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Terms of reference

Technical Consultant

Support for the Technical Experts Workshop on Gaps, trends and current research

in gender dimensions of agricultural and rural employment: differentiated pathways

out of poverty (31 March – 2 April 2009)

Level: (Senior) Consultant

Duration: 20 (negotiable) working days on a part-time basis, to be undertaken between 1

February 2009 and 3 April 2009.

Duty Station: home base. It is expected that the consultant will be available to attend the

technical expert three-day workshop in Rome (31 March - 2 April 2009) and assist as a

resource person.

Background: The FAO, IFAD and ILO are jointly organizing a technical workshop (31

March - 2 April 2009), entitled ‘Gaps, trends and current research in gender dimensions

of agricultural and rural employment: differentiated pathways out of poverty.’ A number

of technical papers have been drafted and will be presented at the workshop.

Description of activities: Under the overall guidance of the Principal Adviser, Gender,

Equity and Rural Employment Division (ESW) FAO, and the immediate guidance of the

ESW Senior Consultant for the workshop, the consultant will provide technical and

editing comments and suggestions to the authors on their draft papers to ready them for

dissemination during the workshop. Background information on the scope, concepts and

issues to be covered in the workshop are attached in the Annex (“Call for papers”).

Definition of expected outputs and activities

The consultant will be responsible for the following tasks:

1. Examine 15 draft papers and provide technical and editing comments on them,

ensuring that all papers achieve a good level of contents, an authoritative quality and

that critical gaps relevant to the workshop topics are filled. This task will also

involve ensuring that: a) the content and template of all the papers are suitable for

publication, and b) each paper has a publishable abstract (15 days).

2. Extract from each paper policy issues and recommendations as inputs to the

organization of the workshop sessions (1 day).

3. Serve as a resource person at the workshop and prepare a report of the

issues/conclusions/recommendations of the sessions for which s/he served as a

resource person, for presentation at the concluding session of the workshop, and as

an input to the workshop report (4 days).

Deliverables

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1. A set of publishable papers and abstracts that are original, credible, authoritative

and that constitute a clear and substantial contribution to the literature on the topic

of gender and rural employment (for further information on the requirements for

papers please refer to the attached Call for Paper).

2. A report on the issues/conclusions/recommendations of the workshop sessions for

which the consultant served as a resource person, for presentation at the

concluding session of the workshop, and as an input to the workshop report.

Timeframe for deliverables

1) Comments on the abstracts (25 February 2009).

2) Issues and recommendations as inputs to the organization of the workshop (26

February 2009).

3) Serve as a resource person at the workshop (3 April 2009).

Terms of payment

The consultant’s honorarium will be paid at the end of the assignment. The honorarium

will include any expenses that may arise in order to communicate with the authors or the

workshop team (e.g. phone calls). Communications are expected to be largely or

completely by email or skype.

Essential Qualifications

Education: A Ph.D. degree in economics, agricultural economics, labour economics, or

socio-economic studies.

Experience: At least 7 years’ post-doctoral experience in policy-related research on rural

labour and employment issues with a gender focus. Experience in supervising Ph.D.

students would be an asset.

Familiarity with the ILO and the UN System approach relating to decent work, and with

priorities and approaches of workers’ and employers’ organizations representing rural

men and women would also be an asset.

Other skills: Strong analytical skills, excellent synthetic written English and

demonstrated publications record, covering research, technical, and policy areas. The

consultant must be able to work independently and as part of a team, have strong

interpersonal skills and be able to identify, understand and accommodate the objectives

of different stakeholders. The consultant should be able to plan and organize work and

deliver outputs according to agreed milestones.

Other Background

At the international level there is increasing recognition of the importance of the linkages

between rural employment, poverty reduction and food security, and of the fact that

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employment and, rural employment in particular, benefit men and women differently.

FAO and the ILO have committed to promoting decent and productive rural employment

in agriculture (including fisheries, forestry, livestock) and off-farm industries, starting

with the signature of the Memorandum of Understanding between the two agencies in

September 2004. This MoU is the high-level framework for providing support to member

countries in the design and implementation of effective and equitable policies, strategies

and programmes for decent and remunerative rural employment. At a broader level, the

recently released UN-System wide Toolkit for Mainstreaming Employment and Decent

Work is expected to assist all UN agencies to respond to the call of the 2006 ECOSOC

Ministerial Declaration for the development of time-bound action plans to 2015 to

mainstream employment and decent work into their policies and programmes. Decent

work, according to the ILO definition, means productive work in which rights of both

men and women are protected, which generates an adequate income, with adequate social

protection for both men and women and which allows for social dialogue and

organisation. Value addition and increases in productivity should be accompanied by

improvements in social welfare, including occupational safety and health.

Of specific importance for FAO’s Economic and Social Development Department, its

Gender, Equity and Rural Employment Division, and ILO’s and IFAD’s gender units are

the gender differences in rural employment opportunities, trends, and characteristics, the

differences in labour productivity, income and conditions of employment, and the ways

these promote or hinder more and better jobs. While gender equality, employment and

poverty and hunger reduction all feature among the Millennium Development Goals

(MDGs), the 1995 World Summit on Social Development, the 1996 World Food Summit,

the World Food Summit: five years later, and the World Summit on Sustainable

Development (WSSD), achieving decent employment for men and women in rural areas

is a particular challenge. Within a small holder economy, women often work as

contributing family members and many of their tasks (both productive and reproductive)

are unremunerated, unrecognized, and undervalued. Where wage employment exists it is

often in casualized, precarious forms of work with little respect for labour standards.

Self-employment in small holder agriculture is, itself, rarely covered in national labour

statistics and national agricultural censuses do not always provide the data required to

make accurate assessments of employment or underemployment in agricultural, fisheries,

and forestry.

The outputs of this consultancy will contribute to building a vision of FAO’s, ILO’s and

IFAD’s future work on gender, equity and rural employment, strengthen their research

agenda and policy advice related to the promotion of decent rural employment, and form

the basis for a research agenda of a virtual centre.

Annex (in separate document): Call for papers for the Technical Expert Workshop on

“Gaps, trends and current research in gender dimensions of agricultural and rural

employment: differentiated pathways out of poverty”.

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Terms of reference

Senior Consultant

Support for the Technical Experts Workshop on Gaps, trends and current research

in gender dimensions of agricultural and rural employment: differentiated pathways

out of poverty (31 March - 2 April 2009)

Level: Senior Consultant

Duration: 60 (negotiable) working days on a part-time basis, to be undertaken between 1

March 2009 and 30 September 2009.

Duty Station: home base. It is expected that the consultant will be available to attend the

technical expert three-day workshop in Rome (31 March - 2 April 2009).

Description of activities: Under the joint overall guidance of the Principal Adviser,

Gender, Equity and Rural Employment Division (ESW) FAO, and the Executive

Director, Employment Sector, ILO ,and the immediate guidance of the FAO-IFAD-ILO

core workshop team, and in consultation with the International Fund for Agricultural

Development (IFAD), and the FAO Task Force on Gender Dimensions of Rural

Employment (and other FAO, ILO and IFAD staff as relevant), the consultant will assist

the authors in finalizing for publication the papers presented at the Technical

Experts Workshop on Gaps, trends and current research in gender dimensions of

agricultural and rural employment: differentiated pathways out of poverty (31 March -

2 April 2009). The consultant will also prepare an introductory chapter and (as

appropriate) brief introductions for the different sections of the publication. Background

information on the scope, concepts and issues to be covered in the workshop are attached

in Annex (“Call for papers”).

Definition of expected outputs and activities

The consultant will be responsible for the following tasks:

4. Give inputs on the format/organization of the publication. Prepare an introductory

chapter for the publication and brief introductions to the different sections of the

publication which will comprise/reflect the groups of themes addressed at the

workshop (to be confirmed by the FAO-IFAD-ILO core workshop team) (10 days).

5. Ensure that the technical content, written/editorial style and template of all the

papers are suitable for publication (40 days).

6. Consult with the FAO delegated coordinator and the FAO-IFAD-ILO core

workshop team to shape the publication to the expectations of the three UN

organizations (2 Days).

7. Attend the Technical Expert Workshop and produce the report of the workshop

covering key issues discussed, conclusions and recommendations (this will be a

stand-alone report and will also serve as the basis for the introductory chapter for

the publication (8 days).

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Deliverables

3. A set of publishable papers that are original, credible, authoritative and that

constitute a clear and substantial contribution to the literature on the topic of

gender and rural employment.

4. A draft publication comprising: a) an introduction on key issues, and the

workshop conclusions and recommendations, b) the publishable workshop papers,

divided into sections according to the workshop themes, c) brief introductions to

each section, d) other sections as needed such as acknowledgements,

bibliography, brief resumés of authors etc.

5. The workshop report.

Timeframe for deliverables

4) Attendance at the technical expert workshop (31 March - 2 April 2009) and

drafting of the workshop report (15 April).

5) Review of/send comments to authors to ensure that the final versions of their

papers meet the high quality standards needed for the publication, and ensure

that these comments are adequately addressed (31 May 2009).

6) Draft of introductory chapter and introductions for the different sections of the

publication (30 June 2009).

7) Preparation of the overall publication for printing (30 September 2009).

Terms of payment

The consultant’s honorarium will be paid in three installments: the first payment upon

completion of the workshop report; the second payment after finalizing all the papers for

the publication and the final payment upon completion of the assignment.

The honorarium will include any expenses that may arise in order to communicate with

the authors or the workshop team (e.g. phone calls). Communications are expected to be

largely or completely by email or skype.

Essential Qualifications

Education: A Ph.D. degree in economics, agricultural economics, or labour economics.

Experience: At least 10 years’ post-doctoral experience in policy-related research on

rural labour and employment issues with a gender focus. Experience in supervising Ph.D.

students would be an asset.

Familiarity with the ILO and the UN System approach relating to decent work, and with

priorities and approaches of workers’ and employers’ organizations representing rural

men and women would also be an asset.

Other skills: Strong analytical skills, excellent synthetic written English and

demonstrated publications record, covering research, technical, and policy areas. The

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consultant must be able to work independently and as part of a team, have strong

interpersonal skills and be able to identify, understand and accommodate the objectives

of different stakeholders. The consultant should have excellent organizational skills, and

should be able to plan and organize work and deliver outputs according to agreed

milestones.

Other Background

At the international level there is increasing recognition of the importance of the linkages

between rural employment, poverty reduction and food security, and of the fact that

employment and, rural employment in particular, benefit men and women differently.

FAO and the ILO have committed to promoting decent and productive rural employment

in agriculture (including fisheries, forestry, livestock) and off-farm industries, starting

with the signature of the Memorandum of Understanding between the two agencies in

September 2004. This MoU is the high-level framework for providing support to member

countries in the design and implementation of effective and equitable policies, strategies

and programmes for decent and remunerative rural employment. At a broader level, the

recently released UN-System wide Toolkit for Mainstreaming Employment and Decent

Work is expected to assist all UN agencies to respond to the call of the 2006 ECOSOC

Ministerial Declaration for the development of time-bound action plans to 2015 to

mainstream employment and decent work into their policies and programmes. Decent

work, according to the ILO definition, means productive work in which rights of both

men and women are protected, which generates an adequate income, with adequate social

protection for both men and women and which allows for social dialogue and

organisation. Value addition and increases in productivity should be accompanied by

improvements in social welfare, including occupational safety and health.

Of specific importance for FAO’s Economic and Social Development Department, its

Gender, Equity and Rural Employment Division, and ILO’s and IFAD’s gender units are

the gender differences in rural employment opportunities, trends, and characteristics, the

differences in labour productivity, income and conditions of employment, and the ways

these promote or hinder more and better jobs. While gender equality, employment and

poverty and hunger reduction all feature among the Millennium Development Goals

(MDGs), the 1995 World Summit on Social Development, the 1996 World Food Summit,

the World Food Summit: five years later, and the World Summit on Sustainable

Development (WSSD), achieving decent employment for men and women in rural areas

is a particular challenge. Within a small holder economy, women often work as

contributing family members and many of their tasks (both productive and reproductive)

are unremunerated, unrecognized, and undervalued. Where wage employment exists it is

often in casualised, precarious forms of work with little respect for labour standards. Self-

employment in small holder agriculture is, itself, rarely covered in national labour

statistics and national agricultural censuses do not always provide the data required to

make accurate assessments of employment or underemployment in agricultural, fisheries,

and forestry.

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The outputs of this consultancy will contribute to building a vision of FAO’s, ILO’s and

IFAD’s future work on gender, equity and rural employment, strengthen their research

agenda and policy advice related to the promotion of decent rural employment, and form

the basis for a research agenda of a virtual centre.

Annex (in separate document): Call for papers for the Technical Expert Workshop on

“Gaps, trends and current research in gender dimensions of agricultural and rural

employment: differentiated pathways out of poverty”.