Agriculture Development in Afghanistan

The objective of this transition project is to transfer organizational and individual functional capacity from externally funded programmes to the MAIL formal organizational structure. To accomplish this requires close coordination with a wide range of stakeholders, internal to MAIL’s technical and administrative structures (e.g., Human Resources, Finance) and other international donors supporting MAIL’s transition efforts. The project will focus on supporting the transition process of integrating the five EU-funded programmes into MAIL’s institutional organization, specifically:

• Assisting MAIL’s Deputy Minister for Technical Affairs Directorate assume policy and programme, technical, and administrative responsibilities of the EU-funded programmes

• Coordinating transition activities specific to the EU-funded agriculture programmes with MAIL and other donors,

• Assuring the regularity of all the transition programme in MAIL, and

• Advising the EU Delegation on specific technical matters related to structuring their budget support post-transition.

The structure and functioning of project management unit which will be in a position to assume the above-mentioned responsibilities should be proposed as an introduction to the expertise mobilized. This structure illustrated by an organigramme will take into consideration i) the external staff related to the five EU-funded agricultural programmes expected to be absorbed by the Project and than progressively transitioned to the MAIL Taskheel and ii) the expected need for National and International Technical Assistance. While the overall requirement for national and international expertise is left to the appreciation of the contractor, the following expertises is considered by the contracting authority and the Beneficiary (MAIL) as essential.

The IPC expert will be responsible for facilitating the operational transitioning as per MAIL reform of the ECHO-funded project and creates synergies with the EU-funded SAEMISS programme. The expert will as well provide support to MAIL for the strengthening of the IPC Coordination/Secretariat and to the Afghanistan Food Security Technical Team (AFSTT) to improve the food security assessment at the national level. Other responsibilities envisioned include, but is not necessarily limited to:

• Provide necessary support to implement the project’s work plan for the IPC in Afghanistan and work closely with key stakeholders, particularly national authorities, and key IPC partner organizations;
• Work with the various IPC partners, particularly the national authorities, FAO, WFP, OCHA, and INGOs to achieve the IPC implementation process;
• Facilitate the establishment of an IPC National Technical Working Group (NTWG) and ensure that partners are fully involved in the development and implementation of IPC at all times;
• Provide the required technical support and assist to ensure the production of the narrative analysis and the IPC maps for the countries and the region;
• Ensure that detailed maps as required by the IPC process are obtained from partners (government, FAO, WFP VAM, INGOs etc.) in a timely manner and shared to all in the development / humanitarian/food security community;
• Promote awareness on the project activities by helping in organizing awareness raising events, and ensure that the project's partners are fully involved in the process of implementation of project activities;
• Provide necessary support for the preparation of inception report, monthly progress reports;
• Contribute to the drafting of the final report including recommendations for the way forward that analyze process and output of IPC application, and identify areas for improvement.