Programme Officer - SAMS

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

25 October 2025-23:59-GMT+02:00 South Africa Standard Time (Maseru)

WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status or disability.

ABOUT WFP

The World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity, for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

At WFP, people are at the heart of everything we do and the vision of the future WFP workforce is one of diverse, committed, skilled, and high performing teams, selected on merit, operating in a healthy and inclusive work environment, living WFP's values (Integrity, Collaboration, Commitment, Humanity, and Inclusion) and working with partners to save and change the lives of those WFP serves.

To learn more about WFP, visit our website: https://www.wfp.org and follow us on social media to keep up with our latest news: YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok.

WHY JOIN WFP? 

• WFP is a 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.

• WFP offers a highly inclusive, diverse, and multicultural working environment.

• WFP invests in the personal & professional development of its employees through a range of training, accreditation, coaching, mentorship, and other programs as well as through internal mobility opportunities.

• A career path in WFP provides an exciting opportunity to work across the various country, regional and global offices around the world, and with passionate colleagues who work tirelessly to ensure that effective humanitarian assistance reaches millions of people across the globe.

• We offer an attractive compensation package (please refer to the Terms and Conditions section of this vacancy announcement).

The role is centered on promoting entrepreneurial opportunities and facilitating market linkages for climate-resilient value chains. The incumbent will offer technical support to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Nutrition, smallholder farmers, and other value chain actors particularly women and youth in key areas such as climate-smart agricultural practices, commodity aggregation and value addition, food safety and quality standards, post-harvest management, and improved access to markets and financial services.

The incumbent will also work closely with district agricultural officers and extension staff to ensure effective delivery of these interventions and provide targeted support to smallholder farmers at the community level.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Develop operational partnerships and maintain established strategic partnerships to provide technical support to smallholder farmers in climate-smart agriculture to increase marketable food surpluses;
• Enhance smallholder farmers capacity in aggregation, post-harvest handling and storage techniques, food safety and quality, to improve market access;
• Conduct marketing training needs assessment for both new and old farmer organizations and small holder farmers develop training materials in areas related to market access, and oversee the training of the smallholder farmers organizations;
• Conduct market analysis (from retailer to street vendors) in the four districts to facilitate linkage of potential buyers to small holder farmer’sproducts.
• Support the design and implementation of procurement modalities that are smallholder farmers friendly, while ensuring that they are consistent with UN, GOL policies,  and other relevant guidance;
• Work with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and Nutrition, and the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Small Business Development and Cooperatives to organize annual market linkage forums to link smallholder farmers to diverse formal markets including institutional buyers like the school feeding programme;
• Introduce new and strengthen existing viable value chains to resilience building communities and link them to markets for sustainability;
• Ensure gender equality and social inclusion mainstreaming in the Local Purchase Initiative with labour saving technologies to ease drudgery in their agricultural activities;
• Maintain presence at key forums (national and sub national)s and advocate for SHF’s access to markets;
• Provide support to the M&E unit in organizing baseline and annual monitoring surveys for farmers organizations and traders, support market information data collection and analysis, as well as market intelligence, and contribute to the lessons learned and success stories;
• Work with communications and knowledge management focal points to develop the lessons learned, success stories, local purchase briefs and other related materials.
• Provide inputs for the monthly, quarterly and annual reports.;
• Support the MAFSN in resource mobilization as necessary including drafting proposals and participating in negotiations with potential donors; and
• Carry out other duties as required by this position

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

Advanced degree in Agricultural Economics, Marketing, Development Economics, or any other related field is required with professional experience of minimum 3 years. Or first degree with additional years of experience.

Knowledge & Skills:

• Strong understanding of smallholder support activities, with in-depth knowledge of food systems, value chains, and market access.
• Ability to lead and coordinate across multiple teams and stakeholders.
• Excellent planning, facilitation, and communication skills.
• Ability to travel up to 30% of the time across project districts.

WFP LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK

 

WFP Leadership Framework guides to the common standards of behavior that guide HOW we work together to accomplish our mission.

Click here to access WFP Leadership Framework

 

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION

 

WFP is committed to supporting individuals with disabilities by providing reasonable accommodations throughout the recruitment process. If you require a reasonable accommodation, please contact:  global.inclusion@wfp.org

NO FEE DISCLAIMER

 

The United Nations does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Furthermore, please note that emblems, logos, names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore, you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web.

 

REMINDERS BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION

• We strongly recommend that your profile is accurate, complete, and includes your employment records, academic qualifications, language skills and UN Grade (if applicable).

• Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application.

• Please make sure you upload your professional CV in the English language

• Kindly note the only documents you will need to submit at this time are your CV and Cover Letter

• Additional documents such as passport, recommendation letters, academic certificates, etc. may potentially be requested at a future time

• Please contact us at global.hrerecruitment@wfp.org in case you face any challenges with submitting your application

• Only shortlisted candidates will be notified

All employment decisions are made on the basis of organizational needs, job requirements, merit, and individual qualifications. WFP is committed to providing an inclusive work environment free of sexual exploitation and abuse, all forms of discrimination, any kind of harassment, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. Therefore, all selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.