Terms of Reference

Short – term consulancy

Title:                                  Local Food Safety Market Management Specialist

Timing:                            August 2024 – March 2025, with extension possibility

Level of Effort:                Part-time, up to 78 days.

Project context

Alinea International Ltd. (Canada) provides management and technical expertise to developing and transitional country partners on projects that promote sustainable growth and meaningful opportunities for people to improve their lives. The Safe Food for Growth project (SAFEGRO) which is funded by the Government of Canada through Global Affairs Canada (GAC) for the period from 2019 to 2024, with extension to 2026, is being supported technically by the Canadian Executing Agency (CEA), led by Alinea in partnership with the University of Guelph and other leading food safety organizations.

The SAFEGRO is designed to support the Government of Vietnam to ensure better access to safe and competitive agri-food products, with an aim to improve the well-being of female and male consumers as well as other beneficiaries (including poor farmers) in Vietnam. The project operates across the agri-food value chains by engaging and building the capacity of three main target groups: the public sector (enabling environment), the private sector (supply side), and the consumer (demand side) to achieve 3 inter-related component outcomes: 

• Intermediate Outcome (1100) – Enabling environment: "Improved performance of national and sub-national governments in food safety regulation enforcement along the value chain to meet international standards”.
• Intermediate Outcome (1200) – Supply side: "Increased competitiveness of poor farmers and other actors, particularly women, supplying safe agri-food products to domestic and international markets”.
• Intermediate Outcome (1300) – Demand side: "Increased consumer demand for safe and affordable agri-food in Vietnam".

The SAFEGRO technical team works with national and sub-national governments to enforce food safety regulations, private sector suppliers to increase the competitiveness of Vietnamese food products domestically and internationally, and consumers to improve demand for safe food in Vietnam. Key partners on this project include The Ministry of Agriculture Rural Development (MARD), the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT), the Ministry of Health (MOH), Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh city agencies, and other Vietnamese Academic Institutes.

The government of Vietnam has committed to promote environmentally friendly, climate-smart agricultural technology and practices and gender equality by making these as cross-cutting issues in all political, economic, and cultural and social spheres. Therefore, within scope of SAFEGRO project, gender equality shall be integrated across all activities in the TORs to ensure: (i) collection of gender-disaggregated data for reporting and MEL; (ii) gender-sensitivity languages, photos, images, messages, etc.; (iii) equal participation in decision-making and benefit of women and men from activities and services; (iv) gender analysis before any intervention, decisions, or outlining plans and; (v) Gender equality mainstreaming shall be discussed at all meetings and consultations with government counterparts, regardless of the topics, technical or otherwise.

The Project mobilizes international and national consultants to provide high quality technical assistance and capacity building activities to the government agencies and chain actors including support for review and recommendations related to the food safety regulatory framework.

Specifically, the project has initiated interventions to upgrade food safety at three wet markets in Hanoi and one wholesale market in Ho Chi Minh City. This year, in addition to continuing activities at these markets, the project will expand interventions to include one more wet market and one more wholesale market in Hanoi. To carry out specific intervention activities in these markets and to summarize experiences into comprehensive market management guidelines, Alinea International is seeking a short-term Local Food Safety Market Management Specialist for the SAFEGRO project.

Scope of Work

The Local Food Safety Market Management Specialist (LFSMMS) will be based in Hanoi and work closely with the International and Local Food Safety Specialists, a team of national consultants, and relevant Vietnamese stakeholders. The LFSMMS will provide expert advice and coordination on all matters pertaining to food safety management at wet markets and wholesale markets in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The specialist will be supervised directly by the Local Food Safety Specialists in Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City, Project Director (PD), and Project Manager (PM). The position requires fieldwork for collecting information and providing consultation as inputs to the work.

Detail responsibilities/tasks, deliverable.

The LFSPRS will perform the main tasks but not limited as bellow:

No	Deliverables	Responsibilities	LOE (days)	Deadline
I	Food safety conditions, management, awareness, and practices in markets in Hanoi are improved		38	Mar 2025
1.1	Market survey report (including gap analysis and practical solutions to improve food safety for 1 wet market and 1 wholesale market in Hanoi)	-    Conduct pre-audit assessment for 1 wet market and 1 wholesale market	4	Aug 24
1.2	Intervention plans finalized for food safety improvement markets in Hanoi	-    Develop intervention plan for food safety improvement for for 1 wet market and 1 wholesale market	3	Aug 24
1.3	Food safety market management regulations for targeted markets completed	-    Develop retail and wholesale market regulations to ensure food safety for the five targeted markets	5	Sep 24
1.4	Training agenda and materials developed for each target group (including: PPT training slide (focus practice instruction); Poster/ banner; Exercise; Pre-test & post-test)	-    Develop training materials in presentation format (PPT/poster/signage etc.) for: o  Food safety management officers in local authorities o  Market management boards (including SOPs) o  Vendors selling in 3 groups: fruit and meat, vegetable, and fisheries (including SOPs)	8	Sep 24
1.5	Training sessions and supervision delivered for food safety management officers, market management boards, and vendors	-    Deliver hands-on training sessions and supervision for food safety management officers, market management boards, and vendors	17	Feb 25
1.6	A short completion report	-   Complete report on food safety management improvement before and after intervention	1	Mar 25
II	Food safety conditions, management, awareness, and practices in 01 wholesale market in Ho Chi Minh are improved		20	Mar 25
2.1	Training agenda and materials developed for each target group (including: PPT training slide (focus practice instruction); Poster/ banner; Exercise; Pre-test & post-test)	-   Develop training materials in presentation format (PPT/poster/signage etc.) for: o   Food safety management officers in local authorities o   Market management boards (including SOPs) o   Vendors selling in 3 groups: fruit and meat, vegetable, and fisheries (including SOPs)	6	Sep 24
2.2	Training sessions and supervision for food safety management officers, market management boards, and vendors delivered	-    Deliver the hands-on training sessions and supervision for food safety management officers, market management boards, and vendors	13	-          Feb 25
2.3	A short completion report	-    Complete report on food safety management improvement before and after intervention	1	Mar 25
III	Food safety management manuals developed and tested for wet markets and wholesale markets	-    Create and test food safety management manuals for wet markets and wholesale markets	20	Dec 24
	TOTAL		78

Required qualification:

The Local Food Safety Market Management Specialist must possess the following minimum qualifications and experience:

• University degree in a relevant discipline such as food science, food technology, food quality and safety management, agricultural production, animal or plant health science.
• Level 4 - Advanced Professional Proficiency in English (oral, reading and writing).
• 60 months of combined professional experience in:

1. Food safety management
2. Market management, interventions in market or similar settings
3. Conducting training and capacity building activities for local clients
4. Conducting field assessments and audits

• Strong analytical, problem-solving skills, communication and interpersonal skills
• Ability to work effectively with a wide range of stakeholders

Preference should be given to candidates who possess knowledge of internationally recognized food safety standards and policies such as Codex, OIE, FAO, WHO, etc. and practical experiences in Vietnam.

Compensation

Alinea offers competitive salaries. Salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience.

Please send your application (letter of interest and CV with details on qualifications and experiences aligned with above requirements) with at least 3 referees by email to <[email protected]>. Please include the job title in your email subject line.

Application form: Only via email                

Deadline: 17h00 on 11 August 2024

Interview announcement via email to selected candidate within 15 working days after the deadline.

We welcome all applications, regardless of ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression; candidates that belong to underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply. The recruitment process is based on fair standards.

Organization: SAFEGRO
Location:
Application deadline: 2024-08-11
Send application to: [email protected]