Background information<br><br>
Self Help Africa and its partners have received funding from the European Union to implement the Fortifying for Our Communities Undernutrition Status through Strengthened Civil Society Organisation Capacity in Malawi (FOCUS) Action. The overall objective of action is strengthened local CSOs contribute to improved nutritional status, especially for children under five, in Malawi. The Action brings together the expertise of a Civil Society Organisation (CSO) network-research-technical implementation consortium to enhance the capacity of the local CSO sector to collaborate with smallholder farmers, seed companies, premix distributors, millers, and other private sector value chain players to develop commercially viable, nutrition-sensitive value chains supported by an improved enabling environment for food based micronutrient approaches, namely, food fortification and genetically biofortified food systems in Malawi.<br><br>

The specific objectives are to:
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Enhance CSO capacity to promote equity, innovation and access to micronutrient rich, fortified, and biofortified foods;
Strengthen CSO capacity to monitor and hold duty bearers to account for the consumption of quality, safe, nutritious and appropriately biofortified and fortified foods and infant food.<br><br>
Self Help Africa will implement the action in collaboration with the Civil Society Organisation Nutrition Alliance (CSONA), building on the expertise to ensure that local CSOs are equipped to engage effectively with producers of fortified foods and fortificants and enforcement agencies in the country, in ensuring adherence to quality manufacturing processes; the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), with unrivalled international expertise in supporting food fortification in over 50 countries; and the Catholic Development Commission in Malawi (CADECOM) with 30+ years of diverse knowledge and experience in food security and nutrition security, market access and gender.
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SHA will lead the implementation in Dedza and Mulanje districts, CADECOM will lead in Thyolo and Balaka districts, while CSONA and GAIN will operate at district and national levels.<br><br>
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It is against this background that SHA and its partners are seeking a consultant to carry out a baseline assessment of the FOCUS project.