WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status or disability.

POSTING DATES

Posting Date: 14th August 2023                                                           Closing Date: 29th August 2023 (Midnight – East African Time)

ABOUT WFP

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide.  The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetimes.  Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need.

BACKGROUND & PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNEMENT

Food insecurity across Somalia has persisted due to recurrent shocks experienced by the country adversely impacting vulnerable populations of internally displaced persons, rural populations and the urban poor. The challenges of rebuilding infrastructure, providing basic services, promoting social cohesion, creating jobs, and progressing towards gender equality whilst maintaining security have impeded the country’s efforts to make progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG 2: Zero Hunger.

To support the country to achieve Zero Hunger, WFP aligned the Country Strategy Plan (CSP 2022- 2025) to encompass lessons learned from WFP programming and reflected the feedback gathered across Somalia during stakeholder consultations. This was an essential step to ensure that the CSP was closely aligned with the Somalia National Development Plan 9 and regional development plans as well as the humanitarian and recovery priorities for food security and nutrition set out in the humanitarian response plan and the drought impact needs assessment for Somalia.

WFP Somalia’s four-year Country Strategic Plan 2022-2025 focuses on a new strategic shift towards strengthening the resilience of communities, recognizing the interconnected nature of nutrition, safety nets, food systems, capacity strengthening and partnerships, and developing these within the context of chronic drought and frequent climate and conflict-related shocks.  A key focus is on building climate-resilient and sustainable food systems and value chains, to improve the availability, accessibility, affordability, and consumption of nutritious and healthy foods in Somalia and to prevent and reduce the impact of shocks on vulnerable populations.

POSITION OVERVIEW

This position will report to the head of resilience and food systems. The food system officer will support the design, development and implementation of WFP’s food systems programme through WFP’s Strategic Outcome 3 strategy on climate-smart food systems, working with smallholder producers (pastoralists and agropastoralists) on reducing post-harvest losses and improving agricultural value chains, including milk and meat value chains, enhancing their climate resilience, introducing climate-adaptive livelihoods practices, developing and scaling market information systems and enhancing market linkages,  and translating findings from the Nutrition in Retail Assessment into operational plans for enhanced access, availability and affordability of nutritious foods in Somalia.

WHAT WILL YOU DO? (not all-inclusive)

• Lead a growing team of food system specialists in the design, planning, implementation and coordination of WFP Somalia food system activities and developing and expanding their contribution to WFP’s resilience portfolio in Somalia, leveraging linkages with existing and planned nutrition, school feeding and livelihoods programmes.
• Expand positioning and visibility through new sources of funding such as the World Bank and developing partnerships with civil society, private sector and government actors, based on a thorough understanding of programmatic and operational context and issues, management of effective government relations, and application of a range of technical guidelines/practices to project work.
• Lead the development and implementation of a long-term vision and strategic approach for WFP’s engagement in climate-smart food systems in Somalia under the four-year CSP.
• Design and manage a portfolio of food system programmes advancing agriculture value chains, nutritious products, adoption of climate-smart technology, market systems and market infrastructure development, with a focus on expanding pastoral and agropastoral value chains and markets.
• Manage, motivate, and develop a diverse technical team to enable high performance and results, including a cadre of national and international officers.
• Support government stakeholders in developing and implementing relevant policy and regulatory frameworks, and provide support and technical expertise for the planning, formulation and implementation of food systems interventions to strengthen government and community ownership.
• Develop and support a research & learning agenda that enhances WFPs and other actor’s capacity, including the government, in designing and delivering food system and value chain interventions for enhanced food security and nutrition outcomes.
• Identify, develop, and nurture operational and strategic partnerships with the private sector, UN agencies, research organizations, civil society, and other stakeholders for the expansion of food systems objectives and integration with other technical areas.
• Represent WFP in relevant external and internal coordination fora to ensure WFP priorities are met and to raise WFP’s profile.
• Manage the preparation and dissemination of timely analytical and critical reports, publications, and knowledge products for internal and external use that position and strengthen the credibility of WFP as a food system actor.
• Advocate for resources for a broad portfolio of WFP food system activities, including articulating a business case for WFP’s contributions to food systems and exploring new potential resource channels.
• Ensure the best use of assigned financial resources for the achievement of set objectives within a significant budget.
• Perform other related duties as required.

DO YOU MEET THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS?

KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS

• In-depth knowledge of food systems programming in development settings and linkages with food security and nutrition.
• Advanced partnership development and coordination skills, with the ability to liaise and lead effectively across multiple teams and actors.
• Advanced communication skills, including the ability to effectively communicate through multiple mediums (e.g. policy, advocacy messaging, reporting, training)
• Sound knowledge and skills in adult learning.
• Team spirit and excellent interpersonal relations.
• Knowledge of the UN system, including gender-related mandates is an asset.

APPLICATION GUIDELINE

• Create your profile on E-Recruitment, apply and submit your application.
• Please note, the only documents required at this stage is your CV and cover letter.
• Applications that do not meet the above requirements will be disregarded.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

• This is an international position and candidates must be a national of a country other than the country of assignment. (Female candidates are encouraged to apply)
• This position is based in Mogadishu, the selected candidate will be required to relocate to take up the assignment.
• The contract duration is 11 months (initial)

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

Closing Date: 29th August 2023, Midnight (East African Time)

APPLY NOW