Organizational Setting

The Sub-regional Office for the Caribbean (SLC) plays a key role in developing and promoting strategies for addressing food, agriculture, and rural development priorities in the Caribbean. It is a part of the FAO’s Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (RLC). One of the current projects SLC is working on is the “Assistance in monitoring and reporting on the SDGs through the analysis of the cost and affordability of a healthy diet and the implementation of the FIES methodology in the Caribbean.”

The project focuses on thirteen English-speaking Caribbean countries, with specific interventions in four countries where the cost of healthy diets is particularly high. The aim is to adapt existing global methodologies to analyse the cost and affordability of a healthy diet in these countries and to help governments monitor these indicators regularly. Additionally, the project aims to help countries collect information on food consumption and diet by using tools such as Diet Quality Questionnaires (DQQ).

Reporting Lines

The Specialist will report directly to the project’s Lead Technical Officer and work under the overall supervision of the FAO Subregional Coordinator for the Caribbean, in coordination with the FAO country offices and national stakeholders in the Caribbean.

Technical Focus 

•    Overall guidance and leadership to adapt methodological tools and train country stakeholders to measure and analyze the cost and affordability of healthy diets based on proven experiences and best practices.
•    Overall guidance and leadership to adapt methodological tools and train country stakeholders in support of food consumption analysis.

Tasks and responsibilities

•    Provide general oversight, training, and technical guidance to adapt existing methodologies on Cost and Affordability of Healthy Diets (CoAHD).
•    Engage in the preparation of case studies on CoAHD) as prototypes and dissemination of results obtained from methodologies adopted. This includes:
o    Participating in joint consultation meetings with national and regional stakeholders and partners
o    Assess the current capacity of countries and the level of readiness to apply the methodologies adopted. This includes looking at the level of availability of food price data, existing nutrition guidelines and other data relevant to the CoAHD analysis.
o    Propose content for case studies, prepare and/or review materials and documents of countries and partners on the Cost and Affordability of Healthy Diets (CoAHD).
•    Lead the adaptation of existing Global Diet Quality Questionnaires (DQQ) and/or other simple tools that countries can easily use to collect information on food consumption patterns. This includes:
o    Participating in joint consultation meetings with national and regional stakeholders and partners
o    Providing guidance and overseeing the adaptation of existing methodological tools, practices and experiences relevant to the targeted countries.
•    Provide training and guidance to countries in their effort to incorporate methodologies and tools adapted to their national practices for recurrent reporting on SDGs and others.
•    Participating as panellists and/or presenters in cross-country learning and training and regional meetings and seminars organized within the framework of the CoAHD, analysis of food consumption patterns, and diet assessment
•    Support the preparation of policy briefs, guidelines and other documents relevant for policy positioning, cross-country learning and others.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

•    University degree in any related area (Nutrition, Food Policy, Food Security, Agricultural Economics, Epidemiology etc)
•    At least 5 years of relevant experience developing and implementing methodologies on food and diet measurement
•    Full proficiency/Working knowledge of English

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

•    Experience coordinating with and providing training to high-level national stakeholders
•    Previous experience working in Latin America and the Caribbean is a plus
•    Working knowledge of Spanish and/or French is a plus