SSA Consultant (School Meals)

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About the Organization

The World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity, for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

Job Description

The consultant under the overall guidance of the Head of the Nutrition and School Feeding Unit and the direct supervision of the Programme Policy Officers’ Nutrition and School feeding based in Chandigarh and Delhi will be responsible for the following

Job Responsibilities

Map the availability of local food commodities

• Understand the agricultural production and availability of vegetables, fruits all through the year in the different regions/ districts.
• Understand the availability at the district level FCI go downs and acceptability of millets all round the year
• Travel to the different regions/ districts as required.
• Probe into the milk availability at the school level and its acceptability within school children.

Designing of district specific menus

• Designing district specific weekly menus that meet the dietary and caloric requirements as per the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and PM POSHAN guidelines. The proposed menus should ensure that the meals are rich in protein, vitamins, and other essential nutrients for the physical and cognitive development of children.
• Incorporating local and seasonal foods - Utilizing locally available and seasonal ingredients to enhance the nutritional value, freshness, and cost-effectiveness of the meals.
• Diverse and culturally acceptable menus: Creating a variety of meal plans that reflect the local food culture of Haryana, keeping in mind children’s taste preferences to improve meal acceptance and reduce food wastage.
• Design age-appropriate menus that cater to diverse nutritional requirements of different age groups under PM POSHAN.
• Cost-Effectiveness and Sustainability - Developing menus that are economically viable within the budgetary provisions of the scheme while maximizing nutritional benefits.
• Compliance with government guidelines: Ensuring that the menu design aligns with PM POSHAN guidelines, state-level policies, and any other regulatory frameworks specific to Haryana.

Standardized recipe development:

• Create standardized recipes based on the district specific menus with detailed ingredient lists, preparation steps, and portion sizes for consistency in meal quality and nutritional content.
• Create standardized recipes for each menu item, including detailed preparation methods and portion sizes.
• Develop easy-to-follow training manuals and guidelines for recipe preparation and menu execution
• Ensure recipes are simple, scalable, and practical for implementation in school kitchens and centralized kitchens.
• While designing menu and recipes, ensure that the local availability of fortified foods has been factored in.

Other Responsibilities

• Desk review of guidelines, circulars etc. issued by Centra, State Governments and other relevant government organizations.
• Collection of information from State Govt. / districts based on pre-defined questionnaire.
• Analysis of the secondary data collected from State / district.
• Consultation with nutrition experts in the state if required.
• Comprehensive weekly menu plans for different districts
• Detailed, standardized recipes for each meal item.
• Cost analysis report of menu items within PM POSHAN budget provision.
• Standardized recipe booklet with preparation guidelines and portion sizes.

Education Qualification/Required Skills & Experience

• Advance university degree in Nutrition, Public health, Management, Dietetics, or a related field.

Experience

• 7 years of progressively responsible work experience preferably in the development sector in partnership with the government/UN agency/INGO  Experience on working with nutrition or school based programme and preparation of such large-scale reports.
• Experience in cost analysis, recipe standardization, and menu design.
• Experience in development of nutritional and innovative recipes, and nutritional content analysis of the developed recipes

Language

• Fluency in spoken and written English and Hindi.

Knowledge & skills:

• Excellent interpersonal skills required, including strong professional communication ability;
• Advocacy and networking skills with a broad range of stakeholders particularly government, academia etc.
• Excellent report writing skills
• Advanced computer skills with proficiency in Windows, Microsoft office;
• Knowledge of UN system would be an asset in particular WFP programmes is an advantage.
• Ability to work collaboratively with a diverse team of nutrition and food security experts.
• Ability to integrate cultural and regional food preferences into nutritional planning.
• Proficiency in tools for cost analysis and recipe documentation

For more information please check the Link

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