National Food Security and Agricultural Livelihoods Assessment Specialist

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations with more than 190 member countries. Since its inception, FAO has worked to improve nutrition, increase agricultural productivity, raise the standard of living in rural populations and contribute to global economic growth. Achieving food security for all is at the heart of FAO's efforts – to make sure people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. To achieve its goals, FAO cooperates with thousands of partners worldwide, from farmers’ groups to traders, from non-governmental organizations to other UN agencies, from development banks to agribusiness firms (further and more detailed information on FAO can be found on the internet site: http://www.fao.org.

Background

Since late 2019, an outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) – an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus – has rapidly spread across the world, devastating lives and livelihoods. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is particularly concerned about the potential impacts of the virus and related containment efforts on food security and livelihoods in contexts of high vulnerability and where populations are already experiencing food crises. Within the United Nations Global COVID-19 Humanitarian Response Plan, FAO is seeking USD 350 million to protect the food security of the most vulnerable rural populations in 34 priority countries, most of which are already faced with food crisis contexts.

The FAO Office of Emergencies and Resilience (OER) has recently been awarded a grant by USAID to establish a global data and analysis facility to create a common understanding of COVID-19 related impacts on agricultural livelihoods and critical value chains in the 34 food crisis countries. At the core of the data and analysis facility is a structured assessment framework which is sequenced to respond to different information needs as the crisis unfolds and interacts with other stressors and shocks. The assessment framework is driven by a set of questionnaires which will be administered in on a periodic basis over the July 2020 – June 2021 period to monitor key risk factors and to understand the occurring and potential impacts on agricultural production, market chains, food security and livelihoods. It is envisaged that the COVID-19 data facility is expected to pave the way for a sustainable system of data collection and analysis on food availability and livelihoods in food crisis countries beyond the pandemic.

The data and analysis facility information system relies principally on remotely collected data (mobile phone and on-line), collected either by FAO offices themselves or through international service providers. Field assessments may also be conducted at a later stage using data collection tools such as Kobo or ODK.

Reporting Lines

Under the overall guidance of the FAO Representative in Liberia, the direct supervision of the Assistant FAO Representative for

Programme, the technical supervision of the needs assessments team of the Office of Emergencies and Resilience (OER) based in Rome and Regional Office for Africa and Sub regional Office for West Africa (REOWA). The overall strategic direction to the data and analysis facility will be guided by a cross-departmental task force within FAO.

Tasks and Responsibilities:

• Regularly liaise with the country management team and the regional assessment advisors on the progress of the monitoring exercise and the alignment with strategic, technical, and operational requirements
• Coordinate with national stakeholders (government, UN Agencies, NGOs, food security cluster) involved in food security and livelihoods assessments or surveillance, and promote multi-actors’ initiatives
• Monitor the publication of studies and data produced by other stakeholders in the country
• Collect and analyse baseline and secondary data to enable comparisons and triangulation. Secondary data can refer to food prices, agricultural inputs prices, international trade, food production and stock changes, food security outcomes, containment measures, social protection measures, remote-sensing-based seasonal monitoring, farming systems etc.
• Define survey objectives and areas of interest based on information gaps and programmatic needs
• Assist in the choice of data collection modalities (Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviews, web surveys, or face-to-face) and interfaces (international service provider, local partner, in-house call center etc.)
• Search for existing sampling frames and consolidate lists of respondents with phone numbers
• Assist in the adaptation of generic questionnaires and monitoring tools to context-specific circumstances and objectives
• Contribute to the programming of tools (take the lead in case of Kobo / ODK interface)
• Develop training materials and participate in enumerator training sessions
• Communicate with relevant authorities on the implementation of the surveys
• Conduct additional semi-structured interviews with key informants in order to dig for specific issues, as needed
• Contribute to the analysis and interpretation of collected data and in the formulation of appropriate interventions and recommendations based on assessment findings
• Discuss and validate the results with the global assessment team, regional offices, and hubs, GIEWS and any other relevant FAO units
• Help draft and review monitoring reports and visual products (e.g. dashboards), using standard templates
• Support data validation processes and communicate assessment findings and reports to other actors, including national stakeholders involved in the development of response plans in the country, through Food Security Clusters for instance
• Contribute to COVID-19 response and programme design as requested
• Participate in IPC or Cadre Harmonise analyses
• Contribute to forward-planning and scenario building exercises, as requested
• Coordinate the realization of the assessment outputs of the TCP-Emergency projects
• Contribute to FAO corporate learning processes and documentation about COVID-19 impact assessments
• Support data collection and needs assessment activities for other major crises or disasters occurring in supported countries
• Perform any other duties assigned

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced university degree in agronomy, rural statistics, agricultural economics, relevant social or natural sciences, or other related discipline relevant to the mandate of the Organization;
• Minimum of 5 years of proven knowledge and experience in assessments, surveillance systems, or monitoring and evaluation in the context of emergencies and food crises;
• Working knowledge of English and Liberian colloquial
• Candidates should be nationals of Liberia;

FAO Core Competencies

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