Nutrition Specialist

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• Qualified female applicants, qualified nationals of non-and under-represented Members and person with disabilities are encouraged to apply;
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FAO’s commitment to environmental sustainability is integral to our strategic objectives and operations.

Organizational Setting

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) contributes to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development through the FAO Strategic Framework by supporting the transformation into more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems, for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind.

FAO’s commitment to environmental sustainability is integral to our strategic objectives and operations.
The FAO Sierra Leone Country Office is responsible for leading FAO's response to country level priorities for food security, agriculture and rural development through the identification, planning and implementation of FAO's priority activities in the region. It ensures a multidisciplinary approach to programmes, identifies priority areas of action for the Organization in the region, and, in collaboration with Divisions, Sub-regional Offices and Centres at headquarters, develops, promotes and oversees FAO's strategic response to country priorities and the implementation of the Organization's strategies through programmes and projects across the region.
The Country Office supports the formulation and implementation of the Country Programmes and Projects, including Country Programming Frameworks (CPFs), and their contribution to the FAO Strategic Framework and the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) at the country level and work with Subregional office for West Africa on corporate priorities such as the Strategic Framework and on the incorporation of regional priorities into the Organization's Programme of Work and Budget. The Country Office leads, formulates, implements, monitors and reports on the Organization's programmes and budget in the region and draws management attention to problems, deficiencies and risks.

FAO Sierra Leone has developed a project on Palm Oil value chain development for three years that is contributing to the developed action document aligned to the Feed Salone strategy titled Sustainable Food and Agricultural Value Chains Development in Sierra Leone (SFAVCDSL) to be Financed under the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI Global Europe). This action document is linked to relevant Multiannual Indicative Programme for the Republic of Sierra Leone 2021-2027 (MIP). The total funding for the plan is estimated to be Euro 34.7million million out of which Euro 11.2 million will be administered by the FAO for technical assistance to support oil palm value chains and nutrition in the country. This initiative is a joint effort of EU and FAO building on complementarities and synergies of the interventions by the two organizations.

It is suggested that at least 43000 farm families will benefit directly within the selected 4 districts of Port Loko, Bonthe, Pujehun and Kenema. The specific activities to be implemented by FAO will include\: (i) dissemination of good agricultural practices; (ii) adoption of improved farm practices for increased farm productivity; (iii)training in post-harvest management and palm oil processing; (iv) household nutrition improvement; (iii) promotion of on and off-farm employment; (iv) formation of oil palm based cooperatives and (v) capacity development for monitoring and evaluation

Sierra Leone Country Office is looking for an Nutrition Specialist to support the implementation of this project. The position is in the FAO Sierra Leone Country Office, West Africa region.

Reporting Lines

Under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative in Sierra Leone.

Technical Focus

Support the EU funded project management through directly assisting the BH in carrying out sensitive and gender based initiatives that contribute to the overall impact of the project in terms of reporting and backstopping responsibilities of the project national team.

Tasks and responsibilities

Within the functional and administrative supervision of the FAO Representative in Sierra Leone, the direct supervision of the EU Palm Oil project Chief Agronomist in Sierra Leone, and in close collaboration with the Sierra Leone programme and administrative units, the Nutrition Specialist will undertake the following duties and responsibilities\:

• Work with the project task force to develop gender and nutrition sensitive tools/indicators to be reflected in the baseline assessment that will help during the evaluation of the nutrition elements,
• Work with the National Nutrition Officer to update the project baseline information for gender and nutrition sensitive data and analysis on gender dynamics, nutrition-sensitive agriculture, and climate-smart practices to inform the project implementation and reporting,
• Engage the TVET schools to be supported by the project and conduct nutrition sensitive gaps analysis in their training materials/modules, assist to review them and work with the National Nutrition Officer to roll the trainings,
• Use the findings of the report produced by the International Nutrition Consultant that supported the project design, identify capacity building needs for the farmers and work with the National Nutrition Officer, NGOs to be recruited as service providers and MAFS to conduct the trainings,
• Develop evidence-based gender-transformative, nutrition-sensitive, and climate-smart interventions for the project proposals.
• Work with the M&E Specialist to provide inputs for monitoring and evaluation frameworks to track gender and nutritional outcomes of the project during the project implementation,
• Work with the LTOs of the project to develop/review standard awareness raising tools and work with the relevant actors to increase nutrition sensitive activities
• Work with the LTOs to design monitoring systems to measure the impact of interventions on women’s empowerment, dietary diversity, and climate resilience in the palm oil sub-sector,
• Attend nutrition Technical Working Group meetings organized by the Ministry of Health and other development partners to increase awareness on the project intervention and recommend alignment of the nutrition interventions,
• Prepares and submits quarterly Reports on nutrition and gender to be reflected in the progress report,
• Performs other duties as required.
• Guides and trains relevant FAO/MAFS team/personnel working on gender and nutrition activities of the project to deliver the expected results,
• Reviews current training materials for the TVET schools in the project operational districts to make them nutrition sensitive and assist in the roll out at FFS level and school levels while keeping up with FAO operational rules and procedures.
• Liaises with relevant FAO technical units at the FAO Subregional, Regional Office and headquarters, as well as any other technical consultants working in support of the gender and nutrition elements of the project/s, and work with service providers/MAFS and the National Nutrition Officer to ensure technical quality in implementation
• For the nutrition and gender aspect, it contributes timely preparation and submission of reports in accordance to the reporting requirements of the project, securing the necessary input from technical officers and project partners.
• Lead all capacity building elements of gender and nutrition for the project in close collaboration with MAFS/MTHE/TVET schools and the National Nutrition Officer
• Work with SLAR to introduce at FFS stage, nutrition initiatives to serves as alternatives livelihood programs,
• Work with the Ministry of Health and support the introduction of new dietary recipes in the curriculum of Hospitality curriculum of TVET schools to encourage the production and consumption of locally grown nutrient-rich foods,
• Work with relevant stakeholders to promote the utilization of the new recipes into school feeding programs to improve dietary diversity,
• Conduct training on the for women on the use of waste fruit bunches to grow edible mushrooms, and support bio fortification initiatives to enhance nutritional value,
• Develop gender and nutrition monitoring tools to be used to monitor the key performance indicators of the project and train the National Nutrition Officer on the roll out approach.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced university degree from an institution recognized by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/UNESCO in nutrition, food science, public health, food safety, gender or a related field
• Five years of relevant experience in nutrition and gender analysis within the food systems and palm oil sector.
• Experience in designing projects with nutrition, gender and or climate-smart agriculture
• Working knowledge (proficiency - level C) of English language.

FAO Core Competencies

• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Please note that all candidates should adhere to FAO Values of Commitment to FAO, Respect for All and Integrity and Transparency

HOW TO APPLY

• To apply, visit the recruitment website at Jobs at FAO and complete your online profile. We strongly recommend that your profile is accurate, complete and includes your employment records, academic qualifications, and language skills
• Candidates are requested to attach a letter of motivation to the online profile
• Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application

• Please note that FAO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http\://www.whed.net/. These qualifications should be in alignment with the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) mappings.

• Candidates may be requested to provide performance assessments and authorization to conduct verification checks of past and present work, character, education, military and police records to ascertain any and all information which may be pertinent to the employment qualifications
• Incomplete applications will not be considered
• Personal information provided on your application may be shared within FAO and with other companies acting on FAO’s behalf to provide employment support services such as pre-screening of applications, assessment tests, background checks and other related services. You will be asked to provide your consent before submitting your application. You may withdraw consent at any time, by withdrawing your application, in such case FAO will no longer be able to consider your application
• Only applications received through the FAO recruitment portal will be considered
• Your application will be screened based on the information provided in your online profile
• We encourage applicants to submit the application well before the deadline date.

If you need help or have queries, please create a one-time registration with FAO’s client support team for further assistance\: https\://fao.service-now.com/csp

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