Ghana’s agricultural sector alone contributes about one-fifth of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and nearly half its workforce. It is the primary source of livelihood for the majority (approximately 70% of the population), many of whom are found in Ghana’s coastal communities and poorer populations most vulnerable to climate impacts and risks such as coastal erosion, frequent flooding, and storm surges causing displacements, weakening the resilience of ecosystem services and the population. Worldwide and in the coastal landscape of Ghana, mangrove ecosystems are tremendously valuable; providing critical ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, protection from storms, floods, erosion, provision of timber and non-timber forest products, processing of waste and nutrient pollution, aquaculture and agriculture support and habitat for aquatic and terrestrial species. Despite their importance, forest and mangrove ecosystems are critically receding worldwide. Deforestation is estimated at 315000 ha/pa in Ghana. Mangrove areas in Ghana have suffered significant depletion in the last 30 years, falling from 18100 ha to 13700ha— a 24 % loss. Mangrove loss and degradation reduce ecosystem services such as fish breeding and nursery, erosion control, and deepening exposure of marginalised coastal populations, especially women and the elderly.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Ministries of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) of Ghana entered into a Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) to mobilise climate finance from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to restore degraded mangroves landscape and build the resilience of vulnerable coastal communities to climate impact and risks in Ghana. The TCP’s activities will help to formulate the Concept Note and develop the proposal documents for GCF. It will help to conduct necessary baseline assessments and feasibility studies, – establishing the veritable climate rationality for the specific climate change adaptation and mitigation for the protection of mangroves and wetlands along the coasts of Greater Accra, Volta, Central and Western Regions of Ghana. It will also support mangroves and coastal community vulnerability assessments development of Environmental and social impacts and safeguards. Others include stakeholder consultations at national and project level implementation, including with local people, gender assessment and action planning, as well as meeting requirements of GCF. In addition, TCP activities will be undertaken to mobilise additional funding for the GCF Project’s successful submission and the co-financing required under GCF. The success of the TCP is vital to improving the emission trajectory of Ghana’s AFOLU sector (currently leading the country’s emission at 54.4% (22.92 MtCO2e)) and addressing persistent agriculture, wetland-forestry, fisheries and environment climate drivers and impacts in vulnerable coastal communities.

The TCP is an instrumental leverage to support the country to mobilise the needed climate financing in implementing her Nationally Determined Contributions (GH-NDCs) and contribute to its goal of promoting low-emission and climate resilient development pathways. Ghana’s first GH-NDCs set out to reduce emissions by 45% (33.28MtCO2e) by 2030. This has now been updated to a more ambitious emission reduction target of 64MtCO2e by 2030, requiring USD15.5 billion in investments to be mobilised from both domestic and international sources, including the Green Climate Fund (GCF), Adaptation Fund (AF) and Global Environmental Facility (GEF) – all of which FAO is an implementing entity/partner. This places FAO in a unique position to support Ghana build capacity to access and implement GCF facilities to address climate change emissions and impacts in the forestry and agriculture sector.

FAO’s role in supporting member countries to mitigate and build resilience to climate change while improving income and food security aligns with Ghana’s resolve to reduce deforestation and forest degradation emissions while enabling carbon stock enhancement through sustainable forest management and forest restoration. It is also necessary to enhance the capacities of sub-national and non-state actors to develop and implement interventions that reverse the increasing GHG emissions in the country’s largest carbon sink, forest areas, and to increase the adaptive capacity and resilience of the rural communities in the forest areas.

Reporting Lines

Under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative in Ghana and the direct supervision of the National TCP Project Coordinator at the MESTI, the Assistant FAO Representative (AFAOR) in charge of Programmes and the Lead Technical Officer, the Programme Specialist will work with the Ministry of Environment Science Technology and Innovation (MESTI), the FAO country office and the National Technical Working Group in the implementation of the project’s activities.

Technical Focus

The work of the Climate Change Programme Specialist is expected to contribute directly to the development of the funding proposal to the GCF under the TCP and indirectly to coordinating related activities that inure to mobilising adequate funding for the proposal formulation, all in contribution to the GH-NDCs implementation. The Programme Specialist will work from the Ministry of Environment Science Technology and Innovation (MESTI) and/or any other ministry and agency as agreed. His/her work is expected to promote beneficial multi-stakeholder collaboration and country ownership of the project development and implementation.

Tasks And Responsibilities

Specifically, the Specialist will undertake the following tasks and responsibilities:

• Support the implementation of Ghana’s Country Programming Framework (CPF) Priority on “Sustainable Natural Resource Management for a Safe, Secure and Productive Environment” with emphasis on forestry and climate change issues
• Coordinate the proposal development activities, including its day-to-day running, ensuring fruitful collaboration among various ministries, institutions and community stakeholders, taking into account in-country multi-stakeholder engagement frameworks on the GCF and the GCF stakeholder management and country/community ownership requirements.
• Coordinate activities of the National Technical Working Group, including providing secretarial supports
• Map out stakeholders and promote informed engagement with different stakeholders considering their interest, influence and authority in leveraging their expected roles and contribution to successful proposal development and submission to GCF.
• Implement a dedicated strategy to deepen CSOs and community participation and contribution to the proposal development process
• Identify and recommend potential partners such as Direct Access Entities, Financial Institutions and the Private Sector for strategic engagement in the project formulation processes and successful project implementation
• Where possible, under the guidance of the National Technical Working Group and project management, identify and recommend international opportunities within the multilateral climate and environment space, initiate and/or arrange bi-laterals and negotiations into leveraging such opportunities for robust proposal development
• Be available to support in the review and response to comments received from GCF NDA, FAO-GCF Task Force, and GCF etc.
• Lead in the monitoring of the status of GCF proposals and support the offices in preparing needed materials for key representational meetings as needed
• Support processes leading up to the identification and securing co-financing for the proposal
• Assist in the identification and recruitment of other consultants and resource persons/experts in support of proposal development processes
• Promote and sustain strategic partnerships, strengthen collaboration at national, sub-national and non-state actor levels in the frame of the GCF, climate, forestry and environmental facilities and specifically in line with the TCP objective;
• In line with the project formulation and objectives, study and propose FAO and Government strategic engagement and contribution to Ghana’s Nationally Determined Contributions (GH-NDCs) implementation and processes.
• Assist in the preparation of periodic reports, assessments, and technical documents, including but not limited to; project progress reports, implementation reports, letters of agreement, terms of references, and speeches
• Plan and execute workshops and other meetings
• Perform any other duties as may be required

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• University Degree (Masters degree/PhD) in Environmental Science, natural resource management or Geography, or other relevant discipline with a combination of additional 5 years of relevant professional experience
• A minimum of 5 years of progressive experience in Coordinating the planning, development of project proposals as well in project management, with focus on climate adaptation, resilience and Disaster Risk Reduction and Ghana’s nationally determined contribution
• Working knowledge of English, French and limited knowledge of one or two local dialects in the Coastal Landscape of Ghana
• National of Ghana

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/ Functional Skills

• Recognized expertise in nature-based solution for adaptation in Ghana is considered an asset
• Demonstrated strong network and working relationship with government and relevant stakeholders is considered an asset

Additional Information

• FAO does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing)
• Incomplete applications will not be considered. If you need help please contact: [email protected]
• 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.