MONITORING & EVALUATION SPECIALIST

Organizational Setting

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and malnutrition. As nutrition starts with what we eat, the products of the food and agriculture sector; transforming our food systems, on the way we produce, collect, store, transport, transform and distribute foods can improve our diets.

FAO collaborates with Governments to strengthen food systems for healthier diets, to improve nutrition, health and our impact on natural resources. With over 194 member states, FAO works in over 130 countries worldwide.

FAO is working with the Government of Zambia on a Technical Assistance to the Scaling Up Nutrition Programme in Zambia project under the SUN Phase II program. The program is jointly funded by UK-AID/FDCO, SIDA, KfW and the EU in 17 districts of Zambia through UNICEF. Leveraging complementary technical assistance from other UN agencies, UNICEF has a UN-to-UN cooperation agreement with FAO.

The SUN phase II FAO programme component will contribute to the reduction of malnutrition in pregnant and breast-feeding women and children under two (2) years of age through improvements in dietary diversity and quality. FAO’s project outcome is a Sustained demand, utilization and consumption of agriculture and forest foods.

More specifically, the project is structured around the delivery of four interconnected outputs:

• Output 1: Access to diversified, nutritious food improved
• Output 2: Sustainable production, processing, value addition and marketing of non-wood forest products for dietary diversity and income generation
• Output 3: Food safety and diet quality enhanced
• Output 4: Generation of nutrition information to monitor, prioritize and adapt interventions

Reporting Lines

Under the overall supervision of the Assistant FAO Representative (AFAO), the direct supervision of the National Coordinator - Nutrition and in close collaboration with the Program Associate, the Program Specialist (M&E) is responsible keeping track of project’s outputs and outcomes, writing, editing and consolidating project reports, and maintain the visibility of the project. S/he will perform the following tasks:

Technical focus:

Nutrition education, nutrition sensitive agriculture and food systems, behaviour change communications, food security and food safety.

Tasks and responsibilities

The incumbent, through his/her work, will contribute to implementation of the project activities pertaining to the FAO component of the SUN II among which include:

A: Tracking of project’s outputs and outcomes and learning

• Ensure up to date progress tracking of the project indicators as contained in the project log frame relating to the FAO component of technical support to SUN II;
• Monitor progress on project activities and outputs to ensure that the delivery is on track
• Ensures that M&E findings are effectively disseminated to all project partners to ensure lesson learning and fine-tuning of project implementation;
• Ensure that Districts routinely collect data and transmit them through the ZIAMIS platform for analysis and decision-making.
• Identify monitoring and evaluation capacity building needs and facilitates capacity development for other project field staff as well as government and other stakeholders at provincial, district camp, and field levels; involved in monitoring and evaluation of the activities of the project;
• Liaise and maintains relationships with the project M&E Focal Point in Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries and UNICEF to ensures consistence with other ongoing and related interventions in MoA
• Ensure completeness and regular update of FAO Monitoring and Evaluation tools (Quality Assurance section of FPMIS) for the project;

B. Maintain the visibility of the project

• Monthly documentation of human life stories of changed lives for project beneficiaries covering various aspects of the projects outputs and outcomes
• Facilitate wide dissemination of project results and the promotion activities through newspaper, radio and TV
• Engage local media and influence other settings to promote healthy eating
• On key project events, organise media to cover and report of the event.
• Organise media visits to project sites and secure video documentaries published by the media
• Organise media to cover and report the final evaluation of the project mission
• Develop information products to support decision making during project progress review exercise and develop materials for advocacy, knowledge sharing, project promotion as well as for communicating project results

C. Write and Edit Project Reports:

• Ensure that all project periodic reports i.e. monthly, quarterly, interim, final and donor specific reports are compiled in a timely manner capturing project outputs and outcomes against the project log frame
• Ensure that reports are developed using the most professional business writing and formatting with comprehensive analytical and visual presentation of information
• Facilitate compilation of data and information from different project components for development of comprehensive project reports. This includes participation and contribution to the project knowledge management activities
• Produce internal reports according to FAO cooperate requirements. Prepare project updates and situational reports as required by FAO HQ and Regional and Sub-Regional Offices

D. Support to ZIAMIS with the inclusion of food based nutrition indicators

• Elaborate the methodology of the Non Forest Wood Products (NWFP) assessment in accordance with the objectives of the project.
• Conduct desk review and field assessment in accordance with the agreed methodology.
• Work directly with the Research Team to draw key messages, conclusions and recommendations from the NWFP
• Collect, and review other data relevant to the project, with due consideration to disaggregation on relevant project variables
• Present other available data useful to understand the focus of the project and its objectives.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• A Master’s degree in Monitoring and Evaluation or Project Management, research or related field
• Five (5) relevant progressive experience working in monitoring, evaluation, information and knowledge management systems
• Demonstrated developmental work experience in programme planning, undertaking assessments, and conducting baseline studies, reporting (communication) and knowledge management.
  • Skills in photography, journalism and or video recording is an added advantage
  • A portfolio of knowledge, and visibility products produced.
• Knowledge of nutrition, nutrition sensitive Agriculture Food systems is an added advantage
• Nationality of Zambia.

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Ability to work independently and under minimum supervision and to cope with conflicting agendas;
• Result-oriented approach;
• Excellent analytical and synthesis capacities;
• Experience in capacity building and training, an asset

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION