Consultant - Research ,WRI Africa

The World Resources Institute (WRI) is seeking a Consultant for Research in Nairobi, Kenya, focusing on food loss and waste measurement in the potato value chain. This role is part of WRI Africa's Vital Landscapes Pillar, aiming to enhance food systems and mitigate food loss through data-driven approaches. The consultant will help establish reliable data for effective policies and practices in food loss prevention and reduction.
WRI Africa Research Consultancy

Terms of Reference

Food loss and waste measurement in the potato value chain in Kenya

Institution overview

The World Resources Institute (WRI) is a global research non-profit organization established in 1982. The organization has been working in Africa for more than 30 years, supporting local partners and African governments to advance forest protection, landscape restoration and sustainable cities. Our vision for Africa is an inclusive transformation so that Africa’s people and landscapes can flourish. WRI Africa generates actionable knowledge across three strategic pillars: Vital Landscapes, Thriving and Resilient Cities, and Institutional and Economic Transformation. The goal of the Vital Landscapes pillar is to revitalize and protect landscapes for people and the planet in four programmatic areas: Food, Restoration, Water and Forests. Because Africa’s population will continue to grow rapidly in the next decades, and climate change will remain an obstacle for development, the vital landscapes pillar aims to build the resilience of our natural ecosystems so that they can continue to provide vital ecosystems services - food, water, carbon sequestration and climate regulation sustainably. The pillar aims to catalyse comprehensive transformation of African food systems, so that the way we produce, transport, store, process, trade and consume food is done in such a manner that protects the environment and guarantees human health and well-being.

Assignment background

The current assignment is part of WRI-Africa’s Vital Landscapes Pillar, and more specifically, the food loss/waste (FLW) portfolio domiciled in the food program. One of portfolio’s goal is to contribute to impactful FLW prevention and reduction through collaborations that scale-up the Target- Measure-Act (TMA) approach. This approach encourages entities to integrate measurement of FLW in their operations. Measuring helps to better understand how much, where, and why food is being lost or wasted, and provides an evidence-based foundation for the Actions to be prioritized. For governments the actions might include aligning policies or developing action plans while for businesses these might include changing practices, adopting improved technologies etc. Measuring further enables tracking of progress towards the set target when specific actions are being implemented.

A major obstacle in the efforts to mitigate FLW is the lack of reliable and consistent data on the magnitude of FLW, the hotspots (geographical, product, value chain stages) of food loss/waste, and the key drivers. A review of the literature shows there exist variations in scope/boundaries of measurement– even in the same value chains, which raises data discrepancies as well as reporting and accounting issues[1]. These situations make it impossible to measure progress against any targets because there is no standardised way of defining and measuring the problem. Additionally, without accurate data, the formulation of robust policies with clear actionable recommendations for to the public and private sector actors becomes untenable.