Geospatial Applications Specialist
Job Description & How to Apply Below
The division also leads the production of two FAO flagship publications:
The State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) and The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI). The State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) is FAO’s main annual flagship publication with wide international recognition. It informs the international policy debate on major issues of significance for agricultural development and food security based on authoritative and comprehensive analysis.
FAO, through the ESTELLA Programme (Integrated regional platform for the innovative use of earth observation Technology and Farmer registry for the production and Validation of crop Data) implemented by ESA, supports national governments in utilizing Earth Observation (EO) data for agricultural policy targeting monitoring, development of credit and insurance schemes to farmers, and to analyze/forecast impact of disasters on crop production and market prices.
ESTELLA operates in close collaboration with European Space Agency, the Université catolique de Louvain (UCLouvain) as technical partner, and UNECA’s Geospatial Unit at the regional level, with active country operations in Zimbabwe, Kenya, Senegal, and other target countries.
ESTELLA deploys state-of-the-art EO processing platforms including Sen4
Stat and Sen4
CAP, to produce validated crop monitoring products. A central objective is linking EO-derived products to national agricultural policies, input/subsidies, crop insurance, and agricultural credit.
Reporting Lines
The incumbent will work under the direct supervision of the Technical Adviser for Geospatial (ESTELLA Programme Lead) in the ESA Division and in close collaboration with ESA technical staff, national counterparts in Ministries of Agriculture, Developing Banks, and regional partners including UNECA and ICPAC.
Technical Focus
The incumbent will provide specialized technical expertise in EO-based agricultural monitoring, combining satellite image processing, machine learning, and ground truth validation. The focus is on delivering scalable, institutionally embedded products — including crop type maps, using the Sen4
Stat processing framework under the EOSTAT protocol for crop mapping and statistical production, and the Sen4
CAP processing framework under ESA's mandate on agrifood economics and policy for compliance and policy-oriented monitoring. A key emphasis is the use of EO-derived outputs for delivery of insurance and credit to smallholder farmers and evidence-based policy targeting. Work will be conducted in direct collaboration with national agencies to strengthen their capacity to produce and use EO-derived agricultural statistics operationally.
Tasks And Responsibilities
EO Data Processing and Satellite Time Series Analysis
Preprocess and analyze multi-temporal satellite image time series (Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2, Landsat) for crop monitoring and phenological analysis in ESTELLA target countries.
Operate and customize the Sen4
Stat processing chain, applied under the EOSTAT protocol, for the production of crop type maps and computation of crop area and yield data and agricultural monitoring products consistent with national statistical frameworks.
Operate and adapt Sen4
CAP (Sentinel for Common Agricultural Policy) workflows, under ESA's mandate on agrifood economics and policy, for crop compliance monitoring and agricultural parcel analysis, adapting them to smallholder farming system contexts in sub-Saharan Africa and Central Asia.
Support the hosting, versioning, and national transfer of Sen4
Stat- and Sen4
CAP-derived products, including crop type maps, consistent with EOSTAT and ESA institutional protocols.
Support the design and implementation of field data collection protocols consistent with the FAO In-Situ Data Quality Framework, including sampling design, digital data capture (ODK, KoBo, SurveyCTO), and real-time quality control.
Conduct validation and accuracy assessment of EO-derived products using ground truth data, national survey datasets, and expert knowledge, assessing fitness for purpose in national policy contexts.
Establish end-to-end data quality assurance workflows from field collection through harmonization, integration with EO layers, and documentation.
Institutional Collaboration and Capacity Development
Collaborate directly with national technical counterparts…
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