Regional Food Security, Livelihoods & Resilience Specialist

Summary of Position

Purpose:

As a member of the Action Against Hunger-USA HEARO Technical Team, the Food Security, Livelihoods, and Resilience Specialist will provide technical leadership and operational support to the food security and livelihoods portfolio in the Horn and East Africa, and Haiti for improved nutrition security through strategic support and technical expertise to country programs. The Food Security, Livelihoods, and Resilience Specialist will be part of the global Food Security & Livelihoods (FSL) initiatives of the organization and will be expected to collaborate closely with the FSL technical teams from the HQ and the Action Against Hunger Network at large. The incumbent is to help advance Action Against Hunger's mission to save lives and empower East and Horn of African, and Haitian communities achieve food security and resilience in the face of climate change and other increasing food system challenges to reduce hunger.

Engagement:

The Food Security, Livelihoods, and Resilience Specialist is expected to facilitate knowledge sharing platforms, promote multi-stakeholder dialogues and dissemination of FSL communication materials, foster new partnerships at regional and country levels, and engage with international bodies.

He/She is expected to advocate for evidence-based policies, nature-based solutions, and increased public investments at country and regional levels. The specialist will also engage with policymakers at national and regional levels to advocate for the integration of climate smart and cost-effective food security and climate risk

assessments into development plans and budgets.The Food Security, Livelihoods, and Resilience Specialist is also expected to explore innovative financing mechanisms, promoting private sector involvement in FSL activities and public-private partnerships for sustainable solutions.

Delivery:

The Food Security, Livelihood, and Resilience Specialist will report to the HEARO Program Director for Quality and Advocacy with technical line to the Senior Technical Advisor for Food Security and Livelihoods out of the Washington DC Office. As a member of the HEARO technical team, the Food Security, Livelihoods, and Resilience Specialist will collaborate with other technical specialists including Health and Nutrition, WASH, MEAL, Gender and Protection, Research and Learning, and Advocacy to help Action Against Hunger country programs save lives and address the underlying causes of hunger.

Key Job Responsibilities

Technical and Operational Support to Country’s Food Security, Livelihood, and Resilience Programs 

 In collaboration with the global FSL and country teams, the Food Security, Livelihood, and Resilience Specialist will:

 · Conduct in-depth assessments to identify vulnerable populations and areas prone to food insecurity and climate and conflicts risks.

· Contribute to the design and delivery approach of complex multi-sectoral food security and livelihoods programming across both humanitarian and development contexts, with a particular focus on ensuring innovative quality approaches in the nexus programming.

· Provide support in the implementation of a range of complex multi-sectoral food security and livelihoods programs and initiatives focusing on the food security and livelihoods approaches including poverty graduation and social protection, agroecological approaches, agrifood systems and last mile food market systems.

· Promote diversified livelihoods to enhance community resilience to climate shocks and stressors.

· Engage communities and stakeholders about various threats of climate change to livelihoods and the need for locally led adaptation strategies.

· Establish robust monitoring systems to track progress towards achieving climate adaptation goals and measure the impact of interventions.

· Integrate innovative tools like Big Data and remote sensing for food insecurity and climate risk analysis for robust early warning system.

· Foster regional collaboration and capacity building in risk assessment methodologies.

· Ensuring gender equality and social inclusion are central to vulnerability assessments and adaptation strategies.

Multi-Sectoral Collaboration and Stakeholder Engagements

In collaboration with the global FSL and country teams, the Food Security, Livelihoods, and Resilience Specialist will:

 · Support countries to develop and implement multisectoral programs that address the interconnected challenges of climate change, food insecurity, and Hunger.

· Facilitate collaboration between different sectors within the organization, government, civil society, and the private sector for holistic solutions.

· Play a major role in maintaining and facilitating the food security and livelihoods Community of Practice within the region to share lessons, best practices and enhance program impact through better collaboration and networking.

· Address regional climate challenges through collaborative initiatives across borders.

· Advocate for multi-year planning that integrates climate resilience into all sectors like health, education, and water resources.

· Support countries in efforts to empower communities to lead their own adaptation efforts through participatory planning and implementation.

· Establish regional knowledge-sharing platforms for collaboration, learning, and best practice exchange.

· Facilitate South-South cooperation to share knowledge and experiences between countries.

· Assist countries in building the capacity of local partners to effectively implement climate adaptation and food security interventions.

· Advocate for climate-resilient policies and legislation at national and regional levels that promote food security, environmental protection, and social justice. 

· Build strong partnerships with relevant institutions at regional level and support country offices in establishment of partnerships with public institutions to influence policy decisions and implementation.

· Facilitate multi-stakeholder platforms for dialogue and collaboration on climate-resilient policies.

Learning, Innovation, and Adaptation:

In collaboration with the global FSL and country teams, the Food Security, Livelihoods, and Resilience Specialist will:

 · Source and document new ideas and innovations from within country programs, private sector partners, research and academics and link them with appropriate funding streams.

· Document and promote the Seeds of Hope Implementation framework and Theory of Change and replicate these in other fragile and stable contexts within the Horn and Eastern Africa region.

· Support the implementation of effective early warning systems for proactive disaster preparedness, including community-based systems. 

· Support countries to establish Farmer Field Schools and other knowledge exchange platforms to promote peer-learning and adoption of climate-smart practices. 

· Conduct gender-transformative training on climate adaptation and food security for communities, ensuring women and girls are empowered to participate and lead. 

· Value and integrate indigenous knowledge and traditional practices into climate adaptation strategies.

· Conduct assessments, write case studies, learning capitalization, short articles/abstract and blogs and develop internal and external dissemination plans for all products.

· Integrate climate education into school curricula and community-based programs to empower future generations. 

· Leverage digital tools and communication strategies to effectively reach diverse audiences with climate information and adaptation messages. 

· Design and implement behavior change communication campaigns to promote adoption of climate-smart practices and sustainable behaviors.

Leverage Nature-Based Solutions:

In collaboration with the global FSL and country teams, the Food Security, Livelihoods, and Resilience Specialist will:

 · Promote the conservation and restoration of natural ecosystems like forests, wetlands, and mangroves for enhanced resilience to climate change impacts. 

· Scale up sustainable farming practices like agroforestry, regenerative agriculture, and conservation agriculture that mitigate climate impacts and enhance food security.

· Support communities in developing and implementing context-specific nature-based solutions like watershed management and soil conservation. 

· Integrate biodiversity conservation into climate adaptation and food security strategies, recognizing the interconnectedness of ecosystems. 

· Utilize nature-based solutions for disaster risk reduction, such as planting trees to prevent landslides and restoring mangroves to buffer coastal communities. 

· Promote sustainable land management practices that prevent soil erosion, desertification, and land degradation. (Keyword: Sustainable Land Management)

· Develop and promote climate-smart livestock management practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve resilience. 

Business Development Support

In collaboration with the global FSL and country teams, the Food Security, Livelihoods, and Resilience Specialist will:

· Work closely with the business development department at HEARO and country offices to identify and pursue funding opportunities in FSL.

· Support countries in mobilization of resources for adaptation to climate change through international mechanisms like the Adaptation Fund and Green Climate Fund. 

· Explore and champion innovative financing mechanisms like public-private partnerships, blended finance, and climate-smart agriculture investments.

· Participate in FSL technical scoping activities, new project design, and proposal development.

· Ensure that FSL proposals and projects align with donor requirements and strategies.

· Assist countries in securing funding from diverse donors aligned with Action Against Hunger's goals.

· Foster local economic development initiatives that contribute to food security and climate resilience.

· Partner with the private sector to leverage their resources and expertise for climate-smart investments.

· Advocate for impact investing that prioritizes both social and environmental returns.

Supervisory responsibilities

Technical supervisory line to FSL focal in country; and as needed to the nutrition focal.

Gender Equality commitments

Foster an environment that supports values of women and men, and equal access to information. Maintain work environment where women and men are evaluated and promoted based on their skills and performance. Respect all beneficiaries regardless of gender, sex orientation, disability, religion, race, color, ancestry, national origin, age, or marital status. Value and respect all cultures.

Working Conditions, Physical Demands, Travel and Environment

The duties of the job require five days per week. Must be available to work outside normal office hours or on the weekends as required. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to sit for long periods and to concentrate on work, including typing, and turn out heavy volumes of work accurately, within short time frames under stressful situations in the context of a moderately noisy office with many interruptions. Must be able to proofread own work accurately so that only minor corrections are needed on an infrequent basis.

Must be able to travel as required for standard domestic and international business purposes. While in the field, employee may be exposed to precarious settings such as high security risks and/or very basic living conditions and outside weather conditions, as well as infectious diseases. Employee must attest to a level of physical fitness capable of enduring physically difficult, highly stressful situations which may include the necessity to walk long distances, to eat a limited diet and/or to reside in potentially uncomfortable housing or tents. The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Requirements

Required Qualifications

Master’s degree in Food Security, Agricultural Education and Extension, Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness Management, Food Policy and Applied Food Science, Socio Politics, or related topics with at least ten years’ experience in food systems, nutrition sensitive agriculture, Livelihoods and Resilience.

Required Skills & Experience

· Experience working in humanitarian and development contexts, recovery, and rehabilitation as well as with national governments, regional bodies, IGAD, UN agencies and INGOs.

· Excellent knowledge of technical fields related to Food Security & Livelihoods that includes excellent working knowledge of food security, Food and Market systems and nutrition sensitive resilience.

· Sound analytical and technical competence in the subject matter of food security and livelihoods.

· Field experience in FSL programming, including agroecology, Food system, value chain analysis, income generation, emergency food assistance, ECAFSWG, FSNWG, IPC, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), COD, Food Systems Transformation Pathway (FSTP), HEA, etc.

· Strong analytical and writing skills essential.

· Knowledge and experience in assessment and research methods. 

· Strong organizational skills and technical review/writing of detailed technical documents.

· Excellent interpersonal skills, ability to work both independently and as a member of a team.

· Excellent written and verbal English communication skills, and fluency in French would be a plus.

· Capacity to represent the organization in various fora.

· Genuine interest in and commitment to the humanitarian principles of Action Against Hunger

Benefits