Background:
The Food Security Portal (FSP), facilitated by IFPRI, aims to provide improved food security for the worldโs poor and increased resilience of global food systems against food and financial crisis. The project brings together international, regional, and country-level data, news, and research aimed at meeting countriesโ immediate food security needs, as well as building long-term global food security. The FSP is designed to pool information in structured ways to ensure data quality, timeliness, and relevance, as well as the opportunity for collaboration among policymakers, development professionals, and researchers. The Food Security Portal (FSP), together with the Africa South of the Sahara Food Security Portal (FSP-SSA) sub-portals, available in English and in French, provides global and country-level information on food prices and policy developments. It features a comprehensive suite of research-based capacity-strengthening tools and risk monitoring systems to help guide appropriate, timely policy responses.
Many households in the African continent are faced with the critical and increasingly urgent challenge of the growing prevalence of multiple, overlapping shocks that undermine household food security and resilience. These shocks include droughts and floods, trade shocks and food price inflation, animal and plant disease outbreaks, human disease outbreaks, and conflict. Innovative methods and anticipatory interventions are needed to strengthen resilience to these shocks and mitigate their adverse impacts of food security.
Using this call for applications, the Food Security Portal seeks to identify six individual consultants to conduct research and author best practices research briefs on methods and interventions to mitigate adverse food security impacts of various types of shocks. The research briefs on โevidence-based practicesโ can be on any of the following topics:
Innovative methods to strengthen household resilience to price and trade shocks
Innovative methods to strengthen household resilience to climate shocks and natural hazards
Anticipatory interventions to mitigate adverse food security impacts of impacts of human disease outbreaks
Anticipatory interventions to mitigate adverse food security impacts of impacts of animal disease outbreaks
Anticipatory interventions to mitigate adverse food security impacts of impacts of plant disease outbreaks
Anticipatory interventions to mitigate adverse food security impacts of conflict
A best practice is a method or technique that has been generally accepted as superior to other alternatives because it produces results that are superior to those achieved by other means or because it has become a standard way of doing things. The research brief should be based on a review of practices or policy alternatives that have been effective in addressing the issue. Evidence-based practices from an African context are highly encouraged. Examples from the Food Security Portal are provided below here.
Deliverables: Draft and final versions of a best practice brief on one of the selected topics identified above
Duration: This consultancy will take place from July 2025 โ October 2025
Required qualifications of the consultant
Masters or doctoral degree in Economics, Agricultural Economics, Public Policy or related field
Research experience on topics related to food security, resilience, safety nets
Demonstrated experience in report writing
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
Fluency in English
Preferred qualifications of the consultant
Research experience in Africa
Required Application Documents
Please include the following in your application:
Cover letter
Curriculum vitae
Writing sample related on a food security topic which includes a literature review
1-page proposal on the best practice brief clearly indicating topic that will be addressed and country or region that will be covered.
Please contact IFPRI-FSP@cgiar.org for any questions.
Application deadline June 16, 2025