National Irrigation Engineer - FAO

Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) conducted in Ghana in 2022 projected an approximately 19% of the analyzed population were found to either be under pressure, in crises or in emergency food insecurity situation. Overall, 6.2% of the population were identified to be vulnerable (food insecure) with smallholder farm households having been the hardest hit given their economic vulnerability. Climate change could cause yield losses to most rainfed cereals, especially maize, up to 16 to 21 percent in 2050, compared to a baseline without climate change.

Yields decrease due to climate change are also expected other crops like sorghum, millet, groundnut and vegetables while increase in the share of livestock affected by droughts is expected from 13 to 39 percent. Weak resilience to climate impacts lack of resources to acquire productive inputs are some of the causes of low productivity, and therefore low income and low availability of nutrient dense diverse foods at the household level.

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As a response to the current situation and foreseeable future food security crisis, The Government of Ghana and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations with funding support of the European Union (EU) is implementing Food Security Response in Northern Ghana (GCP/GHA/040/EC) project (2023-2026) targeting at least 10,000 households. The project is being implemented over three agricultural seasons to increase crop and livestock production, including 6 000 maize farmers who will be supported to produce 18 000 Mt of maize over three years in targeted districts; 2 400 millet farmers who will be supported to produce 5,184 Mt of millet; and 4 200 sorghum farmers to produce 8 517 Mt of sorghum over the three years in the targeted districts.

In addition, farmers, especially women and youth, and value chain actors will be supported with capacity and access to post-harvest technologies along the groundnut, soybean and vegetable (tomato) value chains with farmers’ capacity on climate change adaptation among others enhanced.

An integrated approach to sustainable food production and the resilience of food systems has become all-time important than ever. The project will promote crop-specific, agro-ecological systems and approaches and support the sustainable development of maize, millet, sorghum, soyabean, groundnut, vegetables (tomato), poultry, piggery value chains.

In selected project locations, direct agricultural inputs provision, accompanied by support to climate-adapted agricultural practices, provision of improved grain storage technologies, training on post-harvest practices, promotion of organic fertilizer use, provision of solar powered irrigation solutions and application of other climate sensitive and sustainable agri-techniques, promotion of integrated pests and diseases management approaches and facilitation of access to market as well as value addition for crops produced will help in resolving some of the production and post-harvest bottlenecks and contribute to achieving food security, and enhanced resilience to future shocks and disasters.

Reporting Lines

The Irrigation Engineer will be under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative to Ghana, and the direct technical guidance of the Lead Technical Officer (LTO), and under the direct supervision Technical Expert and in close collaboration with the Field Coordinator.

Technical Focus

The Irrigation Engineer will provide technical assistance to conduct geophysical and hydrological surveys (feasibility studies) on selected project sites to provide evidence for the construction and installation of small-scale irrigation facilities. The feasibility study report will contain recommendations regarding installation of small-scale irrigation facilities on project sites. The Irrigation engineer will contribute to the construction and installation of solar powered irrigation facilities, serving as a resident engineer and technical advisor.

Tasks And Responsibilities

The irrigation engineer shall undertake the following tasks:

• Supervise the geological surveys/feasibility studies of selected sites for the construction and installation of solar powered irrigation facilities;
• Develop bill of quantities (BoQ) for tenders;
• Contribute to selection of service providers for the construction of solar powered irrigation facilities;
• Participate in construction and installation of solar powered irrigation facilities;
• Contribute to the formation of water users association around the irrigation facilities;
• Organize training for water users associations;
• Monitor progress of activities related to irrigation components of the project;
• Prepare progress reports of project activities for submission to FAO through the FAOR-Ghana;
• Perform any other duties as may be required.

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CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced university degree in Irrigation/Drainage engineering/Technology or civil engineering and any related discipline
• 5 years of demonstrated qualified and relevant experience in design, construction, and management of irrigation systems
• Working knowledge of English
• National of Ghana

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Extensive technical knowledge of the design, installation and management of solar powered irrigation facilities.
• Extent and relevance of experience in project management and coordination.
• Experience in geological surveys for construction of irrigation facilities.
• Extent and relevance of experience in management of computer programs such as Excel, Word, Power Point and statistical software.
• Experience in design, management and supervision of solar powered irrigation in northern Ghana will be an added advantage.
• High communication skills, both verbal and written, negotiation, leadership, vision, strategy, coordination and teamwork.