The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) is an integrated set of activities funded by the United States Government (USG) and is intended to provide timely, accurate, evidence-based, and transparent food security 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 through close collaboration among a team of government and university partners Chemonics International (Chemonics) and other contractors. 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 USG’s policy and programmatic decisions. The DST operates through a Washington-based technical office and regional and select local FEWS NET offices established in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and eastern Europe.
Based on an in-depth understanding of local livelihoods, DST members monitor information and data on factors that affect food security, such as conflict, weather conditions, 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 and data available 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 data, information gathering, and analysis. Major activities include joint monitoring and assessments, data sharing and exchanges, and collaborative analysis and reporting. FEWS NET supports local and regional food security networks with the global objective of achieving food security for all.
The FEWS NET DST is responsible for providing decision support to the USG in over 40 countries located in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. The project operates out of a home office, based in Washington, D.C. and five regional offices located in LAC (Guatemala), West Africa (Niger), East Africa (Kenya), Southern Africa (Zimbabwe), and Asia, the Middle East, and Europe (Jordan). Regional technical senior specialist (RTSS) for livelihoods (LH) will be based in each regional office.
The FEWS NET DST uses a livelihoods-based food security analytical framework grounded in Household Economy Analysis (HEA) principles. In line with the requirements of this framework, the project maintains a livelihoods knowledge base that includes livelihood zones and descriptions, profiles, and/or livelihood baselines for all FEWS NET presence countries, and the DST aims to develop a functional evidence base for many non-reporting countries to allow for broader global coverage. These knowledge products are essential for the FEWS NET DST’s capacity to conduct acute food insecurity analysis and projections. Understanding livelihood systems – that is, the ways in which people gain access to the food and cash income they need to meet their essential needs – is at the root of understanding which hazards will undermine this access. This analysis allows for an integrated and sophisticated predictive system – one in which multiple hazards can be projected for various wealth groups across myriad geographies.
The FEWS NET DST uses this livelihoods approach in looking particularly at how different wealth groups cope with a shock or hazard (or combination of shocks/hazards), such as a drought, flood, market disruption, or conflict. For the early warning of food insecurity, livelihoods analysis provides insights into the ability of households to cope with and respond to shocks. The analysis also provides detailed information for humanitarian assistance planning and ongoing monitoring.
The RTSS-LH will liaise extensively with Household Economy Analysis (HEA) working groups throughout the region and must be able to articulate FEWS NET’s livelihoods approach, and its relevance for acute food insecurity analysis, to partners. The RTSS-LH will be expected to provide critical inputs to regional decision-support products, technical assistance and guidance to country teams, and training on relevant HEA food security analyses and tools, for FEWS NET and partner staff. The RTSS-LH will contribute to high-quality and effective early warning of threats to food security by supporting efforts to mitigate food insecurity and prevent food crises through the provision of actionable, evidence-based food security analysis.
To support this effort, the RTSS–LH serves as the regional decision support specialist for the livelihoods’ sector and primarily supports livelihood activities within the region. The RTSS–LH will work under the guidance of the Washington D.C. home office Livelihoods Advisor in close collaboration with the Regional Technical Lead (RTL) and the other technical specialists in the regional team, the country teams in the region, other mechanisms across the FEWS NET 8 project, and network partners to design, execute, and coordinate regional livelihoods activities. The RTSS-LH works under the technical supervision of the Livelihoods Advisor, with administrative management provided by the RTL.
The main responsibilities of the RTSS-LH include, but are not limited to:
The strong preference is for the RTSS-LH to be based in one of the regional offices, located in Guatemala City (Guatemala) and Niamey (Niger). Highly qualified candidates who have legal work authorization and are based in other select countries in which FEWS NET 8 operates (limited to the list below) may be considered.
The RTSS-LH will work under the technical direction and supervision of the Livelihoods Advisor, while administrative supervision will be provided by the Regional Technical Lead (RTL), in coordination with the Livelihoods Advisor. The RTSS-LH will be required to travel domestically and internationally, personal considerations permitting.
Application Instructions
Please apply here by August 14, 2025 at 11:59 PM ET. No telephone inquiries, please. Chemonics will contact short-listed candidates.
Chemonics is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in its selection and employment practices on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, or other non-merit factors.
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Tagged as: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chemonics, Mali, Niger, Nigeria
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