Call for Interest – Subject Matter Experts – FEWS NET SPADe Support Project

Role Description:

Implemented by Tetra Tech International Development, The FEWS NET SPADe Support project is looking for Subject Matter Experts (SME’s) in the fields of agriculture and food security, activity design, scenario planning, and humanitarian risk and response analysis.

If selected, SME’s will be shortlisted into a roster of consultants to work on various short term Work Assignments until April 2026. Responsibilities will vary on the needs of each Work Assignment and the qualifications and role of the contractor. Consultancies under this announcement may be remotely based or may require travel to one or more locations where USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) operates. Travel will be coordinated and supported by the SPADe Task Order (TO) Team.

Project Description:

The USAID -funded Strategic Planning and Activity Design (SPADe) Support, a global TO under the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) IDIQ is implemented by Tetra Tech International Development. (www.tetratech.com/intdev) The TO is designed to assist USAID in meeting legislative requirements and informing the design of solicitations and rapid response to support emergent and chronic emergency relief, imminent and median-term food security, and median- to longer-term improved resilience response.

Running from October 2023 to April 2026, the SPADe TO supports USAID’s BHA in its mission to strengthen humanitarian response planning and activity design for rapid onset and protracted multi-year emergencies and non-emergency activities focused on recovery, risk reduction, and resilience programming.

Type of Work Assignments:

SPADe supports work assignments that may include the following types:

Market Analyses: These assignments describe the staple foods marketing systems in selected geography (or geographies) and generate insights to help inform the design of food security activities. The analyses include evidence of the appropriateness and feasibility of different food assistance modalities based on market conditions, the policy context, infrastructure and supporting services, previous food assistance programs, underlying livelihood systems, and other contextual considerations.

Secondary Data Analyses: These assignments use secondary data to build an in-depth understanding of the characteristics of potential program participants or communities as well as factors associated with programmatic objectives that activities may seek to attain. The assignments include statistical and econometric analyses of relevant food security, livelihoods, and contextual indicators. Developing visualizations and mapping products are often part of the analysis and reporting process.

Country/Context Desk Reviews: These assignments produce narrative assessment reports that provide an overview and analysis of a country or context’s emergency and resilience situation. The reviews include recent trends, strategies, initiatives, key programs, gaps, priorities, and recommendations for consideration in food security and resilience program planning and design.

Stakeholder Mapping and Analyses: These assignments facilitate the identification of relevant local, national, and international groups, organizations, and individuals in targeted geographic areas; provide an understanding of various stakeholder perspectives and interests through a systems understanding of focus geographies; and map existing and planned donor, government, private sector, and civil society programming and priorities and highlight opportunities to leverage current initiatives.

Political Economy Analyses: These assignments examine the social, political, and economic factors that may influence the outcomes of humanitarian and resilience interventions in a given context and assess the potential consequences and secondary impacts of these interventions.

Scenario Planning: These assignments support USAID and implementing partners in preparing, responding, monitoring activities, and adapting to changes during a project that could impact their ability to deliver results. These interventions use tools and approaches that define scenarios and related contingencies for specific contexts and timeframes. USAID and/or implementing partners can also be provided with essential tools and capacity-building to develop individualized scenario planning.

Qualifications:

Specific qualifications will vary by assignment and assignment-type. At a minimum, individuals submitting expressions of interest should meet these criteria:

* Bachelor’s or higher degree in economics, agriculture, information management, nutrition, public health, or other related field.

* At least three years of relevant professional experience, including assignments in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and/or South/Central Asia.

* Experience in survey design, training design and delivery, field data collection, team leadership, data analysis, data quality control and assurance, and/or report writing.

* Technical expertise in food security analysis and advisory services, including the following topics: health and nutrition; water and sanitation access; agro-climatology; use of remote sensing imagery; food production systems; food trade and marketing; scenario planning, including food and livelihoods assistance modalities, such as cash transfers, and response analysis; household economics and livelihoods; implementation of humanitarian and resilience programs.

* Fluency in English; fluency in one or more relevant languages preferred, depending on country of assignment: Amharic, Arabic, Farsi, French, Haitian Creole, Hausa, Portuguese, Spanish, Swahili, etc.