Strategy and Planning Officer (SURAGGWA-PAGGW)

Organizational Setting

The FAO Regional Office for Africa (RAF) supports African Member States and regional integration institutions in delivering transformative results for agrifood systems, in alignment with the FAO Strategic Framework and the Four Betters:

better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life, leaving no one behind.

RAF works in close collaboration with regional organizations, including the African Union (AU), the African Union Development Agency (AUDA NEPAD), Regional Economic Communities such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), the Intergovernmental Authority on development (IGAD), the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), and other strategic partners, to accelerate the transition toward resilient, inclusive and climate smart agrifood systems across the continent. Through high level policy dialogue, technical cooperation, and multi-country coordination, RAF helps to ensure that continental priorities such as food security, climate resilience, agricultural trade, and rural livelihoods translate into tangible outcomes at national and regional levels.

FAO, in partnership with the Pan African Great Green Wall (PAGGW) and national entities from 8 African countries, succeeded in raising funds from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) for the implementation of a large-scale multi-country programme to boost restoration and resilience in the targeted countries.

The Scaling-Up Resilience in Africa's Great Green Wall (SURAGGWA) programme is a transformative, multi-country initiative funded by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). It targets eight Sahelian countries-Burkina Faso, Chad, Djibouti, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, and Senegal-with additional capacity-building support for Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Sudan.

SURAGGWA aims to address the severe impacts of climate change in the Sahel, one of the world's most vulnerable regions, by restoring 1.4 million hectares of degraded land, enhancing climate resilience, and improving livelihoods for over 8.7 million people. The programme aligns with the African Union's Great Green Wall Initiative (GGWI), which seeks to restore 100 million hectares of land, sequester 250 million tons of CO', and create 10 million jobs by 2030.

With a total budget of USD 250 million (including USD 150 million from GCF and USD 100 million in co-financing), SURAGGWA is structured around three core components:

Landscape Restoration: Promoting agro-ecological and agro-forestry practices to rehabilitate degraded lands, supported by community engagement and native seed systems.

Development of Non-Timber Forest Product (NTFP) Value Chains: Strengthening market access, technical capacity, and financial inclusion for smallholders, especially women, in value chains such as baobab, gum arabic, moringa, and honey.

Institutional Strengthening: Enhancing the capacity of national and regional GGW institutions for planning, monitoring, coordination, and resource mobilization, including access to carbon finance.

The complexity, scale, and multi-country nature of SURAGGWA requires a dedicated Strategy and Planning Officer to ensure:

Strategic coherence across countries and partners; Robust multi-year planning and prioritization Alignment with national, regional, and global frameworks.

The position is located in the Subregional Office for West Africa (SFW) in Dakar, Senegal.

Reporting Lines

The Strategy and Planning Officer (SURAGGWA-PAGGW) reports to the Senior Coordinator (Land Restoration-SURAGGWA Programme) at the Sub-Regional Office of FO for West Africa (SFW), with secondary reporting line to the Sub-Regional Coordinator of SFW, Budget Holder of the SURAGGWA Programme. S/he will work closely with the relevant Staff and Consultants a...