Food and Nutrition Marketing Specialist

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FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

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Application deadline 2 years ago: Thursday 19 Aug 2021 at 21:59 UTC

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Organizational Settings

FAO’s work in West Bank and Gaza Strip is guided by the Country Programming Framework (CPF) for Palestine in 2018-2022. The CPF promotes to the well-being of Palestinian people contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. It focuses on sustainable management of natural resources and development of agrifood value chains, protection and inclusion of vulnerable groups and improved nutrition, quality and safety of food consumption. To this effect, the CPF adopts a resilience approach to bridge humanitarian and development interventions, recognizing the centrality of market led development and its dependence on the enabling environment put in place by the public sector to promote food security.

The consultant to this position will report to FAO's Coordination Office for the West Bank and Gaza Strip (WBGS) Programme in Jerusalem, with flexibility to perform functions in either Jerusalem or Ramallah as the situation allows.

The FAO West Bank & Gaza Strip (WBGS) office works with protecting diets in fragile and conflict contexts and is an active member to the Regional Network on Nutrition-sensitive Food Systems, organized by the FAO Office for Emergency and Resilience (OER) and the Food and Nutrition Division (ESN). Within this framework, WBGS works with strengthening capacity to promote nutrition at all levels (from farmer associations to policy governance), and to identify entry points and partnerships to scale up engagement.

The nutritional context of Palestine is characterized by an ongoing nutritional transition where wasting and stunting have reduced, while on the other hand the rate of overweight/obesity and micronutrient disorders (including anemia) have increased. 1.7 million Palestinians (33 percent of the population) are food insecure in 2020.

FAO WBGS kickstarted efforts on nutrition-sensitive food systems by collaborating with local partners to develop guidance on how to strategize investments that promote nutrition in the food system. The document focuses on how investments can strengthen data, information, and capacity to increase value additions among producers and increase consumer choice of nutritious foods.

One commonly advocated strategy to encourage consumers to consume healthier foods is to provide detailed information about the nutritional content of food products. However, in the WBGS, there is no standardized front-of-package (FOP) nutrition labels, despite the fact that a variety of FOP nutrition labels have emerged and been implemented globally. There is also no agreement on the format and effectiveness of different FOP labels, but there is strong industry motivation to find a good solution.

In order to accomplish this, research is warranted to determine which type of FOP labeling is most beneficial to consumers and producers in terms of information provision and value-addition.

Reporting Lines

The consultant will work under the overall supervision of the FAO West Bank and Gaza Strip (WBGS) Head of Office, the direct supervision the FAO WBGS Head of Programme, along with technical guidance and day-to-day collaboration with the International Economist.

Technical Focus

The consultant will augment office capacity to engage in project development within the focus area of nutrition and food marketing.

The consultant will be responsible for:

Development of a consultative report assessment report on food and nutrition marketing analysis.

The assessment report will reflect how FOP labels can create co-benefits by increasing consumer behavior towards healthy products, while also reflecting how producers can create value additions for marketing healthy food options.

The report will be used to support FAO project formulation of a project related to the findings of the assessment. The final product is to be approximately 15-20 pages in length, including graphics and tables within the report. Primary research, e.g., surveys, interviews or research documents should be included as annexes of final report.

Tasks and responsibilities

The consultant is responsible for the overall formulation of the report. More specifically, the consultant shall perform the following tasks:

• Formulate a plan that includes methodology necessary to complete the assessment report; • Carry out a desk review to collect, consolidate and analyse relevant information, data, reports and supporting documents; • Consult with stakeholders (remotely as needed) to gather feedback that can be used to inform the report. • Carry out market research to identify and understand common practices and initiatives developed locally and/or in similar international markets. • Facilitate a validation workshop engaging related stakeholders in order to collect feedback and refine report accordingly. • Finalize the report to be used for subsequent formulation of a project proposal. • Perform other tasks as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• At least 5 years of professional work experience with formulating and managing marketing assessments, of which at least 2 years professional work experience with a focus on food safety and quality standards; • University degree in Human Nutrition, Agricultural Sciences, Political Sciences, Social Sciences, International Sciences, Economics or other field related to food security and nutrition; • Working knowledge of English Language and limited knowledge of one of the other languages of the organization (French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Russian). Knowledge of Arabic is desirable. For PSA.SBS the working knowledge of only one language is required;

FAO Core Competencies

• Results Focus • Teamwork • Communication • Building Effective Relationships • Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

• Experience working in context of West Bank & Gaza Strip desirable; • Ability to travel to and within the West Bank. • Work experience in humanitarian/development contexts with a focus on malnutrition; • Work experience in project management;

Added 2 years ago - Updated 2 years ago - Source: fao.org