Food Technologist – Nutrition & Fortification Specialist

About the role

The World Food Programme West and Central Africa Regional Office (WFP WACARO) seeks a Food Technologist with expertise in nutrition and food fortification to support two major projects across West and Central Africa. The consultant will work independently, providing technical guidance on rice fortification, value‑chain analysis and policy advocacy.

Key responsibilities

• Analyse national rice value‑chain requirements and strengthen miller cooperatives as shared service platforms for fortification (INKA project).
• Facilitate procurement, installation and training on blending equipment and premix management for small‑scale millers.
• Develop group‑based quality‑assurance systems, including spot‑testing and compliance with national standards.
• Map rice and fortified‑rice trade routes, identify strategic aggregation hubs and assess policy and regulatory environments (RICE UP project).
• Conduct institutional demand mapping for school feeding, social assistance schemes and humanitarian programmes.
• Support country offices in advocacy for regional policy pillars and market development for fortified rice.

Required profile

• Advanced university degree in Food Technology, Food Engineering, Agrobusiness, Health Sciences, Nutrition or a related field.
• Minimum 5 years of progressively responsible experience in food fortification or food technology, preferably in West and Central Africa.
• Demonstrated experience with trade‑route analysis, policy advocacy and cooperative‑based business models.
• Fluency in English and French.

Required skills

• Fortification of food products.
• Food technology and processed‑food expertise.
• Analysis of trade routes and market logistics (WACA).
• Policy and regulatory analysis for food fortification.
• Technical assistance and capacity‑building for cooperatives.