Scientific Officer Nutrition-ICRISAT at Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)

Duties and responsibilities

Summary of responsibilities

•  Analyze and understand the nutritional and functional properties of DTCs in relation to their ability to address nutritional challenges of hunger and malnutrition in Kenya.
•  Conceptualize and develop scaling strategies for nutritious value-added recipes and Ready-to-eat (RTE) and Ready-to-Cook (RTC) food products, based on understanding of the local dietary diversity gaps and dietary requirements of specific target groups.
•  Work with youth in scaling up the local ecosystem for value addition to DTCs through innovative product development and entrepreneurship development.
•  Coordinate capacity building and providing technical support for/to beneficiaries on agri-nutrition issues, including innovative agri-nutrition sensitive technologies and strategies/interventions for dietary diversification.
•  Learning and support to develop market opportunities that increase adoption of DTC products.
•  Coordinating nutrition messaging and social and behavior change communication activities in the target counties.
•  Assist in project administration.
•  Coordinate and lead project field activities in project counties

Requirements

•  Master's degree in Nutrition, Home Economics, Food science and technology or any other relevant food and agriculture related discipline.
•  Experience of nutritional analysis, food product development and knowledge of Food Safety Management Systems (FSMS) and value addition processing equipment (primary and secondary processing
•  Experience of establishing and operationalization of food processing units, especially among rural communities, will be and added advantage.
•  Previous experience in conducting agri-nutrition activities in livelihood projects in arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) settings is desirable.
•  Understanding of youth-integrated agriculture concepts and ability to integrate gender into nutrition-sensitive approaches

Personal attributes and competencies:

•  Strong analytical skills and applied statistical experience.
•  Good scientific writing experience.
•  Fluency in English and Swahili, both verbal and written.
•  Good communication, presentation and report writing skills.
•  Experience in training and capacity building.

Education, knowledge and experience

•  Analyze and understand the nutritional and functional properties of DTCs in relation to their ability to address nutritional challenges of hunger and malnutrition in Kenya.
•  Conceptualize and develop scaling strategies for nutritious value-added recipes and Ready-to-eat (RTE) and Ready-to-Cook (RTC) food products, based on understanding of the local dietary diversity gaps and dietary requirements of specific target groups.
•  Work with youth in scaling up the local ecosystem for value addition to DTCs through innovative product development and entrepreneurship development.
•  Coordinate capacity building and providing technical support for/to beneficiaries on agri-nutrition issues, including innovative agri-nutrition sensitive technologies and strategies/interventions for dietary diversification.
•  Learning and support to develop market opportunities that increase adoption of DTC products.
•  Coordinating nutrition messaging and social and behavior change communication activities in the target counties.