The South Asia Region comprises eight countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) that range in size from India (with a population of over 1.4 billion) to Maldives (with 0.3 million people). Growth in South Asia is expected to be strong at 6.0% in 2024, driven mainly by robust growth in India and recoveries in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. But persistent structural challenges threaten to undermine sustained growth, hindering the region’s ability to create jobs and respond to climate shocks. According to Jobs for Resilience, the latest South Asia Development Update, South Asia is expected to remain the fastest-growing region in the world for the next two years, with growth projected to be 6.1% in 2025. But this strong outlook is deceptive. For most countries, growth is still below pre-pandemic levels and is reliant on public spending. At the same time, private investment growth has slowed sharply in all South Asian countries and the region is not creating enough jobs to keep pace with its rapidly increasing working-age population.
Sustainable Development Practice Group
The Sustainable Development (SD) Practice Group (GP) supports the WBG’s vision to create a world free of poverty on a livable planet. It consists of five Global Practices and one Global Theme. The Global Practices (GPs) that belong to the SD PG are: Agriculture and Food; Environment, Natural Resources and the Blue Economy; Urban, Disaster Risk Management, Resilience and Land; Social Sustainability and Inclusion; and Water. The Climate Change Group forms SD PG’s single Global Theme. In addition, SD is the Bank-wide steward for the Environment and Social Framework (ESF).
In SAR, the Agriculture and Food Unit, SSAA2, covers India and Pakistan, and leads the development and implementation of the World Bank agriculture and rural strategy including identifying the new opportunities and supervising the active portfolio. The SSAA2 Agriculture and Food Unit has a large portfolio across the two countries and includes a range of investments and analytical products supporting agriculture and food systems transformation and rural economic inclusive growth. In India, there are currently 16 on-going investment projects in the amount of over US$3.2 billion, at both state and central levels, and a range of policy and analytical engagements which are addressing reforms, policy development and implementation capacities. The Unit is led by a Practice Manager based in New Delhi and the team consists of over 20 staff, over half of which are based in Country Offices.
Duties & Accountabilities:
We are seeking a Senior Agriculture Economist to support our analytical and operational work in the India agriculture, food and rural livelihoods portfolio.
The primary responsibilities of the Senior Agricultural Economist will be to support the implementation of the World Bank’s strategy for agriculture, food and rural economic development in India through:
analytics and policy dialogue;
identification, preparation and implementation of strategic investment projects; and
technical assistance and knowledge management.
In particular, the Senior Agricultural Economist will:
Contribute to and, where required, lead the unit’s solution-oriented analytical tasks and policy dialogue within the India agriculture program, with a focus on producing high quality analytical work to inform policy dialogue with Government counterparts both at the central and state levels.
Contribute to and, where required, lead the identification, preparation and implementation of strategic investment projects at both central and state levels, ensuring that projects are well designed and include appropriate technical and policy dimensions.
Lead/initiate/participate in high-level engagement and dialogue with key partners and stakeholders, including central and state level government counterparts on the analytical and policy agendas.
Remain up-to-date with relevant analytical work on agriculture development in India and identify existing or emerging needs in the agricultural sector by proactively bringing in experience from other countries within the Region and/or other regions.
Contribute to economic reviews and analysis lead by other teams including country partnership/assistance strategy, strategic country diagnostics, policy notes, country economic memorandum and similar, to ensure the inclusion of the agricultural and rural livelihoods agenda in collaboration with colleagues within and across the India Country Management Unit and other sectoral teams.
Lead and contribute to the mobilization of resources, including trust funds, for building the agriculture and food program in India.
Represent the Bank and give presentations in technical and policy oriented events.
Selection Criteria
Master's in Economics or Agricultural Economics or related disciplines.
A minimum of 10 years of relevant working experience in agriculture, rural development and other disciplines related to food systems.
Proven ability to conceptualize, design and supervise the implementation of major projects, ASAs and TA activities and contribute to policy-related analysis and related dialogue.
Strong technical and analytical skills in a range of issues of relevance to agriculture and rural development.
Experience with managing official data from India (Union and/or state-level), with strong statistical and analytical skills and data visualization tools.
Ability to think innovatively and strategically in dealing with policy issues to draw meaningful and practical recommendations for policy and investment priorities.
Track record of commitment to team work and ability to interact effectively and collegially with peers at all levels.
Excellent interpersonal and team skills with ability to work independently and innovatively when dealing with empirical and econometric issues.
High degree of discretion, ethics, tact and sensitivity in handling confidential and sensitive information.
Ability to work under pressure while retaining perspective and a sense of humor.
Very high level of energy, initiative and self-motivation, coupled with willingness to travel extensively and work under challenging conditions.
Strong written and oral communication skills in English essential.
