Technical Specialist in Soil Management and Fertility Vacancy-Job Ref: BJHNFAO/0306/2025807

Technical Specialist in Soil Management and Fertility Vacancy-Job Ref: BJHNFAO/0306/2025807

Tegucigalpa (Honduras)

FAO strives to ensure gender, geographic, and linguistic diversity among its staff and international consultants in order to best serve the Organization’s Member States in all regions.

FAO is committed to achieving diversity in its workforce in terms of gender, nationality, origin, and culture.
Women, nationals of underrepresented or unrepresented Member States, and persons with disabilities who possess the necessary qualifications are encouraged to apply.
All individuals working for FAO must adhere to the highest standards of integrity and professional conduct and uphold FAO’s values.
As a specialized agency of the United Nations, FAO maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward conduct inconsistent with its statute, objectives, and mandate, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority, and discrimination.

All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.
All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality.
Organizational framework

For more than 40 years, FAO has provided technical assistance and cooperation to Honduras, implementing programs and projects that strengthen the capacities of agricultural stakeholders for the integrated management of natural resources, adaptation and mitigation measures against climate change, risk management and livelihood resilience, improving the nutritional status of families, and promoting rural territorial development. In 2020, FAO Member States in Latin America and the Caribbean, meeting at the 36th Regional Conference, agreed on three major priorities that will guide the Organization’s actions during the 2020-2021 biennium.

The three regional initiatives are:

Sustainable Food Systems to provide healthy diets for all.
Hand in hand to achieve prosperous and inclusive rural societies.
Sustainable and resilient agriculture.

Within the framework of these actions, FAO in Honduras has implemented a Country Programming Framework (CPF), which establishes the guiding areas for FAO’s partnership with the Government of Honduras and the Organization’s support to the latter, combining innovative international best practices, global standards, and national and regional experience. To this end, the expected achievements of this project will be aligned with CPF Priority 2.3: (Strengthen rural development processes with an inclusive and innovative territorial approach to reducing poverty and forced migration); and Priority 3.2: (Strengthen climate change mitigation and adaptation measures that contribute to improving food and nutrition security).

In Honduras, FAO focuses on these areas:

Food and Nutrition Security (SDG1, SDG2 and SDG5).
Sustainable Territorial Development (with a social, economic and environmental focus on mitigating non-optional migration) and Family Farming (SDG1, SDG2, SDG5, SDG8, SDG10 and SDG12).
Sustainable Use of Natural Resources, Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation, and Risk Management (SDG12, SDG13, SDG14, and SDG15).

Under this organizational framework, FAO in Honduras supports agricultural stakeholders in preventing and eradicating child labor in agriculture, as a requirement for achieving inclusive rural development in their communities. According to the 2020 Global Estimates of Child Labor published by the ILO and UNICEF, 160 million children and adolescents (CHI) were in child labor situations worldwide at the beginning of 2020. Of these, 112 million were in agriculture, representing 70% of all child labor and an increase of 4 million since 2016. Despite progress in Latin America and the Caribbean (LARC), 6% of all children in the region (8.2 million) continue to work in child labor, an incidence that reaches 13.1% in Honduras. Almost half of these children are in agriculture, underscoring the urgent need for major progress in the sector.

In response to low soil fertility and productivity, the SoilFER project will address these problems at the government level by producing detailed maps of soil health and fertility status that will enable strategic decisions at the national level regarding policies, investments, incentives, and support for specific value chains. This mapping exercise will be accompanied by institutional capacity building in soil analysis and interpretation of data and information derived from it. A soil monitoring system will also be established to adapt decisions to changing crop conditions, climate, and socioeconomic factors. These maps will be combined with existing territorial prioritization maps for the beneficiary countries.

At the local level, countries’ agricultural knowledge and innovation systems will be strengthened, including not only public extension services but also agro-traders and other non-governmental organizations that provide advice and recommendations to farmers. These stakeholders will receive training in sustainable soil management and integrated soil fertility management, including the adoption of the 4Rs of nutrient inputs (right source, right rate, right time, and right place). Decision-making at this level will be strengthened to ensure that it is based on robust and up-to-date information from the soil information and monitoring system and takes into account sustainable soil management practices.

At the farm level, smallholder farmers will receive accurate information and evidence-based recommendations through user-friendly tools. In collaboration with the strengthened extension and technical support services, the project will provide training on sustainable soil management practices to help farmers use fertilizers more efficiently and sustainably. Appropriate tools for communicating with farmers, such as radio programs or farmer-to-farmer training sessions, will be implemented to ensure that information reaches smallholder farmers and that knowledge is consolidated and retained in these communities. Special efforts will be made to involve women farmers and the most vulnerable groups to ensure their equal participation and benefit in any interventions aimed at sustainable soil management, ensuring that no one is left behind.

Hierarchical dependence

The Technical Specialist in Soil and Fertility Management will work under the general supervision of the FAO Representative in Honduras, the direct supervision of the FAO Assistant Programme Representative and the National Coordinator of the SoilFER Project in Honduras, and the technical supervision of the Water and Soil Officer at FAO Rome.

Field of specialization

The Technical Specialist in Soil and Fertility Management will provide all necessary technical, organizational, and administrative support in line with the outcomes and outputs of the FAO project component under Project GCP/GLO/1127/USA, “Soil Mapping for Resilient Agri-Food Systems in Central America and Sub-Saharan Africa (SoilFER).”

Tasks and responsibilities

Identify sustainable soil management (SSM) practices adapted to local conditions, including the efficient use of organic and inorganic fertilizers, as well as recommended systems for their application, provided by the public and private sectors in Honduras.
Develop and implement a survey for project beneficiary producers and research institutions to identify MSS practices and the use of locally applied fertilizers, as well as socioeconomic aspects by region and sector.
Promote the adoption of the identified practices at the national and local levels.
Collaborate with other project team members to develop and implement integrated soil fertility management strategies.
Support the development of protocols for establishing field trials to test and validate priority soil management practices and fertilizer recommendations.
Participate in and develop training activities, such as workshops and training courses, to improve national capacities in soil management and fertility.
Support the development of national capacities for the analysis of fertilizers and alternative nutrient sources.
Monitoring progress and assessing the quality of soil and fertility management initiatives.
Provide input into project monitoring and evaluation frameworks to ensure the effective implementation of soil and fertility management practices.
Contribute to the development of periodic status reports on soil management and fertility activities for funding agencies and stakeholders.

Communicate project results and lessons learned related to soil management and fertility to relevant audiences.
Establish and maintain relationships with project stakeholders, including government agencies, international organizations, and local communities.
Facilitate collaboration and information exchange among project partners regarding soil management and fertility.
Collaborate with local partners, including extension services, farmer organizations, and educational institutions.
Support the implementation of the Soil Doctors program and the improvement of national extension services on soil fertility and fertilizer recommendations.

Advanced university degree in soil science, agriculture and natural resource management, or related field
Five years of relevant experience in soil science, sustainable soil management, soil fertility, or related field
Working knowledge (level C) of English.
Honduran national.
FAO Core Competencies

Results-based approach
Teamwork
Communication
Establishing effective relationships
Knowledge sharing and continuous improvement
Selection Criteria

In-depth knowledge of soil science and plant nutrition, specifically soil fertility management practices and fertilization.
Experience in developing and implementing soil fertility management strategies at various scales (national, local);
Degree and relevance of experience in writing technical reports/documents in English;
Extensive and relevant experience in implementing technical assistance projects, preferably in the areas of agriculture and natural resource management.
Competence in analyzing soil data and creating practical recommendations for soil management and fertilization.
Familiarity with the design and execution of field trials for soil testing and formulation fertilization practices.
Experience in developing and using decision support systems for soil management and fertilizer application.
Experience in conducting training and education activities in the field of soil fertility management.
Understanding project monitoring and evaluation processes, including the development of evaluation frameworks.
Ability to effectively report on project progress and results to diverse audiences, including funding agencies and stakeholders.
Ability to foster collaborative relationships with a wide range of project stakeholders.
Experience in the design and implementation of programs in the field of soil science.
Skill in developing educational materials and conducting training activities for a non-specialist audience.

Please click on the button below to Apply.