Food Security and Nutrition Needs Specialist (International Consultant) at Scofield Associates

Scofield Associates is a research company providing research products to development partners across the Horn of Africa. We are the Horn of Africa Research Partner, promoting justice, economic opportunity, and human dignity using data. We work with local institutions and development partners to advance public understanding of data, and its use for good in development. In collaboration with our in-country partners, we support research and program designs that are responsive to local needs and that prioritize sustainable solutions to pressing development challenges.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Food Security and Nutrition Needs Specialist (International Consultant)

Location: Nigeria
Category: Monitoring and Evaluation

Program: Assessing the Food Security and Nutrition Needs and Priorities

• Scofield Associates will be submitting an evaluation partner proposal for an upcoming Food Security and Nutrition Program.
• The Evaluation partner will play the role of a thought partner through the life of the programme (4 - 5 years), providing leadership on best practices for rigorous evaluations of complex multi-country projects while considering the evaluation approaches, contextual realities, and programmatic experiences in the upcoming program.

The program’s goal will be:

• To improve food security and contribute to the reduction of malnutrition of at least 5 million women of reproductive age and children in Benin, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Mozambique.
• The program will also include two strategic objectives:
  • Increase access to and consumption of healthy diets.
  • Increase the resilience of nutritional situations to price and climate change-related shocks and stresses of household members across the six countries, with a focus on women of reproductive age and children.

To this end, Scofield Associates is seeking technical specialists who will serve as consultants throughout the program. Scofield Associates is looking for two senior consultants per country (Benin, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, & Uganda).

Duties and Responsibilities

• The Consultant will support Scofield Associates as the research partner of the program throughout the life of the program.
• This will include the assessments and evaluations for program impact on food security and nutrition in the six (Benin, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, & Uganda) countries identified for the project.

Scope of Work
The Food and Nutrition Security Consultant will work closely and report Scofield Associates Director. In detail, the Consultant, with the support of the Director, will be responsible for the following tasks:

• Conduct relevant surveys and review existing national reports to analyze the food security, poverty and nutrition problems, feasibility assessments and the responses to the national food and nutrition security strategies and policies.
• Evaluate the ongoing projects or initiatives and build on the good and bad experiences and identify gaps which can be incorporated into the Food and Nutrition Security Project.
• Identify key partners, including educational institutes, national/international NGOs, and relevant government ministries in each of the selected countries.
• Develop joint operational strategies for engagement with the stakeholders identified, including the levels of engagement, geographical areas of intervention, roles, and responsibilities of each stakeholder.
• Develop the joint programme framework and an action plan for implementing the Food and Nutrition Security project, in consultation with the identified key stakeholders and donors.
• Propose a coordination and monitoring mechanism for interventions.
• Incorporate the analysis done into the existing Food and Nutrition Security project for donor consideration.
• Support the local evaluation partner in the development of study protocols (including literature review, detailed methodology and justification, sampling strategy, data analysis plan, and data collection tools) for review and approval by the Reference Group.
• Support cross-country research when identified and applicable (including meta-analyses and reporting and publications).
• Support or oversee (as agreed with the Reference Group) all aspects of primary data collection, quality assurance, and data entry, cleaning, management, and analyses conducted by local implementing partners.
• Submit raw and clean datasets, accompanying codebooks, and syntax and output of all data analyses, for all primary data collected. If quantitative data are collected, data documentation must be provided using Nesstar, or a similar data storage program.
• Publish findings of impact evaluations in peer-reviewed journals in collaboration with the Reference Group.

Competencies
Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling international values and ethical standards.
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of Scofield Associates.
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
• Treats all people fairly without favouritism.
• Technical Competencies:
• Analytic capacity and demonstrated ability to process, analyse and synthesize complex technical information.
• Ability to summarize complex information.
• Proven experience in the developing country context and working in different cultural settings.

Communication:

• Communicate effectively in writing to a varied and broad audience simply and concisely.

Professionalism:

• Capable of working in a high-pressure environment with sharp and frequent deadlines, managing many tasks simultaneously.
• Excellent analytical and organizational skills.

Teamwork:

• Projects a positive image and is ready to take on a wide range of tasks.
• Focuses on results for the client.
• Welcomes constructive feedback.

Required Skills and Experience
Education:

• Master’s Degree in Food and Nutrition, Agriculture, International Relations, Economics, Social Science or related.
• PhD in a similar field is an advantage.

Experience:

• Minimum 5 years of experience in development issues and projects in Benin, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, & Uganda.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in evaluation, research, writing, communication, and developing communication products, especially project proposal.
• Evidence of reports and journal publications and work in a similar field is required.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in working with international organizations and national governments in the horn of Africa.
• Strong evaluation, research, communications and writing skills.
• Experience in communication and developing communication products is essential.
• Experience in evaluation research and report and partnership with international organizations and national governments.
• Linkage to an institution of higher learning is an added advantage.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in written and spoken English.
• Knowledge of French is an added advantage.

Application Closing Date
1st December, 2022.