Consultant (WorldFish Resident Consultant for APART Project) – WorldFish

Application Deadline 20 August 2022

WorldFish is an international, non-profit research and innovation organization reducing hunger, malnutrition and poverty across Africa, Asia and the Pacific. For over 45 years, our work on sustainable aquaculture and fisheries has improved the lives of millions of women, men and youth.

Fish and other aquatic foods grown in and harvested from oceans, lakes, rivers and ponds provide income for more than 800 million people and provide 3.3 billion with 20% of their animal protein intake. Our focus on sustainability makes sure that the way we produce and use these foods today means a plentiful future of generations to come.

Our evidence-based solutions range in scale from households to global policies and spans across six interlinked themes: nutrition, gender, climate, sustainability, economy and COVID-19. We champion aquatic foods for healthy people and planet and believe that a sustainable blue planet of well-nourished children, women and men is within our reach.

Background

WorldFish is working with Government of Assam since Aug 2018. A Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between ARIAS and WorldFish was signed in Aug 2018. Under the agreement, WorldFish is providing technical assistance in the areas of sustainable aquaculture, small scale fisheries, value chains and nutrition to ARIAS, DOF Assam and COF Assam to support implementation of various technical interventions in 18 un-divided Districts of the state under the fisheries sub-component of Assam Agribusiness & Rural Transformation Project (APART) coordinated by ARIAS. The project development objective is to “add value and improve resilience of selected agriculture value chains, focusing on smallholder farmers and agro-entrepreneurs in targeted districts of Assam”. Keeping in line with the Project Development Objective of APART, the WorldFish technical contribution has the following five broad objectives:

• Enable sustainable increases in aquaculture production without creating adverse socio economic or environmental impacts (Sustainable Intensification of Aquaculture).
• Secure and enhance the contribution of small-scale fisheries to food security in Assam (Increasing Diversity and Productivity of Beels).
• Increase the availability, access and consumption of nutrient-rich, safe fish, especially for women of reproductive age, infants and young children (Improving Fish Value Chains and human nutrition).
• Develop and promote climate resilient technologies in support of sustainable aquaculture and small-scale fisheries (Climate resilient/smart aquaculture technologies).
• Promote gender transformative approaches in support of sustainable aquaculture and beel fisheries in Assam (Gender Transformative Approaches in aquaculture& fisheries).
• WorldFish has completed 4 years of successful project implementation and now entering the last year of the project. The final year of the project implementation is meant for developing an Exit Strategy that will consider embedding all the interventions implemented in the ongoing activities of the Department of Fisheries, College of Fisheries, Fishermen cooperatives and other agencies so that the activities can be continued and sustained beyond 5 years. To fulfil this task WorldFish is looking for a national expert to be based in
• Guwahati to serve as the resident consultant for the Fisheries component of APART till the end of the project and undertake the following specific roles and responsibilities.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Provide overall coordination to support implementation of APART Project in Assam.
• Provide technical assistance to Department of Fisheries and College of Fisheries in Assam.
• Guide and build the capacity of partner organization staff in ARIAS, DOF and COF in Assam.
• Coordinate with WorldFish and other CGIAR Experts to provide support to project implementation.
• Prepare detailed half-yearly, annual reports and other reports of APART project activities in Assam.
• Represent WorldFish in Meetings & Consultation.
• Provide overall leadership and coordination to support implementation of WorldFish Impact Areas in Assam.
• Undertake any other general duties as per the needs and advice of the Project Leader.
• Perform other duties as assigned and delegated by the supervisor.
• Specifically, the hired consultant will be responsible for developing the Exit

Strategy for each of the 10 interventions/deliverables under the responsibility of WorldFish by holding strategic discussions with key main line departments, local partners, farmers and fishers and come up with written exit strategies that will consider embedding the interventions in the ongoing activities of Department of Fisheries, College of Fisheries, Fishermen cooperatives and other agencies so that the activities can continued and sustained beyond 5 years.

Requirements

Skills, Experience and Knowledge

• PhD with minimum of 15 years of experience in coordinating and implementing international and national projects in the areas of aquatic food systems.
• Good understanding of aquatic food systems and how they can contribute to SDGs, human health and planet health.
• Expertise in project work plan development, M&E, theory of change, impact assessments and development of transition and/or exit strategies for mega projects.

Desirable Skills

Demonstrated experience in successfully implementing mega projects with government and private partners.

How to Apply

This opportunity is open to all National applicants. The selection of consultants will be based on the relevant qualification and experience. The interviews are expected to be held in August 2022 and only the shortlisted consultants will be notified and expected to attend the interview. The successful consultant should be available to commence the consultancy contract for a maximum of eighteen (18) days per month, for a duration of a maximum of 10 working months.

Interested applicants are invited to submit the following information online latest by 20 August 2022:

• A cover letter including a 2-page (max) description of why you are an ideal candidate for this consultancy referring to the key responsibilities and what you would bring to the role and expected rate;
• A current curriculum vitae; and
• Name and contacts (telephone and e-mail addresses) of three professional referees (clients), you have consulted previously.
• The screening will start as soon as possible, and will continue until the position is filled. Only selected consultant candidates will be contacted.

Our Gender, Diversity and Inclusion Commitment

WorldFish has seven offices across Asia, Africa and the Pacific, with more than 400 staff and 27 nationalities who contribute to a dynamic multicultural work environment.

WorldFish is committed to promoting a work environment where diversity and inclusion is valued and we seek to have gender balance in the organization. We aim to also seek balance across other diversity dimensions.

People in WorldFish are treated equally irrespective of gender, ethnicity/race, national or social origin, disability, religion, political affiliation, age, family size, marital status or any other form of personal identity.

We are an equal opportunities employer and strongly encourage qualified people from developing nations to apply.