Guidance

Food and Agriculture: Technical Competency Framework

Updated 23 May 2024

1. About the FCDO Advisory Cadres

World-leading technical and analytical capability is central to FCDO’s mission. FCDO Advisers embody these capabilities, playing a key role in the delivery of the UK’s international objectives and development impact in particular.

Advisers have a central role in the design, implementation, appraisal, and evaluation of international development programmes; in the development and implementation of foreign and development policy; and in diplomacy and international partnerships. They play an expert role in inter-disciplinary thinking and thought leadership, linking programmes and bringing deep expertise to maximise impact. They have strong links with specialist networks, research organisations, and professional bodies in the UK and globally.

Advisers are accredited to one or more of thirteen Advisory Cadres. These are professional bodies within FCDO and cover: Climate and Environment, Conflict, Economics, Education, Evaluation, Food and Agriculture, Governance, Health, Humanitarian, Infrastructure, Private Sector Development, Social Development, and Statistics. The Economics, Statistics, and Evaluation Cadres are linked to government-wide advisory services. Each Cadre has a Head of Profession (HoP), who is responsible for ensuring that professional standards are maintained both within the Cadre and for those wishing to join. The HoP provides thought leadership, quality assurance, and supports continuous professional development.

Adviser capabilities

Advisers have certain capabilities in common. These include but are not limited to the following:

• expertise and thought leadership in international policy and investment, applicable across a range of themes and geographies, and with a focus on development impact
• use of evidence to inform policy and programming including the use of political economy analysis
• policy and programme delivery, from design through to implementation and appraisal
• international influence and diplomacy, thinking and working politically and cooperatively, and through appropriate challenge, to shape norms and approaches
• brokering partnerships with governments, civil society, the private sector, multilaterals, research organisations and professional bodies in the UK and globally
• delivering value for money by applying key economic and commercial concepts
• safeguarding to ensure the UK does-no-harm by integrating gender equality, child protection, disability inclusion, preventing sexual exploitation and abuse, and sexual harassment
• tackling climate change and restoring nature, ensuring that programmes are aligned with the Paris agreement on climate change and UK commitments on nature
• embodying Civil Service behaviours in applying, communicating, influencing, and leading technical and evidence-informed processes and engagement
• knowledge of data relevant to operating sector and context, and application of professional expertise in interpretation and analysis of this in support of intended outcomes
• systems thinking, recognising inter-linkages, real-world dynamics, and complexity to help design effective policies and interventions
• innovation and digital development, proactive in exploring and validating innovative approaches, technology solutions and creative ways to address the world’s challenges

2. About the Food and Agriculture Cadre

The Food and Agriculture cadre comprises approximately 45 Advisers working in FCDO across the regions, in policy and research teams, and with international institutions.

Food and Agriculture Advisers:

• are specialists in strengthening resilience and reducing humanitarian need; accelerating sustainable growth and poverty reduction; tackling climate change and protecting nature; and strengthening global health, with a focus on food, agriculture and livelihoods.
• take a people-centred approach that promotes equity, graduation from poverty and resilience, that benefits the poorest and most vulnerable, as set out in the Livelihoods Framework
• apply a systems lens to maximise synergies and minimise trade-offs across strategic priorities, recognising political economy issues that hinder or support progress

3. Food and Agriculture Technical Competencies

Food and Agriculture Advisers are expected to demonstrate knowledge and practice on approaches to achieving the UK’s development priorities through the following competencies:

1. Building resilience and reducing humanitarian need through food, agriculture and livelihoods
2. Accelerating sustainable growth and reducing poverty through food, agriculture and livelihoods
3. Promoting development pathways that tackle climate and protect nature through food, agriculture and livelihoods
4. Strengthening health through food and agriculture
5. Specialism

• livestock and pastoral systems
• fisheries and aquaculture
• forestry
• urban livelihoods

Competency 1: building resilience and reducing humanitarian need through food, agriculture and livelihoods

Evidence and practice areas:

1. The drivers, characteristics and implications of acute and chronic food insecurity and implications for trends in malnutrition.
2. The role of climate change and natural resource scarcity in rising crisis need and livelihoods in fragile contexts.
3. The impact of conflict on livelihoods and economies; and the contribution of the agri-food sector to reducing or exacerbating the risk of conflict.
4. Approaches to prevent and anticipate future shocks and rebuild resilience in protracted and recurring crises through sustainable livelihoods and strengthening graduation from extreme poverty - in particular, for women and girls.
5. Approaches to address food and nutrition insecurity in fragile contexts, including crisis response architecture, data, tools and analytical frameworks.
6. Contemporary approaches to social protection - including shock-responsive social protection; graduation models for effective targeting and delivery; the conditions and contexts in which social protection approaches work and the potential risks and opportunities of different SP approaches.
7. Science and technological solutions to strengthen resilience of livelihoods and the agri-food sector, including mobile cash transfers, digital platforms for information sharing.
8. International commitments, political economy factors and the role of policy in responding to crisis need and building resilience through food, agriculture and livelihoods.
9. Opportunities to maximise win-wins and minimise trade-offs across this competency and other food system priorities, namely: sustainability, mitigation, nutrition, growth and poverty reduction.

Competency 2: accelerating sustainable growth and reducing poverty through food, agriculture and livelihoods

Evidence and practice areas:

1. The underlying drivers of poverty, including inequality, geography, gender dimensions and discrimination; the impact of poverty and vulnerability and the manifestation of these on different groups.
2. The capabilities, choices and strategies that make up the livelihoods of poor rural and urban people, including formal-informal employment opportunities, and the role of the agri-food sector in sustainable growth and poverty reduction.
3. The barriers faced by women and opportunities to facilitate their empowerment within the agri-food sector; the UK gender equality policy and legal commitments; data sources for gender analysis.
4. Safeguarding risks in the agri-food sector and approaches to address, e.g. child labour.
5. The challenges and opportunities in developing and implementing transparent, inclusive and sustainable land tenure systems which support inclusive economic development and investment.
6. Drivers and barriers to agricultural transformation, including boosting sustainable productivity, promoting inclusive markets, strengthening value chains and trade; employment diversification; responsible investment and innovative financing.
7. Approaches to promote sustainable livelihoods, including supporting agricultural commercialisation (‘stepping-up’), supporting shifts away from agriculture (‘stepping-out’) and supporting and building the resilience of the most vulnerable (‘hanging in’).
8. The transformation of rural economies and rural-urban connectivity, including mobility, migration, urbanisation and the role of remittances.
9. Science and technological solutions to accelerate sustainable growth and poverty reduction – including climate-resilient, high-yield varieties; livestock vaccines and treatments; digital advisory services.
10. International commitments, political economy factors and domestic policy and regulatory levers to strengthen markets, jobs and growth, while maximising wins across other dimensions of the food system, including subsidy reform and the regulatory environment for investment in the agriculture sector.
11. Opportunities to maximise win-wins and minimise trade-offs across this competency and other food system priorities, namely: sustainability, resilience, mitigation, food security and nutrition.
12. Context-specifics challenges and opportunities to strengthen markets, jobs and growth in agriculture and food across middle-income countries, low-income countries and fragile and conflict-affected states and protracted crises.

Competency 3: promoting development pathways that tackle climate and protect nature through food, agriculture and livelihoods

Evidence and practice areas:

1. Vulnerability of agriculture and food to climate change, and the role of the food system contributing to GHG emissions.
2. The interdependence of livelihoods of poor people, the food system and natural resources – namely, biodiversity, water, soil, forests – including, the role of the food system as a major driver of biodiversity loss and environmental degradation, and the pressures of environment on food security and livelihoods.
3. Land and resource use – environmental/productivity trade-offs. The political economy of the governance, access to and use of natural resources, including the impact of power, vested interests, users and consumers in determining land and other natural resource tenure policy and outcomes.
4. Approaches to adapt to climate change and opportunities to mitigate emissions through agriculture and food.
5. Development solutions in agriculture and food that protect and restore nature, including reducing food loss, improving water efficiency and quality, sustainable intensification, sustainable supply chains, reducing fertiliser overuse, intercropping, sustainable livestock production, integrated pest management, increasing landscape complexity.
6. Science and technological solutions including digital and the role of big data, precision agriculture and agri-tech platforms, to drive climate smart and more sustainable food production.
7. International commitments, political economy factors and the role of agriculture, food and environmental policy in shaping climate and environment outcomes, including targeted agricultural subsidies, payment for ecosystems services.
8. Opportunities to maximise win-wins and minimise trade-offs across this competency and other food system priorities, namely: food security, nutrition, growth and poverty reduction.
9. Context-specifics challenges and opportunities to tackle climate change and protect nature through agriculture and food across middle-income countries, low-income countries and fragile and conflict-affected states and protracted crises.

Competency 4: strengthening health through food and agriculture

Evidence and practice areas:

1. The multi-dimensional causes and consequences of hunger and all forms of malnutrition (stunting, wasting, micronutrient deficiencies and overweight / obesity), the scale and trends in malnutrition and consequences for human and economic development – in particular for women, adolescent girls and young children.
2. Approaches to address and prevent malnutrition across the food system (including changes in food availability, affordability, access, quality and the role of consumer preferences and culture).
3. Approaches to strengthen food safety and reduce the burden of foodborne disease from physical, chemical and microbial hazards.
4. Approaches to address and mitigate risks arising from food and agriculture for global health security, including zoonoses, AMR, and health risks associated with unsustainable agriculture practices.
5. Science and technological solutions to improve nutrition and tackle global health threats, including biofortification, food processing and storage
6. International commitments, political economy factors and the role of agriculture, food and health policy and global supply chains in shaping nutrition and health security.
7. Opportunities to maximise win-wins and minimise trade-offs across this competency and other food system priorities, namely: sustainability, resilience, mitigation, food security, growth and poverty reduction.
8. Context-specifics challenges and opportunities to strengthen health through agriculture and food across middle-income countries, low-income countries and fragile and conflict-affected states and protracted crises.

Competency 5: specialism

Demonstration of knowledge and practice in certain areas, such as:

• livestock and pastoral systems,
• fisheries and aquaculture
• forestry
• urban livelihoods

Depth in one of these may be offered in place of breadth, providing the adviser is able to apply the depth in a range of contexts, complexities and delivery channels.

4. Assessing capability

Assessments will be based around a review of evidence that describes the extent of knowledge and expertise applicants hold in the relevant competencies, and also against capability levels from the FCDO Capability Framework: Awareness, Foundation, Practitioner and Expert (within Expert HoPs Group differentiate between Expert and Senior Expert). Note that particularly for Senior Expert level, consideration will be given to candidates’ ability to give high quality demonstration of technical leadership and an ability to communicate and influence in their evidence.

The TCFs are structured so that competencies are clearly defined and can be expressed at Practitioner, and Expert and Senior Expert.

Practitioner

• strong and confident day to day application of capability in common or standard situations but may need to seek expert support on more complex issues
• holds relevant experience* and may be augmented by a formal qualification of direct relevance
• minimum level for entry to the relevant Cadre – successful Technical Assessment dependent on fulfilling all stated criteria in the TCF

Expert

• recognised for specialist or technical knowledge and/or skill, underpinned by extensive experience applying it in practice on complex issues; connected with other experts
• holds significant relevant experience* and likely to be augmented by a formal qualification of direct relevance
• standard level for entry to the relevant Cadre – successful Technical Assessment dependent on fulfilling all stated criteria in the TCF

Senior Expert

• recognised for deep specialist or technical knowledge and/or skill, underpinned by extensive experience applying it in practice on complex issues; connected with other experts
• holds very significant relevant experience* and likely to be augmented by one or more formal qualifications of direct relevance
• evidence of applying specialist knowledge and skill as well as displaying leadership qualities in a range of contexts
• accreditation dependent on fulfilling all stated criteria in the TCF and assessment against 2 Civil Service Competencies, Leadership and Communicating and Influencing

*Relevant experience is defined as international work experience of direct relevance to the competency.

Accreditation assessments will take into account the entire academic and professional history of a candidate and not rely solely on their last or most recent post.

Assessment framework

The table below sets out the framework for how capability will be assessed at the competency level. The framework is based around the standard 1-7 scoring system used for Civil Service recruitments. During an accreditation round, the sift panel will agree a pass mark for all competencies. This could be, for example, 4. A sift will score all competencies at or above the pass mark for an applicant to pass from sift to interview. If a candidate applies for a level and does not pass, the sift panel can at their discretion agree whether they might still pass at a lower level. For example, an applicant might apply at Expert level. During the sift the panel might not pass them on all competencies, but after discussion agree to progress them to interview at Practitioner level.

Prior to interviews, the interview panel will again set a pass mark for all elements of the assessment. An interviewee must score higher than the pass mark in all areas to be considered for accreditation. If a candidate applies for a level and does not pass, the interview panel can at their discretion accredit the candidate at a lower level. Candidates who pass at a particular level cannot be considered for accreditation at a higher level, regardless of their scores. They must re-apply for accreditation at a higher level in a future accreditation round. The full set of accreditation requirements are specified in Section 5.

Standard scoring assessment

Score	Classification	Definition
7	Outstanding demonstration	The evidence provided wholly exceeds expectation at this level
6	Strong demonstration	Substantial positive evidence; includes some evidence of exceeding expectations at this level
5	Good demonstration	Substantial positive evidence of the competency or behaviour
4	Acceptable demonstration	Adequate positive evidence and any negative evidence would not cause concern
3	Moderate demonstration	Moderate positive evidence but some negative evidence demonstrated
2	Minimal demonstration	Limited positive evidence and/or mainly negative evidence demonstrated
1	Not demonstrated	No positive evidence and/or substantial negative evidence demonstrated

5. Routes to Accreditation

There are 2 accreditation pathways to accredit to the Food and Agriculture cadre:

• standard pathway: demonstration that knowledge and practice meets the requirement for Senior Expert*, Expert or Practitioner in all 4 standard competencies

or

• specialist pathway: demonstration that knowledge and practice meets the requirement for Senior Expert*, Expert or Practitioner in a specialism and in 3 of the 4 standard competencies

Those accredited at Senior Expert, Expert or Practitioner are considered to be accredited to the Food and Agriculture cadre.

The table below outlines the 2 routes to accreditation at the 3 levels:

*Note that particularly for Senior Expert level, consideration will be given to candidates’ ability to give high quality demonstration of technical leadership and an ability to communicate and influence in their evidence.