The MDG Centre was established in July 2004 by The Earth Institute at Columbia University and the UN Millennium Project with a broad purpose of assisting countries to develop operational strategies for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and to support their implementation at both local and national levels. The MDG Centre reorganized the programme to establish two sub-regional centres covering East and Southern Africa (based in Nairobi) and West and Central Africa (based in Bamako).
The MDG Centre–East and Southern Africa focuses on two complementary scales: (i) the national level, through support provided to processes related to MDGs based national strategies planning and implementation; and (ii) the local level, to assist and empower pilot African villagers and cities inhabitants lift themselves out of their poverty trap and achieve all MDGs through the Millennium Villages Project and the Millennium Cities Initiative (MCI). For more information visit: http://mdg.ei.columbia.edu/east/
The Millennium Villages Project
The Millennium Villages Project (MVP), a project of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, has a primary goal to meet the MDGs through integrated multi-sectoral interventions in health, nutrition, agriculture, water, education, and infrastructure. The MVP has been implemented in 14 hunger hotspot sites that cover diverse agro-ecological zones and farming systems in ten African countries. For more information, please visit: www.millenniumvillages.org
East and Southern Africa Nutrition Issues and the MVP Nutrition Program:
Eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, reducing maternal and child mortality, and achieving the MDGs are dependent on successfully addressing nutrition. Yet today, nearly one-third of all children in the developing world remain undernourished, and more than 30% of the global population suffers from micronutrient deficiencies. In Southern and East Africa, 28% of children under five are chronically underweight. From national data and preliminary analysis, the MVP sites exemplify these trends.
The MVP Nutrition Program proposes innovative, science-based solutions, which are integrated and scalable, to address malnutrition in the MVP sites. The innovations will focus on food and nutrition security including micronutrient supplementation, food fortification, linked nutritional and diverse agricultural practices, community nutrition education, and nutrition and agricultural policy recommendations. These evidenced-based interventions will demonstrate that nutrition action can lead to sustainable health, achievement of the MDGs, and, ultimately, the eradication of poverty.
Regional Nutrition Specialist
The Earth Institute and the Millennium Project seek to reinforce the capacity of the MDG Centre–East and Southern Africa, based in Nairobi Kenya, with a regional nutrition specialist to support the national MDG processes, the Millennium Villages and Cities. The initial countries of concentration of the MDG Centre– East and Southern Africa are Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda Mozambique and DRC with a possibility of expansion to other African countries. The overall goal of the position is to assist the East and Southern countries, Millennium Villages and Cities in achieving the nutrition related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and policy work for the MDG Centre.
The Responsibilities:
- Support and provide technical assistance to country project staff in project and programme design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation related to food consumption and nutrition security in communities in various countries, and the Millennium Villages and Cities of East and Southern Africa;
- Oversee and ensure basic vitamin and mineral supplementation programmes, acute malnutrition treatment, and infant and young child feeding programmes are in place in the MVs;
- Promote the production and utilization of lesser known but nutritionally important traditional crops and foods;
- Identify appropriate technologies for the preservation, processing and fortification of nutritious foods, including traditional foods found in various villages and promote increased consumption and improve livelihoods to alleviate malnutrition and poverty;
- Assess training needs and help train trainers in nutrition programmes including clinical, school and food-based approaches to improve nutrition;
- Facilitate the incorporation of food and nutritional education in the curricula of agricultural extension and community health workers, clinical staff and education workers;
- Design food and nutrition systems linking schools to the other MDG components, particularly agriculture, water and sanitation, gender, education and health;
- Assist in connecting the Millennium Village communities with the private sector and capture market opportunities at national, regional and international levels;
- Document and disseminate best practices on nutrition from within the MVP and from other organizations;
- Assist in developing project proposals related to nutrition;
- Provide effective monitoring and evaluation tools of MVP interventions to measure impact;
- Communicate evidence-based interventions that have been proven effective in other countries as recommendations for integration into country policies;
- Participate in the coordination of efforts between agriculture, health and nutrition at the community and local government level;
- Identify key strategic priorities to address malnutrition and share with governments;
- Coordinate with donors and other partners in the region who work in the area of nutrition and food security
- Engage with other development sectors in the process of designing and implementation plans and programmes when needed
- Carry out any other relevant duties that may be assigned by the director of the MDG Centre for East and Southern Africa
Qualifications and Skills:
- Postgraduate degree in Nutrition, preferably at Masters or PhD level;
- A minimum of 5 years post-qualification experience in the field of international nutrition, health care systems in Africa, and some knowledge of integrating agriculture and nutrition;
- Field experience with supplementation, fortification, malnutrition, nutritional needs for vulnerable groups and nutrition education at both clinic and community levels;
- Strong quantitative skills and demonstrated capacity to perform outstanding original research, including statistical analysis and epidemiological approaches;
- Demonstrated ability to handle working relationships with senior officials, academics and technical experts and ability to excel in a multi-cultural team environment;
- Demonstrate record of excellence in developing and writing grant proposals and policy pieces;
- Excellent skills in building and managing teams, networking, facilitating and coaching, negotiating, problem solving, and leading small teams; willing and able to work with a multi-disciplinary team with high degree of collegiality
- Excellent oral and written communication in English
Terms of offer
ICRAF/Millennium Promise is an equal opportunity employer offering a competitive salary and benefits package, and a collegial working environment. The contract is for an initial period of one (1) year, renewable subject to three (3) months probation period, assessment of performance, and availability of resources. Applicants are invited to send a cover letter illustrating their suitability for the above position against the listed qualifications/competencies/skills and a detailed curriculum vitae, with names and addresses of three referees (including telephone and fax numbers and email address). Applications should indicate “Application for a Regional Nutrition Specialist” on their application letters OR email submissions. All correspondence should be addressed to the Human Resources Unit, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), P.O. Box 30677, Nairobi, Kenya OR via email: icrafhru@cgiar.org. Applications will be considered until 15th February, 2010.
Only short-listed applicants meeting the above requirements will be contacted.
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