Company ProfileFHI 360 is a nonprofit human development organization dedicated to improving lives in lasting ways by advancing integrated, locally driven solutions. Our staff includes experts in health, education, nutrition, environment, economic development, civil society, gender, youth, research, technology, communication, and social marketing- creating a unique mix of capabilities to address today’s interrelated development challenges. FHI 360 serves more than 70 countries and all U.S. states and territories.
Food Systems Transformation and Nutrition Security (FSTNS) Agriculture Issues Paper Consultant
About ELEVATE NutritionELEVATE Nutrition (Enhancing Local Efforts for Vital, Transformative, and Evidence-Based Nutrition) is the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) flagship multisectoral nutrition activity that advances local implementation of high-quality nutrition programs and policies to improve the nutritional status of women and children, particularly in the first 1,000 days. A five-year activity (2023–2028) led by FHI 360 with a consortium of strategic partners (Action Against Hunger, Bixal, Cultivating New Frontiers in Africa, GEMNet-Health, and Oxford Policy Management), ELEVATE Nutrition takes a multisectoral approach, bridging the gap between global evidence and local implementation.
ELEVATE Nutrition will operate in Ghana through June 2028 to provide technical support to advance the government’s efforts to plan and deliver equitable and quality multisectoral nutrition services that promote household resilience and food security. The activities focus on improving the governance and policy environment, strengthening multisectoral coordination at national and local levels, supporting local governments to increase funding for multisectoral nutrition, supporting social and behavior change through non-health sector partners, and improving knowledge synthesis, documentation, and management.
Scope of WorkELEVATE Nutrition seeks the services of a consultant to support the Ghana National Development Planning Commission’s (NDCP) efforts to address the country’s food security and nutrition target shortfalls. The consultant will prepare a Food Systems Transformation Nutrition Security (FSTNS) linkage issues paper for the agriculture sector identifying the underlying challenges preventing Ghana from attaining its food security and nutrition targets and provide recommendations to overcome these barriers.
The consultancy has the following specific objectives:
Analyze the existing policies, programs, and interventions in Ghana that link agriculture, food systems and nutrition to determine gaps and areas for improvement.
Investigate the underlying challenges preventing the effective integration of agriculture services with food systems and nutrition outcomes, focusing on policy, institutional coordination, and resource constraints.
Assess how inadequate agriculture programs disproportionately affect nutrition outcomes and fragile food systems in vulnerable populations, particularly children under five and pregnant women.
Review the level of collaboration between the agriculture, food systems and nutrition sectors and propose mechanisms to strengthen multi-sectoral coordination.
Provide evidence-based recommendations for enhancing the role of agriculture interventions in achieving national nutrition and food systems targets.
The consultant will work closely with ELEVATE Nutrition staff and the NDPC. The consultant will produce deliverables within 200 working hours spread over approximately 2.5 months.
Detailed description of tasks to be performed:Detailed Plan of Assignment (February 2025)1. Collaborate with the NDCP to develop a detailed plan for this consultancy, including key milestones, timelines, and how the work will be carried out. To do this, the consultant will need to meet with the NDPC to understand the consultancy objectives and expectations. In the detailed plan, the consultant is expected to describe various research methods for the issues paper will be developed. Details about how each of the following tasks will be carried out should be included in the detailed plan:
Desk review of relevant food systems and nutrition-relevant documents, including surveys and policy documents.
Stakeholder interviews.
Analysis of case studies on best practices of agriculture-sector nutrition governance.
Catalogue existing nutrition-sensitive agriculture interventions.
Make recommendations for strengthening food systems, nutrition and agriculture linkages using relevant local, regional and global best practices.
Facilitate the organization of an agriculture Sector-FSTNS Dialogue.
Finalize the report with outputs from the agriculture Sector-FSTNS Dialogue.
Linkage Issues Paper: draft and final (February – March 2025) Draft FSTNS Agriculture Linkage Issues Paper. The draft paper will include a detailed analysis of agriculture-food systems linkages, existing challenges, policy gaps, and preliminary recommendations for strengthening nutrition-sensitive interventions.
Finalize FSTNS Agriculture Linkage Issues Paper, integrating feedback from the NDPC and other key stakeholders which will be received through review of the document, meetings, and an agriculture sector FSTNS dialogue. The final paper will need to undergo review and validation. The final paper will present refined recommendations to elevate the current structural status of nutrition within the agriculture sector, actionable strategies, and a comprehensive framework to enhance nutrition-sensitive agriculture interventions within Ghana's food systems.
The consultant will conduct the following activities to prepare the paper:
Examine Ghana’s current national policies, strategies, and programs in the agriculture, nutrition and complementary sectors to assess the degree of integration and alignment with the country’s nutrition and food systems targets.
Conduct consultations with key stakeholders, including government agencies, development partners, civil society, and local communities, to gather insights on existing agriculture-food systems/nutrition linkages, challenges, and opportunities.
Identify institutional, financial, operational, and technical barriers that hinder effective collaboration between the agricultural and nutrition sectors, as well as the successful implementation of integrated interventions.
Provide a clear theory of change that integrates food systems outcomes in the agriculture sector.
Analyze available data on agriculture, food systems and nutrition outcomes, especially related to child stunting, malnutrition, food security and disease prevalence caused by inadequate agriculture services, to inform evidence-based recommendations.
Provide actionable, context-specific recommendations to improve agriculture-food systems/nutrition linkages, focusing on multi-sectoral collaboration, investment needs, and practical interventions for addressing malnutrition.
Additional TasksProvide guidance for ensuring the quality, objectivity, and integrity of information being collected.
The consultant must consult with relevant MDAs.
Provide regular updates and progress reports to the ELEVATE Nutrition team and NDPC
Ensure that all documents and materials are properly archived and stored.
Education Required: Master’s Degree
59 Okodan St, Blue Gate district, Osu, Accra near Papaye, Accra