Economist; Markets and Trade

Organizational Setting

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Our goal is to achieve food security for all and make sure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. The assignment will be carried out within the framework of an FAO project implemented in cooperation with the Government of Kazakhstan to strengthen agricultural market analysis, food supply chain resilience and evidence-based decision-making.

The project focuses on improving the availability and use of reliable data on agricultural production, storage infrastructure, logistics and trade, and on strengthening approaches to commodity balance analysis for selected agricultural products. The project includes a pilot implementation in Akmola Region, where FAO will support the inventory and mapping of warehouse and vegetable storage infrastructure, analysis of selected commodity supply chains and balances, and development of practical methodologies and tools for data collection, analysis and monitoring.

The pilot is expected to generate recommendations and approaches that can inform further strengthening and potential scaling-up of agricultural market and food supply chain management in Kazakhstan. The assignment is 30 working days (including 8 days of field mission).

The Economist (Markets and Trade) will work under the overall supervision of the National Professional Officer of the FAO Country Office in Kazakhstan, the technical supervision of the Lead Technical Officer (LTO), and in close coordination with the Project Coordinator and relevant FAO technical officers and project team members. The incumbent will work in close collaboration with the International Consultant on Commodity Balance and Supply Chain, national consultants, relevant government counterparts and other project stakeholders.

The Economist (Markets and Trade) will provide specialized economic and market expertise to support the analysis of selected socially significant food products in Kazakhstan. The assignment will focus on domestic and international market dynamics, price formation and transmission, trade flows, market efficiency, and the economic factors affecting commodity availability and market stability. The incumbent will contribute to the development of an integrated analytical framework linking commodity balances, supply chains, market indicators and trade dynamics and will formulate evidence-based recommendations to strengthen market stability, transparency and resilience.

• Conduct a detailed analysis of domestic and international market dynamics for selected socially significant food products, including supply-demand interactions and price formation mechanisms.
• Analyse historical and current price trends, including seasonal variations, regional disparities and price transmission mechanisms across domestic and international markets.
• Assess trade flows for selected commodities, including import and export volumes, major trade partners, trade dependence and relevant trade and market policies affecting domestic market stability.
• Identify market inefficiencies, structural distortions and barriers affecting market competitiveness, transparency and effective price formation.
• Support the identification and assessment of supply chain bottlenecks, post-harvest loss risks and infrastructure gaps that may affect commodity availability, market stability and price formation.
• Contribute to the integration of relevant economic, market, price and trade indicators into the commodity balance analysis framework developed under the project.
• Assess the role and effectiveness of relevant market stabilization instruments and policies, including strategic food reserves, price stabilization mechanisms and trade policy measures.
• Develop evidence-based policy recommendations aimed at strengthening market stability, improving market transparency and supporting informed decision-making, including recommendations related to strategic reserves management, price stabilization mechanisms and trade policy adjustments.
• Design and undertake at least one mission to Kazakhstan of approximately eight working days, with the support of the project team, to consult relevant government…