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call-for-research-assistants-to-collect-data-on-food-insecurity-in-uganda

Call for Research Assistants to collect data on food (in)security in Uganda

  • 16th April, 2022 12:00am
  • 3 minutes read
1. Background  
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. 

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. 

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.  

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”. 

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.  

2. Role of the Research Assistants  
a) Understand the theoretical and practical application of the FIES tool questions and  its application to the context of Kampala, Mukono and Wakiso; 
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; 
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  
d) Clean, validate and conduct preliminary data analysis with guidance from the  Research Supervisors for a period of five (5) days. 

3. Number of positions 
A total of 20 Research Assistants will be recruited for this assignment 

4. Target group and required competencies 
a) Masters’ student who have graduated or undertaking Masters research in the field  of food (in)security in Uganda; 
b) Must be from agriculture, social sciences, political science, business administration  or related fields from universities in Uganda;  
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.; 
d) Experience/interest in conducting research in food (in)security; 
e) Fluent in written and spoken English and Luganda; 
f) Full time availability in the period of data collection, cleaning and preliminary  analysis, and 
g) Comfort with using motorcycles as a means of transport in rural and urban settings. 

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; 
b) Training on the data collection process using the FIES tool and more broadly CAPI  tools; 
c) Exposure to working with FAO and RUFORUM researchers; 
d) A daily renumeration of Uganda Shillings 200,000 and 
e) Work related travel costs (cost of hiring motorcycles for conducting the survey in  Kampala, Mukono and Wakiso). 

6. Commencement and duration of the assignment 
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. 

7. Application procedure 
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/ 

8. Application deadline 
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


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