Food & Security Specialist

Dedicated Women Social Services Organization (DWSSO) is a pioneering, women-led national non-governmental organization (NGO) headquartered in Kabul Province, Afghanistan, with a mission to empower women, strengthen community resilience, and alleviate poverty. Established in 2016 and registered with the Ministry of Economy (Registration No. 3969), DWSSO operates as a trusted partner in Afghanistan’s development landscape, bringing life-changing resources and opportunities to some of the country’s most vulnerable populations, particularly women, children, and youth. DWSSO’s robust presence spans Daikundi, Ghor, Nooristan, Zabul, Faryab, Paktika, Nangarhar, Balkh, Herat, and Helmand Provinces, with a Liaison Office in Kabul to facilitate national and international collaboration.

Our organization leads rights-based, inclusive initiatives that uplift marginalized Afghan communities through sustainable interventions in food security, vocational training, literacy, livelihood support, and social protection. With a focus on fostering self-reliance, economic empowerment, and social cohesion, DWSSO works to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and align with Afghanistan’s National Development Strategy, creating pathways out of poverty and toward dignified livelihoods.

Through strong partnerships with international donors, UN agencies, and local civil society networks, DWSSO integrates protection, gender equity, and accountability principles into every aspect of its programming. Our skilled personnel and established community relationships ensure effective, culturally sensitive service delivery across complex regions. As an active participant in key humanitarian clusters, DWSSO’s innovative approach and commitment to humanitarian values position us as a critical driver of sustainable progress and social change in Afghanistan.

Purpose of the Position:

The Food Security Specialist will provide technical leadership, planning, supervision, and quality assurance for DWSSO’s food security, livelihoods, agriculture, and resilience interventions. The position will support the design and implementation of needs-based food security activities, including household food security support, agricultural livelihoods, kitchen gardening, climate-smart agriculture, value chain development, market linkage, vocational/livelihood support, and emergency response interventions.

The Food Security Specialist will ensure that all activities are gender-sensitive, conflict-sensitive, culturally appropriate, inclusive, and aligned with donor requirements and humanitarian standards.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Technical Leadership and Program Quality

• Lead the technical design, implementation, and monitoring of food security and livelihood activities.
• Provide guidance on food assistance, agricultural inputs, kitchen gardening, livestock support, greenhouse/agriculture activities, and income-generating interventions.
• Ensure activities are aligned with food security, nutrition, resilience, and women’s economic empowerment objectives.
• Develop technical guidelines, SOPs, training materials, implementation tools, and quality checklists.
• Ensure integration of gender equality, protection, disability inclusion, safeguarding, and “Do No Harm” principles.

2. Needs Assessment and Program Design

• Conduct food security, livelihood, market, and vulnerability assessments.
• Identify priority needs of women, poor households, returnees, IDPs, persons with disabilities, and other vulnerable groups.
• Support beneficiary selection criteria and verification processes.
• Analyze local market systems, agricultural production constraints, seasonal calendars, and household coping strategies.
• Contribute to proposal development, concept notes, budgets, and technical workplans.

3. Implementation and Field Support

• Supervise field-level implementation of food security and livelihood activities.
• Support distribution planning for food packages, agricultural inputs, seeds, tools, fertilizers, poultry/livestock kits, or other project assistance.
• Ensure timely and accountable distribution of project inputs.
• Provide technical support to field staff, trainers, and community mobilizers.
• Conduct regular field visits to monitor quality and provide corrective guidance.

4. Capacity Building and Training

• Design and deliver training on food security, climate-smart agriculture, kitchen gardening, greenhouse management, post-harvest handling, nutrition-sensitive agriculture, business skills, and market linkage.
• Provide coaching and mentoring to project staff and beneficiaries.
• Strengthen community knowledge on improved agricultural practices, water conservation, crop management, and sustainable livelihoods.
• Support women beneficiaries to improve household food security and income generation.

5. Monitoring, Reporting, and Learning

• Develop food security indicators and contribute to the project MEAL framework.
• Track progress against targets, outputs, and outcomes.
• Maintain accurate beneficiary records and activity documentation.
• Prepare monthly, quarterly, and final technical reports.
• Document success stories, lessons learned, challenges, and recommendations.
• Support post-distribution monitoring, beneficiary feedback, and outcome assessments.

6. Coordination and Representation

• Coordinate with DWSSO program, MEAL, finance, procurement, and field teams.
• Liaise with local authorities, community leaders, farmer groups, women groups, and relevant stakeholders.
• Represent DWSSO in relevant food security, agriculture, livelihood, and coordination meetings when required.
• Support coordination with UN agencies, NGOs, and cluster/working group actors where applicable.

Qualifications and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture, Agricultural Economics, Food Security, Rural Development, Development Studies, Economics, Nutrition, Natural Resource Management, or related field.
• Master’s degree in a relevant field is preferred.
• Professional training or certification in food security, livelihoods, market assessment, climate-smart agriculture, cash-based programming, MEAL, or humanitarian response is an asset.
• Minimum 8-10 years of relevant experience in food security, agriculture, livelihoods, resilience, emergency response, or rural development programming.
• Experience implementing food security and livelihood projects within NGO, UN-funded, or humanitarian programs.
• Experience in food distribution, agricultural input distribution, kitchen gardening, greenhouse/agriculture projects, livestock/poultry support, or income-generating activities.
• Experience working with women, poor households, IDPs, returnees, persons with disabilities, and marginalized communities.
• Experience conducting needs assessments, market assessments, beneficiary verification, post-distribution monitoring, and field supervision.
• Experience developing training materials, SOPs, technical guidelines, and donor-compliant reports.
• Experience working in hard-to-reach, culturally sensitive, and complex operational environments in Afghanistan.    

  Personal Attributes

• Commitment to DWSSO’s values of gender equality, inclusion, accountability, dignity, and community empowerment.
• Respectful and culturally sensitive approach to working with communities.
• Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines.
• Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills.
• Team-oriented, flexible, and able to work in remote field conditions.
• Commitment to safeguarding, PSEA, anti-corruption, confidentiality, and DWSSO’s Code of Conduct.

Interested candidates should submit their applications (CV, Tazkera & Educational documents) by e-mail or in writing (marked confidential and clearly indicating on the sealed envelope the vacancy announcement number) to:

Email address: hr@dwsso.org