AFC, MoA, and other designated users.
•    Act as the national technical interface between FAO, national institutions, and UCLouvain for Sen4CAP-related operational matters, ensuring alignment with methodological frameworks developed under the LoA.

Design, develop, or configure a farmer-facing (or extension-assisted) mobile solution to support the collection and integration of plot-level data within the ESTELLA and Sen4CAP framework.

Specific tasks include:

•    Assess existing digital tools and platforms (e.g. form-based or mobile applications) and propose an appropriate technical solution, which may include configuration of existing tools or lightweight custom development.
•    Design and implement a mobile data collection workflow enabling farmers or extension officers to:
o    digitize or upload plot boundaries,
o    capture basic farmer and crop information,
o    synchronize data with the national farmer registry and Sen4CAP-compatible systems.
•    Ensure that the mobile solution is:
o    usable in low-connectivity environments,
o    aligned with national IT systems and FAO data standards,
o    interoperable with Sen4CAP and related EO workflows.
•    Support a small-scale pilot onboarding of farmers or extension services, ensuring data quality checks and smooth integration with backend systems.
•    Produce basic technical documentation and handover materials to enable national institutions to maintain, adapt, and potentially scale the solution beyond the pilot phase.
•    Coordinate with FAO and national IT counterparts to ensure data governance, access control, and sustainability considerations are addressed.

Capacity Development, Coordination, and Reporting

Specific tasks include:

•    Support and facilitate technical and coordination meetings with national stakeholders within the established ESTELLA governance framework in Zimbabwe, including the Steering Committee arrangements and relevant Technical Working Groups, to advance the institutionalization of EO and farmer registry integration.
•    Provide hands-on technical mentoring to designated national technical staff on operational EO, GeoAI, and Sen4CAP workflows.
•    Support targeted technical sessions, coordination meetings, and demonstrations focused on practical application rather than theoretical training.
•    Act as a national technical focal point supporting coordination between FAO, national institutions, and regional ESTELLA partners.
•    Prepare and submit a final technical report summarizing activities undertaken, outputs delivered, challenges encountered, and recommendations for continued operationalization.

Design, Develop or Configure an interactive Remote Sensing/GIS dashboard for measuring progress on human-wildlife co-existence and biodiversity

• Identify and map biodiversity and ecological hazards and risks e.g., environmental ‘hot spot’ mapping, human wildlife conflict hotspots, negative land use change detection using Machine Learning-based classification, and time series analysis.
• Support the Geo-spatial component of the Zimbabwe Resilience Building Fund 2 initiative to track progress on ecological health and biodiversity

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

•    Advanced University degree in computer science, geospatial sciences, remote sensing, data science or a related field.
•    At least five (5) years of relevant professional experience in Earth Observation, geospatial analysis, GeoAI, or related technical fields.
•    Working knowledge (level C) of English
•    National of Zimbabwe

FAO Core Competencies

•    Results Focus
•    Teamwork
•    Communication
•    Building Effective Relationships
•    Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

•    Practical experience with EO data and GeoAI or machine learning techniques.
•    Experience using geospatial processing environments such as QGIS, Python or R, Google Earth Engine, or similar platforms.
•    Ability to extract, manage, and structure plot-level EO indicators and document technical workflows
•    Experience working with agricultural or land-related datasets and with government institutions or development partners is an asset.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

FAO does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing)
Applications received after the closing date will not be accepted
Please note that FAO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http://www.whed.net/
For additional employment opportunities visit the FAO employment website: http://www.fao.org/employment/home/en/
Appointment will be subject to certification that the candidate is medically fit for appointment, accreditation, any residency or visa requirements, and security clearances.

Agriculture Information Specialist – Geographic Information Systems and Earth Observation (SC 7)