Nutrition Consultancy Complementary feeding landscape analysis: food selection and affordability/accessibility assessment, remotely for 7 months WCARO Dakar, Senegal

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, laughter.

1. Background

Nutrition has been improving; stunting prevalence decreased by 7 percentage points in the past twenty years in the West and Central Africa region (WCAR). Despite these gains, a recent study by Baye et al. in 2020[1] evaluating aspects of diet quality among infants and young children from 49 low-income countries showed poor practices. Most children 6-23 months old (>75%) are receiving an inadequately diverse diet (less or equal to 5 food groups per day) in WCAR leading to an overall low minimum acceptable diet, which also suggests a vulnerability for micronutrient deficiencies and growth.

Several governments in the region have made several policy commitments and investments to improve early child nutrition in recent years. Despite those and the implementation of various counseling programs of communities and caretakers in WCAR, adequate feeding practices during the complementary feeding period remains a challenge. Inadequate access (physical and economic) to nutritious and safe foods remains one of the primary drivers of the persistently high burden of undernutrition among young children in the region.

What people choose to eat is determined by various factors including consumer preference, the food environment which includes affordability and accessibility, and the food supply system that consists of production, storage and transportation, processing, and marketing; altogether referred as the food system. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that children and women have access to a nutritious and affordable diet – including in emergency services. Different profiles among the countries could be observed and could help to better define strategies to support improvements in the adequacy of child feeding.

[1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0899900720301581

How can you make a difference?

Objectives:

Current economic and climate change crisis accent more the affordability and accessibility of a nutritious and balance diet. This consultancy will focus on an assessment that will look at the overall basket of nutritious foods within countries of similar ecological context. It will build on existing data such as DHS, agriculture trends and nutrient gap to identify the challenge in accessing those specific food groups which could ensure that children 6-23 months old do have access to at least 5 food groups. Over this task, UNICEF aims to provide information to countries within the WCAR region on way forward to improve children diet diversity.

Scope of Work

The consultant will collect and compile recent DHS/MICS data and other studies (agriculture, price trends, any other relevant) of WCAR countries to answer the following steps:

The objectives of the task are to:

• Step 1: Assess which proportion of children need 1 or 2 food groups more to reach the 5+ recommended and which ones?

• Step 2: Assess the accessibility and potential barriers of those selected food groups in step 1 as follows:

  • Accessibility:
  • What are the specific foods from those food groups which can be a solution for children (availability criteria and no taboos) by country or ecological zone?
  • What is the affordability of those selected foods by country of ecological zone?
  • What could be done to increase access and affordability of those foods by ecological zone (from supply chains, environment, consumer behavior aspects)
  • Barriers:
  • What are the barriers for the specific foods access and affordability at community level and what should be taken into consideration to increase access and use?
  • What are policies gaps for complementary feeding and national monitoring system.

  Administrative Requirements

This assignment will be home-based. No field travel is required. The consultant will use own computer and the relevant software to complete the assignment. The consultant will be responsible for internet and communication costs of remote collection of information from stakeholders. UNICEF will not be responsible for costs related to zoom meetings.

The consultant will also organize video interviews with regional office and partners to ensure that the recommendations are in line with the country perspectives.

The Work Plan (Key deliverables, Tasks, Timeframe and Payment Schedule)

Deliverables/ Outputs

Estimated Duration to Complete

Target Due Dates

Percentage of fees paid

Inception report finalized and endorsed by Regional office

4 days

01st May 2022

20%

Step 1 finalized and report approved by Regional office

25 days

30th July 2022

30%

Step 2 finalized and report approved by Regional office

40 days

15 September 2022

50%

Reporting Requirements and Key Responsibilities

Fortnightly calls with the supervisor will to be organized. Final report will be presented remotely in plenary with the regional office.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Education:

• Master’s degree in Public Health/Nutrition is required with strong background in epidemiology and statistics. Evidence of experience of writing and publishing public health or nutrition work is a requirement.

Experience

• A minimum of 10 years of progressive experience of working in the field of public health and nutrition is required. Experience of working on a similar assignment is an asset.

Language

Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of French is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA).

Core competencies

• Ability to draft concise and informative documentation in English for a range of uses and users.
• Ability to analyze complex quantitative information and to draw out the key points and issues and to present these in a way that can be easily understood.
• Strong knowledge / experience in results-based management and results-oriented approach to project implementation.

• Strong inter-personal skills, communication, networking, and team building skills.

  To view our competency framework, please visit here.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.