Since 1963 and in 148 countries, ACDI/VOCA has empowered people in developing and transitional nations to succeed in the global economy. Based in Washington, D.C., ACDI/VOCA is a nonprofit international development organization that designs and delivers technical and management solutions in agriculture, economic growth, and resilience to promote economic prosperity and social inclusion.

Market and Food Systems Team Lead, Sahel

ACDI/VOCA is seeking a Market and Food Security Lead for an upcoming Regional Resilience Activity in the Sahel region – Burkina Faso, Chad, The Gambia, and Mauritania – funded by USAID. The anticipated program seeks to expand resilience in the Sahel, improving the ability of individuals, households, and communities to mitigate, adapt to, and recover from perennial shocks and stresses.

The Market and Food Systems Team Lead will lead the development, implementation, and monitoring of nutrition-sensitive interventions and activities across the entirety of the program. The program is anticipated to start in 2024 and this position will be based in Burkina Faso.

Responsibilities

• Manage and advocate for the integration of high quality and responsive approaches across the entirety of the program to increase availability, affordability, access to and consumption of safe, nutritious foods, particularly for women, youth, and other vulnerable groups
• Oversee the implementation of field research to identify key opportunities for increasing food availability, affordability, accessibility, for the consumption of safe, nutritious food
• Co-create the design and implementation of interventions that increase household production, access to, purchase, and consumption of nutrient-rich foods, particularly for women, youth, and other vulnerable groups, applying nutrition-sensitive best practices and support and input from ACDI/VOCA Home Office Technical Experts
• Provide technical guidance on the development of tools, resources, and models to facilitate the integration of nutrition into livelihoods, climate smart agriculture and market systems development interventions
• Design and conduct participatory workshops on nutrition-sensitive agriculture and/or food systems for program participants, including households, private sectors actors, and government
• Facilitate the increased capacity of all staff members in nutrition and food systems integration
• Implement Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA) best practices to inform and scale-up nutrition and food systems interventions
• Manage and direct implementation teams to carry out project activities as needed

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in nutrition, public health, or relevant field required; master’s degree preferred.
• Minimum 7 years of experience integrating nutrition into agriculture and/or market systems development projects.
• Experience working with food systems actors, including rural producers, farmers’ associations, agribusinesses, private sector agricultural production, private sector food processors, or governments desired.
• Understanding of gender- and youth-integrated agriculture concepts and ability to integrate gender and youth into nutrition-sensitive approaches.
• Experience or demonstrated interest in climate-smart, resiliency, and social and behavior change approaches greatly preferred.
• Strong analytical skills, including ability to gather and analyze a variety of information pertaining to issues and to develop appropriate recommendations for action.
• Excellent written communication skills required, with a demonstrated ability to write reports in a clear, concise manner.
• Fluency in English is required.

Sahel Region nationals are strongly encouraged to apply.