Call for Research Assistants to collect data on food (in)security in Uganda
- 16th April, 2022 12:00am
- 3 minutes read
1. Background Â
The Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) developed by the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has gained growing recognition since its introduction in 2014 as a globally valid, very reliable, individual and household food security measurement tool, culminating to its endorsement by the United Nations Statistical Commission as the basis to compute SDG indicator 2.1.2 on the Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity.Â
The FIES has also been endorsed for use in the context of Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Acute Food Insecurity assessments, confirming the validity of FIES use also in more difficult food emergency contexts.Â
In this evolving landscape, there is now an urgent need to find ways to further improve the robustness and the effectiveness of FIES use in different contexts. FAO has therefore partnered with the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) to test the relevance of the tool in the African context and build capacity of the next generation of food security researchers in Africa. Â
Specifically, FAO and RUFORUM are testing the effect of administering different versions on the FIES survey module on scale functioning and performance. The initiative is intended to be the first step in establishing a broader research, technical development, training and capacity development program on the use of the FIES, with a special focus on Africa, named “The FIES Academy”.Â
RUFORUM and FAO are therefore recruiting Research Assistants from Uganda to collect field data through interviews aimed at test the effect of administering different versions on the FIES survey module on scale functioning and performance. Â
2. Role of the Research Assistants Â
a) Understand the theoretical and practical application of the FIES tool questions and its application to the context of Kampala, Mukono and Wakiso;Â
b) Pre-test the FIES tool in one of the sub-county/parish/villages selected for the study as shall be guided by the Research team;Â
c) Collect data independently using face-to-face, personal interviews, from at least 1,600 respondents in total as shall be guided by the Research Supervisors for a period of 10 days, and Â
d) Clean, validate and conduct preliminary data analysis with guidance from the Research Supervisors for a period of five (5) days.Â
3. Number of positionsÂ
A total of 20 Research Assistants will be recruited for this assignmentÂ
4. Target group and required competenciesÂ
a) Masters’ student who have graduated or undertaking Masters research in the field of food (in)security in Uganda;Â
b) Must be from agriculture, social sciences, political science, business administration or related fields from universities in Uganda; Â
c) Demonstration of basic understanding or interest in field data collection through personal interviews with Computer Assisted Personal Interviews (CAPI) tools such as Kobocollect, Open Data Kit etc.;Â
d) Experience/interest in conducting research in food (in)security;Â
e) Fluent in written and spoken English and Luganda;Â
f) Full time availability in the period of data collection, cleaning and preliminary analysis, andÂ
g) Comfort with using motorcycles as a means of transport in rural and urban settings.Â
5. Expected benefit from RUFORUM and FAO team for the Research Assistants
a) Basic training on the theoretical underpinning of the FIES tool and its use in measuring food (in)security;Â
b) Training on the data collection process using the FIES tool and more broadly CAPIÂ tools;Â
c) Exposure to working with FAO and RUFORUM researchers;Â
d) A daily renumeration of Uganda Shillings 200,000 andÂ
e) Work related travel costs (cost of hiring motorcycles for conducting the survey in Kampala, Mukono and Wakiso).Â
6. Commencement and duration of the assignmentÂ
The data collection will be conducted between 25th April to 7th May 2022 while data cleaning will take place between 9th to 13th May 2022. A total of 15 working days will be deployed in executing this assignment.Â
7. Application procedureÂ
To apply, send a short cover letter and at most three (3) page Curriculum Vitae (CV) to e.okalany@ruforum.org demonstrating how you meet the Required Competencies outlined in Section 4 of this Call for Research Assistants. For more information about the FIES tool, please visit https://www.fao.org/policy-support/tools-and publications/resources-details/en/c/1236494/Â
8. Application deadlineÂ
The deadline for submission of applications is 15th April 2022. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to write us: e.okalany@ruforum.org