Food Systems and Nutrition Analyst CST II

WFP seeks candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian principles

 

Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis, and we are committed to promoting diversity and gender balance

 

 

 

Job Title:                                           Food Systems and Nutrition Analyst

 

Type of Contract:                           Regular Consultant

 

Division:                                           Nutrition Division

 

Duty Station (City, Country):     HQ, Rome Italy

 

Duration:                                          11 months

 

 

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

 

 

The Nutrition Division leads WFP’s efforts towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal target 2.2: ending all forms of malnutrition by 2030. This is an ambitious goal as malnutrition remains a universal and enormous global challenge, with significant health and economic consequences to individuals, communities and entire countries. WFP is therefore advancing its efforts to both prevent and treat malnutrition and has developed a situational assessment to support decision-making for the prevention of all forms of malnutrition: Fill the Nutrient Gap (FNG).

 

Improved nutrition situation analysis can increase the understanding of the likely magnitude and main causes of the nutrient gap among a particular target group, e.g. children aged 6-23 months or pregnant and lactating women (PLW) and adolescent girls, in a specific context. It can also inform where transformative change needs to happen in the food system to improve diets. The FNG analysis is based on a better and more in-depth analysis of existing nutrition, dietary intake, food security, food prices, household food expenditure and socio-economic data. Starting in 2015, WFP, with technical input from key research institutes (University of California Davis, IFPRI, Epicentre, Mahidol, Harvard) and Save the Children and UNICEF, developed the FNG assessment, which aims to strengthen analysis, build consensus and support decision-making for improving nutrient intake and preventing malnutrition, including during the critical period of the first 1,000 days.

 

The FNG uses nutrition modelling (enhanced Cost of Diet analysis) combined with a review of secondary data on food systems, local dietary practices and malnutrition to identify options that enable people to access and choose a more nutritious diet. The analysis is designed to contribute to national policy and programming planning cycles by highlighting potential entry points for nutrition-related action by different sectors and actors. Key stakeholders are engaged throughout the processed as needed, particularly in analysis and utilization of the findings, to facilitate multi-stakeholder discussions on the identification of context-specific policy and programme options and prioritisation of actions. 

 

The FNG process and the data analysis are facilitated, and in parts led, by the Systems Analysis for Nutrition team at WFP Headquarters, in collaboration with WFP Country Offices and Regional Bureaux.

 

By 2022, the FNG assessment’s concept and methods are well established, and the analysis has been conducted in more than 40 countries, including in fragile settings. WFP is working closely with World Bank, IFPRI, UC Davis, Johns Hopkins Centre for a Liveable Future, Tilburg University, Capgemini and others on further developments of the FNG including capacity strengthening, costing of options and aligning FNG with other initiatives such as estimating the cost of a healthy diet, assessing environmental impact of diets as well as impact of climate change on diets, and characterizing sub-national food environments using market-based food price data collection.

 

The Nutrition Division is seeking a consultant to join the multidisciplinary Systems Analysis for Nutrition (SAN) team to provide technical assistance to countries to undertake FNG analyses and to further strengthen the analytical toolbox and processes of the Analytics & Science for Food & Nutrition unit (AS4FN, which the SAN team is part of) and apply them in collaboration with other teams in the Nutrition Division and WFP more broadly. The role includes frequent travel (up to 25% of the time, including some weekend travel) in varied contexts, including fragile and emergency settings. Given good chances of renewal, an intent to work with the team for 3-4 years is requested.

 

 

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

 

 

1. Review and analyze data related to nutrition, dietary intake, food security, food prices, household food expenditure and socio-economic indicators.
2. Support Governments and WFP Country Offices to prepare for and conduct the FNG systems-focused nutrition situational analysis, including modelling such Cost of the Diet (CotD) analysis and secondary data analysis, summarizing and presenting findings for discussion, facilitating in-country and virtual stakeholder workshops for formulating recommendations and decision-making based on the findings, and report writing.
3. Coordinate FNG processes with WFP Country Offices and with regional bureaux.
4. Support the continuous improvement of the analytical concepts and tools, e.g. by
   1. integrating measures of environmental impact of different diets and of climate change on food production and quality;
   2. tailoring analyses to nutrition-sensitive agriculture and food value chains;
   3. interfacing with software developers to ensure that new tools meet the needs of analysts and stakeholders.
5. Coordination of analyses and may progressively include supervision of junior team members, including WFP colleagues at country offices and regional bureaux and consultants.
6. Collaborate with other teams in the Nutrition Division to support regional bureaux and country offices through analysis on malnutrition prevention and treatment programming and healthy diets.
7. Liaise and collaborate with other divisions in the WFP (e.g. Research Analysis and Monitoring (RAM), Cash Based Transfers (CBT), Social Protection, School Based Programming (SBP), Supply Chain, Climate Change, Resilience) to improve the understanding and use of the AS4FN analytical toolbox and engagement approach, and support integration of nutrition relevant considerations in their analytical and programming toolboxes.
8. Take actions that will lead towards strategic positioning of the analysis and insights gained, both among external stakeholders and internally in the organisation, including through writing of topic briefs, scientific papers and other publications, and presenting in meetings, webinars and other convenings.
9. Any other duties as required.

 

 

 

DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT:

 

 

Related to FNG analyses

 

• Full final report, summary, and slide deck for each FNG country the consultant worked on.
• If required, ad hoc thematic papers or other publications on FNG results.
• Draft advocacy material summarizing the key messages derived from the FNG analysis, to be used by WFP Country Offices and Regional Bureaux to inform their programming and for further policy discussions with their government counterparts.

 

Related to thought leadership on systems analysis for nutrition

 

• Relevant input to the development and strengthening of analytical tools as needed.
• Peer reviewed articles, reports and contributions submitted for publication as applicable.
• Presentations in international conferences, fora, technical meetings as needed.
• Collaboration with WFP colleagues on nutrition integration, particularly by providing analytical inputs and identifying entry points across sectors and programming platforms.
• Strengthened collaboration with key partner organisations.

 

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

 

Education:

Graduate level (Masters or above) in Public Health (Epidemiology or biostatistics), Nutrition, Economics (or Econometrics), Sustainable food systems, Agronomy, Statistics or other socio-economic disciplines with a strong quantitative data analysis component.

 

 

Experience:

 

• Between 6-8 years of relevant professional experience.
• Of which, at least 3 years of experience in food and nutrition data analysis.
• Solid knowledge of nutrition and food systems required.
• Experience with dietary assessment, linear programming-based (Cost of the Diet, Optifood) or other Nutrition Modelling tools, GIS and/or mapping software.
• Previous experience cleaning, processing and analysing large datasets and in database management appreciated.
• Previous experience of working in low-middle income countries, experience in fragile contexts considered an asset.
• Presenting detailed analysis findings or evidence to diverse audiences, including government stakeholders, programme staff and academic partners, in a digestible and context-relevant format.

 

 

Knowledge and Skills:

 

• Proficient and very comfortable to conduct quantitative data analysis using Stata or R
• Advanced expertise in Excel
• Demonstrated ability to conduct literature reviews and identify key themes, preferably related to food systems or nutrition
• Knowledge about and experience applying qualitative research methods
• Proven ability to structure and manage projects required.
• Capacity to coordinate with a range of different stakeholders, including national governments, research institutions, private sector, NGO partners, among others.
• Good interpersonal skills and ability to work in multicultural settings.
• Flexibility in thinking, ability to adapt to different situations quickly and with ease.
• Ability to work independently in a timely and organised manner and as part of a multidisciplinary team
• Capacity building and facilitation skills appreciated.
• Knowledge of different types of programmes such as social protection, health, school feeding, livelihoods and resilience and emergency programmes is considered an asset.

 

 

Languages:

 

• Professional level of written and spoken English, and aptitude to writing different types of communications.
• Professional knowledge of a second UN language an asset, preferably French, Spanish or Arabic. 

 

 

 

Terms and Conditions

 

WFP offers a competitive compensation package which will be determined by the contract type and selected candidate’s qualifications and experience.

 

Please visit the following websites for detailed information on working with WFP.

 

http://www.wfp.org Click on: “Our work” and “Countries” to learn more about WFP’s operations.

Deadline for applications: 28 August 2022

 

Ref.: VA No. 171487

 

 

 

Qualified female applicants and qualified applicants from developing countries are especially encouraged to apply

 

WFP has zero tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate on the basis of HIV/AIDS status

 

 

No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.