Context of the role

Improved nutrition situation analysis can increase the understanding of the likely magnitude and main causes of the nutrient gap among different target groups, e.g. children aged 6-23 months or Pregnant and Lactating Women (PLW), in a specific context. It can also inform where transformative change needs to happen in the food system to improve diets. The ‘Fill the Nutrient Gap’ (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. This tool has been instrumental to assist WFP in engaging with national stakeholders on ways to meet nutrient requirements for all with a specific focus on the most vulnerable, such as women and young children and people in remote and/or conflict-affected areas. It strengthens national food security and nutrition action plans, as well as social protection programmes and school health and nutrition initiatives. It, therefore, helps to ensure SDG 2 will be met. It links internally to the WFP’s strategic planning processes, including Country Strategic Plan (2G CSP) formulation, and enhances WFP’s broader situational analysis work managed by the Research, Assessment and Monitoring (RAM) team. Under the new WFP strategic plan (2022 - 2027), with an important focus on Nutrition Integration, further roll-out of FNG and its use to design nutritious transfers is essential. Such a design process would include determining the cost, affordability and availability of safe nutritious diets that include local climate-sensitive (resilient) nutritious foods and how these can be integrated into food- and cash-assistance transfers to contribute towards safe nutritious diets. It is important that the WFP Regional Bureau for Western Africa and WFP Country Offices in Western Africa have the capacity to use the appropriate analytical tools and correctly apply them when designing nutritious transfers. As such, building on achievements so far and Nutrition Integration opportunities identified, this position will facilitate the corporate roll-out of the Fill the Nutrient Gap toolbox in the Western Africa region in support of the Nutrition Integration agenda, as outlined in the WFP Strategic Plan (2022 - 2027).

What will you do in this position?

You will generate and contribute to the evidence base that supports food system and nutrition policies and programmes with the objective to facilitate Nutrition Integration in a variety of existing programmes and initiatives (e.g., School Health and Nutrition, Social Protection, Integrated Resilience Package, Nexus approach, needs assessment and situation analyses, programme design, targeting, cost-effectiveness, and operational efficiency). This also includes food security, and nutrition information system strengthening of national and regional information systems with regards to the collection, analysis and reporting on Affordability of Safe Nutritious diets.

How can you make a difference?

In this position, you will have to:

• Provide technical advice and support to WFP and its partners on matters pertaining to the food system and nutrition analyses and related strategies, policies, and programmes, and facilitate the timely and productive use of related outputs in a manner that complies with WFP standards and processes and contributes to improved affordability of a safe nutritious diet for all in the Western Africa region.

• Manage and/or conduct food systems and nutrition analysis, such as but not limited to, Fill the Nutrient Gap analysis, and prepare timely reports on nutrition needs in line with wider Nutrition policies, processes and guidance to enable effective decision-making on the development of country strategy, policies and programmes with a focus on Nutrition Integration.

• Proactively support regional institutions in rolling out FNG analytical concepts into regional Food security- and nutrition situation analytical frameworks, such as Cadre Harmonisé, in close collaboration with relevant colleagues in the Regional Bureau, such as RAM, and the Nutrition Division in Headquarters.

• Support the development of advocacy material with key messages derived from the food systems and nutrition analysis and the recommendation of context-specific strategies for food, social protection and education system actions to improve the affordability of safe nutritious diets in key target groups in Western Africa region.

• Lead the development of assessments, systems and tools for the design, monitoring and assessment of all types of food assistance, using different transfer modalities, through the integration of the FNG analytical concepts into analytical frameworks such as, but not limited to, the Essential Needs Analysis (ENA), the Minimum Expenditure Basket (MEB), Market Functionality Index (MFI), Retail Onboarding and Contracting (ROC), Optimus, and into relevant programme support interventions such as Social Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) and others.

• Ensure full understanding and use of food systems and nutrition analyses by WFP colleagues and partners at regional and national levels. Contribute to the development of related programme activities, providing nutrition-related technical analysis, interpretation and recommendations to facilitate all types of food assistance needs to be met effectively and contribute to improving the affordability of a safe nutritious diet for all.

• Build the capacity of WFP staff, partners, and regional and national institutions to conduct, report on and use food system and nutrition analysis to effectively inform policies and programmes with a specific focus on strengthening Nutrition Integration in the WFP Western Africa Nexus agenda (resilience, social protection, school health and nutrition, etc.)

• Keep up to date with and advise on food systems and nutrition analysis developments and the potential impact upon WFP activity to enable timely and appropriate programme evolution and intervention.

• Support nutrition situation analysis, in close collaboration with the Regional Bureau, RAM, particularly on SMART-, JANSFA- and other similar food security-and nutrition survey approaches

• Contribute to regional and country-specific nutrition situation analysis in close collaboration with the RAM unit in the Regional Bureau, including in areas such as Nutrition, Food Security and Integrated Hotspot analysis.

• Provide support to relevant partners that are focusing on the food system and nutrition analysis to enable sharing of experience, lessons learned and best practices, in close collaboration with the RAM unit in the Regional Bureau and the Nutrition Division in Headquarters.

• Support the monitoring and evaluation of WFP nutrition-related activities, providing technical analysis, interpretation and information as required to support the assessment of impact towards improving the affordability of safe nutritious diets for all.

• Direct WFP Western Africa Nutrition Evidence Generation and Learning agenda with all relevant stakeholders in and outside of Regional Bureau, and in line with Country Offices, the Regional Bureau and corporate needs for nutrition-related learning.

• Provide coaching and guidance to direct reports as required to ensure appropriate development and enable high performance

• Represent WFP during technical meetings with partners, as required.

• Act in an assigned emergency response capacity as required to meet emergency nutrition assistance needs.

• Other as required.

This position reports to the Senior Regional Nutrition Advisor and will be part of the Nutrition Unit. Close collaboration with the RAM unit in the Regional Bureau is essential. Travel within the Western Africa region may be required up to 30% of working time.

To join us in saving lives, changing lives, you will have for...

Education: Advanced University degree in Public Health/Nutrition, Statistics, Epidemiology, Economics, Food Security, or other related fields, or First University degree with additional years of related work experience and/or training/courses.

Experience: Minimum of five years of experience working with governments to develop nutrition policies and/or implement a nutrition programme (within food security or health). Experience working as part of a multicultural and diverse team, and/or leading one.

Knowledge & Skills: We are looking for a dynamic, agile and enthusiastic nutrition-/food security professional who is passionate about data. Specifically, we are looking for:
• Has participated in the design and implementation of programmes, including General Food Distributions and Cash-Based Transfer programmes.
• Experience working in multiple countries.
• Experience working in both emergencies and developmen contexts.
• Experience conducting nutrition surveys, analysing data and drafting recommendations for programmes.
• Gained valuable experience in collecting socioeconomic food security and/or nutrition data, such as, not limited to, analysis of Household Consumption and Expenditures Surveys (HCES), conducting quantitative and qualitative analyses, and reporting findings to senior leaders.
• Has led surveys, such as FNG, MICS (Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys) and other, multiple assessments in countries, including the design, data collection and analysis.
• Experience with different software and tools to facilitate statistical analysis for food systems and nutrition (such as not limited to, SPSS, DATA, Excel, Epi-info, ENA, Cost of Diet, etc.)
• Is familiar with assessments and use of tools such as Fill the Nutrient Gap analysis, Minimum Expenditure Basket, Market Functionality Index (MFI), Retail Onboarding and Contracting (ROC) and others.
• Familiar with West and Central African Cadre Harmonisé methodology
• Proven negotiation and networking skills, ideally in West Africa at country and regional institutional levels

Language: Fluency (level C) in French and Intermediate (level B) in English.