Introduction

The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) is an integrated set of activities funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USG) and is intended to provide timely, accurate, evidence-based, and transparent food insecurity early warning information and analysis. Created in 1985 in response to famines in East and West Africa, FEWS NET provides global coverage of acute food insecurity. FEWS NET's work is implemented across several mechanisms by a team of partners that includes the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the University of California-Santa Barbara's Climate Hazards Center (UCSB-CHC), University of Maryland's Department of Geographical Sciences, American Institutes for Research (AIR), and Chemonics International (Chemonics). Chemonics implements FEWS NET's Decision Support Team (DST), which is charged with providing integrated monitoring and analyses of current and forecast acute food insecurity in countries worldwide to support the United States Government's (USG) policy and programmatic decisions. The DST operates through a Washington-based technical office, regional FEWS NET offices, and national staff presence in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and eastern Europe.

FEWS NET's objective is to produce timely, evidence-based decision support to enable the efficient allocation of humanitarian assistance on the basis of need.

Based on an in-depth understanding of local livelihoods, FEWS NET monitors information and data on factors that affect food security, such as conflict, weather and agroclimatology, crops, pasture, markets and trade, and nutrition. The FEWS NET DST produces regular reports, including Food Security Outlooks and Outlook Updates, emergency alerts, market and price updates, and targeted analyses. FEWS NET makes reports available at www.fews.net and distributes them globally to governments, relief agencies, and other organizations engaged in humanitarian response and development programs.

The eighth phase of FEWS NET began in 2024. The work of the FEWS NET DST relies on close collaboration with international, regional, and national partners on food security-related data and information gathering and analysis. Major activities include joint monitoring and assessments, data sharing and exchanges, collaborative analysis and reporting, and support of local and regional food security networks.

Position Description

The FEWS NET DST maintains virtual and physical field offices in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and eastern Europe. Five regional offices coordinate and oversee the technical and administrative management of over 40 country offices. Each country office falls into one of three tiers, depending on the complexity of the context and operating environment, with Tier 1 countries requiring a larger staffing footprint, and Tier 3 countries requiring a smaller staffing footprint. There are four main technical positions at the country level: Country Technical Lead (CTL); Country Technical Manager (CTM); and Country Technical Senior Specialist for Food Security (CTSS-FS); and Country Technical Specialist for Food Security and Instability & Conflict (CTSS-FS&IC). The CTL serves as the technical analysis leader within the country across all three tiers. Tier 1 and 2 countries have a CTL, CTM, and different numbers of CTSSs. As a default, Tier 3 countries have a CTL and one CTSS, although in select cases, they may have more than one. In addition, the CTL is responsible for supporting and supervising all staff in the country, including the Country Technical Manager (CTM), the Country Technical Senior Specialists (CTSSs) and others, in the following activities:

• Efficient, focused acute food insecurity monitoring, data collection, assessment, and early warning analysis
• Effective communication of early warning analysis to the USG, partners and decision-makers through high-quality reports and participation in briefings and formal and informal meetings
• Close collaboration with key partners, such as host government ministries, UN agencies, and international and local NGOs, among others
• Supporting and helping to build strategic partner networks by addressing identified gaps in effective early warning systems and through supporting network capacity building efforts spearheaded by FEWS NET
• Project administration and management at the national level
• Monthly meetings with USG mission staff
• Regular participation in IPC/CH analyses
• Regular collection of data and field information, as required, and uploaded to the FEWS NET Data Warehouse (FDW)
• Coordination and effective collaboration with other FEWS NET mechanisms

The CTL is responsible for supporting, supervising, and providing quality control for national and sub-national level project deliverables and ensuring that activities and products for the country are delivered in a high-quality and timely manner.

Responsibilities

The main responsibilities of the Zambia CTL include, but are not limited to:

• Overseeing the fulfilment of monthly reporting requirements, including providing writing and providing critical inputs to part or all the Food Security Outlooks (FSOs), FSO Updates, Price Watch, and key messages; contributing to Food Assistance Outlook Brief reports; and providing regular briefings to USG and other partners.
• Reaching out monthly to USG Mission counterparts to offer and, upon agreement with the USG Mission, delivering food security briefings and/or updates to relevant Mission staff. Overseeing the capture and transfer of meeting notes from these engagements within two days of the event.
• The CTL will ensure the integrated food security analyses (FSOs, FSOUs, FAOB input) classify and communicate the severity of acute food insecurity in line with the globally recognized Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) scale. Where IPC compatibility is not possible, the CTL will ensure analyses remain globally comparable.
• Support the DST in meeting USG's expectations on timely delivery of decision support products, which include, but are not limited to: delivery of monthly reporting for all presence countries no later than 7 days after the last day of the reporting month; responding to urgent questions on acute food insecurity within one day; providing briefings within one week of request; and assessing acute food insecurity in Expanded Global Early Warning (EGEW) countries within one week of request.
• Maintaining a knowledge base comprised of, at a minimum, livelihood zone profiles, commodity trade flow maps, sub-national seasonal monitoring calendars, commodity price data, nutrition data, security monitoring, conflict data, migration, remittances, labor, humanitarian food assistance, and other technical data covering rainfall, agricultural production, population, etc., in collaboration with other FEWS NET 8 implementing mechanisms, as applicable
• Maintaining and transferring relevant national technical databases built from primary and secondary data sources, from national and sub-national partners, and through inputs entered into the FEWS NET Data Warehouse
• Developing and updating national seasonal monitoring plans and participating in national acute food insecurity monitoring, as applicable
• Providing proactive, high quality, and effective early warning of acute threats to food security in the country and supporting efforts to mitigate acute food insecurity and prevent food crises through effective communication of actionable food security analysis
• Providing strategic leadership in the planning and execution of technical activities in the country

• Overseeing the fulfilment of monthly reporting requirements, including providing writing and providing critical inputs to part or all the Food Security Outlooks (FSOs), FSO Updates, Price Watch, and key messages; contributing to Food Assistance Outlook Brief reports; and providing regular briefings to USG and other partners.
• Reaching out monthly to USG Mission counterparts to offer and, upon agreement with the USG Mission, delivering food security briefings and/or updates to relevant Mission staff. Overseeing the capture and transfer of meeting notes from these engagements within two days of the event.
• The CTL will ensure the integrated food security analyses (FSOs, FSOUs, FAOB input) classify and communicate the severity of acute food insecurity in line with the globally recognized Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) scale. Where IPC compatibility is not possible, the CTL will ensure analyses remain globally comparable.
• Support the DST in meeting USG's expectations on timely delivery of decision support products, which include, but are not limited to: delivery of monthly reporting for all presence countries no later than 7 days after the last day of the reporting month; responding to urgent questions on acute food insecurity within one day; providing briefings within one week of request; and assessing acute food insecurity in Expanded Global Early Warning (EGEW) countries within one week of request.
• Maintaining a knowledge base comprised of, at a minimum, livelihood zone profiles, commodity trade flow maps, sub-national seasonal monitoring calendars, commodity price data, nutrition data, security monitoring, conflict data, migration, remittances, labor, humanitarian food assistance, and other technical data covering rainfall, agricultural production, population, etc., in collaboration with other FEWS NET 8 implementing mechanisms, as applicable
• Maintaining and transferring relevant national technical databases built from primary and secondary data sources, from national and sub-national partners, and through inputs entered into the FEWS NET Data Warehouse
• Developing and updating national seasonal monitoring plans and participating in national acute food insecurity monitoring, as applicable
• Providing proactive, high quality, and effective early warning of acute threats to food security in the country and supporting efforts to mitigate acute food insecurity and prevent food crises through effective communication of actionable food security analysis
• Providing strategic leadership in the planning and execution of technical activities in the country