Programme Policy Officer: Expert en technologies agroalimentaires, gestions des pertes post récoltes et contrôle qualité
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 works with communities recovering from conflict, disasters, and the impacts of climate change. The organization values diversity, inclusion, and invests in its employees' professional development, offering a dynamic and impactful career path.
Job Purpose
The Programme Policy Officer will play a crucial role in strengthening food systems within Senegal, aligning with WFP's strategic plan. This position focuses on enhancing the availability and accessibility of nutritious and safe food by improving food processing, raw material management, and quality control. The officer will contribute to reducing post-harvest losses, fortifying staple crops like rice, millet, and sorghum, and improving their nutritional profile. This involves developing innovative solutions, promoting sustainable technologies, and ensuring food safety and quality standards are met. The role aims to build the capacity of public and private actors, support women and youth-led enterprises, and ultimately contribute to food security and sovereignty in Senegal.
Responsibilities
The Programme Policy Officer, an expert in agri-food technologies, post-harvest loss management, and quality control, will play a crucial role in strengthening Senegal's food fortification and quality control strategies. This position involves enhancing the availability of quality fortified foods for WFP-supported programs and building the capacity of public and private sector stakeholders involved in food production, processing, and fortification. A key responsibility is promoting innovation and the adoption of sustainable production and processing technologies within value chains, ensuring WFP interventions align with food safety and quality standards. The officer will contribute to improving the nutritional quality of foods distributed through nutrition, social protection, and school feeding programs. This includes developing and implementing innovative technical solutions for reducing post-harvest losses in cereals like millet, rice, and sorghum, and establishing appropriate organizational practices for harvesting, storage, and transport. The role also entails conducting technical evaluations for new fortification units, developing innovative processing technologies, and ensuring compliance with sanitary and environmental standards. Furthermore, the officer will provide training on Quality Assurance and Quality Control, establish agreements with inspection and analysis services, and study the feasibility of local premix production. Documenting best practices, supporting fortified food producers, and implementing social marketing strategies for nutritious foods are also integral to the mission. The officer will monitor implementation partners and technical teams to ensure coherence and commitment to project goals.
Work Experience
The role requires at least two years of proven professional experience in the monitoring and evaluation of agri-food projects and programs. This experience should include reducing post-harvest losses, implementing food safety strategies, and food fortification. The candidate must demonstrate expertise in food technologies, particularly post-harvest losses, cereal quality (rice, sorghum, millet), and preservation/processing techniques. A deep understanding of national food fortification programs, including objectives, technical approaches, quality standards, and nutritional challenges, is also necessary.
Skills
Food Technology, Post-Harvest Loss Management, Quality Control, Food Fortification, Food Safety, Project Management, Technical Support, Capacity Building, Innovation, Research and Development, Data Analysis, Communication, Report Writing, Training, Mentorship