SSA Consultant - Nutrition Expert

Organizational Context

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the world's largest humanitarian organization, dedicated to saving lives and building a pathway to peace and prosperity. WFP utilizes food assistance to support people recovering from conflict, disasters, and climate change impacts. With a vision for a diverse, skilled, and high-performing workforce, WFP operates in a healthy, inclusive environment, guided by its core values.

Job Purpose

The Nutrition Expert will play a crucial role in the Country Strategic Plan (CSP) Review for WFP India (2023-2027). This consultancy involves conducting a comprehensive landscape and context analysis of the food security and nutrition sector in India, assessing current programmatic activities, and generating evidence to inform the next CSP (2028-2032). The expert will focus on nutrition-sensitive and nutrition-specific interventions, evaluate WFP India's support to government programs like PM POSHAN and Anganwadi Services, and examine the integration of nutrition with food systems, gender, and inclusion. This position requires strong analytical skills to synthesize complex information, support stakeholder consultations with government officials and partners, identify emerging trends, and contribute to forward-looking recommendations for strengthening food and nutrition programs. The role involves preparing thematic inputs, case summaries, and presentations for various consultations and management discussions, ensuring adherence to ethical standards and quality assurance.

Responsibilities

The Nutrition Expert will provide crucial analytical support for a Country Strategic Plan (CSP) review, focusing on nutrition and school feeding programs. Key responsibilities include assisting the Team Lead in developing the methodological design, work plan, and analytical framework for the review, and submitting these in an inception report. The expert will conduct a landscape analysis, offering technical insights into nutrition-sensitive and nutrition-specific interventions. This involves assessing WFP India's support to government food and nutrition initiatives, such as fortified foods, school meals, and Take-Home Rations, from an external perspective. A critical aspect is examining the integration of nutrition with food systems, gender, and inclusion considerations. The role requires extensive stakeholder consultations with government officials, technical agencies, research institutions, UN agencies, and partners. The expert will also engage in horizon scanning to identify emerging trends, risks, and opportunities in India's food and nutrition sector, drawing on global best practices. The position involves preparing thematic inputs, case summaries, and analytical notes for the External Review Report, and providing technical support for synthesizing findings and formulating forward-looking recommendations for the next CSP. Additionally, the expert will help prepare presentations and briefing notes for various consultations and management discussions, ensuring adherence to ethical standards and quality assurance throughout the process.

Work Experience

Requires 10-12 years of relevant professional experience in nutrition, food safety nets, or large-scale government nutrition programs. Must have a strong technical understanding of India's food security and nutrition policies, including ICDS, PM POSHAN, and food fortification. Demonstrated experience in designing, reviewing, evaluating, or analyzing nutrition or food security interventions, preferably at a national or large-scale program level, is essential.

Skills

Nutrition analysis, Food security assessment, Stakeholder consultation, Programmatic review, Policy analysis, Intervention design, Data synthesis, Report writing, Presentation development, Horizon scanning, Emerging trend identification, Risk assessment, Opportunity identification, Global best practice application, Partnership strengthening, Innovation identification, Scalability assessment, Quality assurance, Ethical standard adherence, Team coordination

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