Introduction to climate-smart agriculture

AGRICULTURE COURSES

Description

This course analyses climate change impacts on agriculture, food security, and food systems and provides an overview of the main climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies in agriculture. It also introduces the Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) approach and describes the 5-step process to implement it.

Audience

This course addresses the subject matter from a technical perspective but is written for the general public. Individuals who would especially benefit from taking the course include:

• Policymakers
• Development practitioners and programme managers
• Sectoral specialists and academics
• Trainers and extension agents

What you will learn

• Climate change and its causes
• Climate change impacts on agriculture, food security, and food systems
• The concept of climate change adaptation and mitigation and the related strategies that could be put in place in agriculture
• The CSA approach and the 5-step process to implement it

Course Structure

The course consists of 4 lessons, ranging from approximately 15 to 25 minutes duration each:

• Lesson 1 – Climate change and global warming
• Lesson 2 – Impacts of climate change on agriculture and food security
• Lesson 3 – Basics of adaption and mitigation in the agricultural sectors
• Lesson 4 – Climate-smart agriculture

Climate-smart crop production

Definition

This course looks at the relationship between crop production and climate change. It explores the principles and practices for sustainable and profitable production of annual and perennial crops to meet food, feed, energy, fibre needs and foster economic growth in a variety of contexts and crop systems.

Audience

This course addresses the subject matter from a technical perspective but is written for the general public. Individuals who would especially benefit from taking the course include:

• Policy makers
• Development practitioners and programme managers
• Sectoral specialists and academics
• Trainers and extension agents

What you will learn

• The expected impacts of climate change on crop production
• Climate-smart crop management practices, including management of soil, land, pests, water and biodiversity, use of seeds and mechanization and decision making technologies
• How climate-smart crop management can be applied in specific production systems, such as annual, horticultural and grasslands
• Off farm elements that can create an enabling environment for adoption of climate-smart crop production.

Course Struture

The course consists of 4 lessons, ranging from approximately 15 to 50 minutes duration each:

• Lesson 1 – Introduction to climate-smart crop production
• Lesson 2 – Climate-smart crop production practices and technologies
• Lesson 3 – Climate-smart crop production systems in practice
• Lesson 4 – Creation of an enabling environment for climate-smart crop production

Non-Tariff Measures in agriculture and related World Trade Organization agreements

Description

This course discusses the significance of Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) for international trade and it describes WTO agreements on such measures

Target Audience

This course is designed primarily for representatives from governments, for example ministries of agriculture, trade, economy and other entities directly involved in trade negotiations and in the formulation and implementation of agricultural policies and programmes. Private sector participants such as representatives of producer organizations or agro-industry as well as researchers interested in agricultural policy and trade analysis will also benefit from the course.

What You will Learn

• The concept and significance of NTMs, the principles and main provisions of the WTO Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) Agreement, and the function of the SPS Committee.
• The Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), provisions related to agricultural products and the WTO Agreement dealing with Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and other trade-related procedures.

Course Structure

The course consists of 2 lessons, ranging from approximately 45 to 75 minutes duration each:

• Lesson 1: Introduction to NTMs in Agriculture and the WTO Agreement on the Application of SPS measures
• Lesson 2: The WTO TFA, TBT Agreement and other related rules

Developing bankable business plans for sustainable forest-based enterprises

Description

This course has been developed to improve the capacity of small-scale producers, their organizations, and small and medium-sized enterprises to access investment and other forms of finance. Facilitating this allows these stakeholders to derive socioeconomic benefits from their participation in forest value chains, and also complements the resources of official channels in contributing to achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Audience

This course is intended for:

• Forest producers and their organizations, especially those who have business ideas with potential for scaling up.
• Staff of producer organizations.
• Small and medium-sized business advisors.

You Will Learn About

• The concept of bankability and the characteristics of a bankable business plan.
• How to collect and organize information for each of the ten steps of the bankable business plan.
• How financing needs change depending on the enterprise’s life stage.
• Investment criteria of different investor types.

Course Structure

• Lesson 1 – Introduction to bankable business planning
• Lesson 2 – Develop your bankable business plan – Steps 1 to 5
• Lesson 3 – Develop your bankable business plan – Steps 6 to 10
• Lesson 4 – Using your bankable business plan to access funding

Agriculture in Regional Trade Agreements

Description

This course provides trends of Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) and descriptions of RTAs provisions on policy areas relevant to agricultural trade, comparing them to those in multilateral trade agreements.

Audience

This course is designed primarily for representatives from governments, for example, ministries of agriculture, trade, economy, and other entities directly involved in trade negotiations and in the formulation and implementation of agricultural policies and programs. Private sector participants such as representatives of producer organizations or agro-industry as well as researchers interested in agricultural policy and trade analysis will also benefit from the course.

You will Learn About

• The definition and main trends of RTAs, motivations of concluding such Agreements and potential issues.
• How RTAs deal with market access issues such as tariffs, Tariff Rate Quotas (TRQs), Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) measures.
• RTA provisions on export restrictions, export duties and rules of origin, in particular with regards to agricultural products.

Course Structure

The course consists of 3 lessons, ranging from approximately 25 to 45 minutes duration each:

• Lesson 1: Trends in RTAs
• Lesson 2: RTA provisions on tariffs, TRQs, SPS and TBT
• Lesson 3: RTA provisions on export restrictions, export duties and Rules of Origin

Transforming dryland forests and agrosilvopastoral systems

Description

This course seeks to build the competencies needed for program and project managers, field practitioners and policy makers to apply a transformational sustainability approach to decision-making in the management of dryland forests and agrosilvopastoral production systems.

Audience

This e-learning course seeks to build the competencies needed to apply a transformational approach to sustainability in dryland forests and agrosilvopastoral systems. Primarily, this course targets:

• Program and project managers
• Field practitioners
• Teachers and researchers
• Policymakers
• Government agencies
• Land-use planners
• Private sector stakeholders

What You Will Learn

• Drylands and dryland food production systems.
• Challenges to drylands and agrosilvopastoral systems.
• The transformational approach to sustainability in drylands and agrosilvopastoral systems.
• The economic sustainability pillar of the approach and its three expected transformations.
• The social sustainability pillar of the approach and its three expected transformations.
• The environmental sustainability pillar of the approach and its three expected transformations.

Course Structure

The course consists of 5 lessons, of approximately 35-50 minutes duration each:

• Lesson 1 – Overview of drylands and the transformational approach to sustainability
• Lesson 2 – The economic sustainability pillar and its expected transformations
• Lesson 3 – The social sustainability pillar and its expected transformations
• Lesson 4 – The environmental sustainability pillar and its expected transformations
• Lesson 5 – Applying the transformational approach to sustainability

Climate Change Negotiations for Agriculture Stakeholders

Description

This course has been developed to provide basic knowledge on climate change negotiations in the scope of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and its Paris Agreement, in order to support the onboarding of new members of the National Delegations. It has a specific focus on thematic negotiations related to agriculture.

Audience

This course is targeted to policy-makers and practitioners working on climate negotiations.

Course Contents

• The history and key milestones and multilateral agreements of climate change cooperation under the United Nations.
• The key bodies that comprise the UNFCCC and the meetings that take place within and between these bodies and other stakeholders.
• The role of observers and negotiating groups.
• Key document types in the negotiation process.
• The process of negotiation, including interests and positions and soft and hard negotiation skills.

Course Structure

The course consists of 4 lessons, ranging from approximately 25 to 30 minutes duration each:

• Lesson 1 – A multilateral approach to fighting climate change
• Lesson 2 – UNFCCC structures and meetings
• Lesson 3 – Negotiating and reaching agreement under the UNFCCC
• Lesson 4 – Negotiations and negotiation skills

Agri-preneurship 101

Description

This course aims to provide guidance on how to start or improve an agribusiness. It shows how to identify, evaluate and pursue opportunities in a given agrifood value chain.

Audience

This e-learning course is intended for a cross-section of audiences whose works are related to entrepreneurship and/or agriculture, including:

• People potentially interested in creating an agribusiness
• Current agribusiness owners
• Academia and students
• Extension workers
• Practitioners
• UN agencies
• Non-governmental organizations

You will Learn

• The agri-preneurship process.
• The three elements of ‘personal initiative ‘.
• How to identify and assess unmet needs as agribusiness opportunities.
• How to develop a comprehensive understanding of your target market.
• The importance of testing.
• The basic financials of agribusinesses.
• Setting goals for agribusinesses.

Course Contents

• Lesson 1 – Introduction
• Lesson 2 – Identifying needs
• Lesson 3 – Understanding customers
• Lesson 4 – Developing a prototype
• Lesson 5 – Sorting the financials

Knowledge management for emergency and resilience programming

Description

This course provides an overview of knowledge management processes and how they can be applied to emergency and resilience-building work.

Audience

The course is targeted at:

• Programme designers and managers
• Monitoring and Evaluation officers
• Information management officers and thematic experts keen on understanding how knowledge management connects with, and supports their work
• Knowledge management professionals new to the emergency and resilience field

What you will Learn

• What knowledge management is.
• How it can support more effective emergency response and resilience programming.
• What each pillar of the knowledge management cycle implies for emergency and resilience.

Linkages between food security, nutrition and social protection: An introduction to basic concepts and principles

Description

This e-learning course explains how social protection programmes can improve food security and nutrition outcomes. It provides learners with the basis needed to understand the work modalities, purpose and usefulness of the Inter-Agency Social Protection Assessment – Food Security and Nutrition (ISPA-FSN) tool presented in the following course of this series: ‘The ISPA-FSN tool: Assessing social assistance programmes for better food security and nutrition’

Audience

This course targets:

• government employees and programme managers working for the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour; and
• government employees, national and international development practitioners and researchers working on food security, nutrition and social protection issues.

What You will Learn

• The basic concepts regarding food security, nutrition and social protection.
• The linkages between social protection and nutrition outcomes, with a special focus on social assistance.
• The usefulness of the ISPA-FSN tool for the assessment of social assistance programmes.

Surveillance and reporting obligations

Description

This course will introduce key concepts related to pest surveillance, pest status determination and pest reporting, particularly as it relates to new pest detections and emerging pests. It will provide practical guidance to assist National Plant Protection Organizations (NPPOs) in strengthening their national surveillance systems and surveillance activities to support early pest detection, pest monitoring and pest status determination. It will also provide specific guidance to help NPPOs to develop a national reporting system for reporting the occurrence, outbreak and spread of pests.

Audience

This e-learning course targets NPPOs managers, supervisors, and staff involved in surveillance; other staff from NPPOs or IPPC contracting parties in charge of exchanging information on new pest detections or changes in pest status and staff from private organizations responsible for phytosanitary certification of export commodities.

What you will learn

• Key concepts related to pest surveillance, pest status determination and pest reporting.
• How to strengthen national surveillance systems and activities of pest monitoring and detection.
• How to help NPPOs comply with IPPC obligations for pest reporting.

Course Contents

The course consists of 7 lessons, ranging from approximately 30 – 40 minutes duration each:

• Lesson 1 – National organizational arrangements: Surveillance approaches and applications
• Lesson 2 – Steps in determining pest status
• Lesson 3 – Organizational arrangements: Legislation, funding, management and human resources
• Lesson 4 – Surveillance programme prioritization, planning and design
• Lesson 5 – Operations and methodologies of a pest surveillance programme
• Lesson 6 – Pest reporting
• Lesson 7 – National Reporting Obligations

Assessing uncertainties in the national greenhouse gas inventory: a focus on land use

Description

Under the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) there is a mandatory requirement for all countries party to the Paris Agreement to estimate and report on uncertainty in their National Greenhouse Gas inventories. This course has been developed by FAO to strengthen institutional and technical capacity in national entities to allow them to meet this requirement and produce reliable data.

Audience

This e-learning course is intended for anyone involved in the preparation of greenhouse gas inventories, especially:

• Staff members of relevant national agencies responsible for reporting to UNFCCC
• GHG Inventory compilers
• Data providers from National Statistical Office (NSO)
• Researchers

What You Will Learn

• The concept on uncertainty and its importance in the context of NGHG inventories
• Statistical definitions associated with uncertainty analysis
• Statistical concepts and methodologies used to quantify uncertainty
• Two approaches for combining uncertainties for different sectors to estimate overall uncertainty for the total national net emissions
• Clarifications made to the estimation of uncertainty in the 2019 Refinement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines

Course Contents

The course consists of 3 lessons, of 45 – 60 minutes duration each:

• Lesson 1:  Uncertainty in the Context of national greenhouse gas inventories
• Lesson 2:  Quantifying uncertainty
• Lesson 3:  Combining uncertainties

Ecosystem approach to fisheries: Introduction

Description

This course is the first of a series that aims to provide guidance on the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries (EAF) and its application to fisheries management. It provides a comprehensive overview of the world fisheries and goes on to explain fisheries management, its objectives, mechanisms, and challenges. Subsequently EAF is introduced, explaining its underlying principles and key elements.

Audience

This e-learning course is intended for a cross-section of audiences involved in fisheries or related fields, including:

• Policymakers
• Staff of fisheries institutions
• Scientists and technicians
• Fishers and fish workers
• Academia and students
• Other practitioners, UN agencies, NGOs, RFBs (Regional Fishery Bodies)

What you will learn

• Fish as a source of food.
• Fisheries around the world: the socio-economic role of the sector, its broad trends, and recent challenges.
• Basics of fisheries management: how it works and why it is necessary.
• The specifics of fisheries management: the key actors, their responsibilities, measures, compliance systems and the Fisheries Management Cycle.
• EAF key elements, principles, characteristics, advantages and challenges.

Course Structure

The course consists of 4 lessons, ranging from approximately 20 to 40 minutes duration each:

• Lesson 1 – World Fisheries
• Lesson 2 – Fisheries Management – Part I
• Lesson 3 – Fisheries Management – Part II
• Lesson 4 – Overview of the Ecosystem approach to fisheries

Implementation of Farmer Field School Programmes

Description

Farmer Field School (FFS) is a participatory education approach that brings together a group of small-scale food producers to solve production problems through sustainable agriculture. The FFS approach offers space for hands-on group learning, enhancing skills for observation and critical analysis and improved decision making by local communities. Building on the foundation course “Introduction to the FFS approach”, this second course provides an overview of the process to design, implement, scale up, evaluate and manage FFS programmes.

Audience

This course is intended for project managers, project formulators and evaluators, government staff, FFS practitioners, and researchers who wish to learn about formulating, implementing and evaluating FFS programmes.

What You will Learn

• The process to plan and initiate an FFS programme
• The roles in an FFS programme, and different responsibilities and training needs
• The strategies available to develop human capacities needed
• The process to define FFS curricula – as a co-creation with communities
• The activities required to deliver effective FFS throughout the season
• All programme management activities, including budgeting, Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E), impact assessment, reporting

Course Structure

The course consists of 5 lessons, ranging from approximately 35 to 60 minutes duration each:

• Lesson 1 – Planning and initiating an FFS programme
• Lesson 2 – Development of human capacity
• Lesson 3 – Curriculum development
• Lesson 4 – Organizing and running an FFS
• Lesson 5 – FFS programme management

Small and medium enterprises and nutrition – upgrading business models

Description

This is the second of a series of two e-learning courses on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Nutrition. In this course, you will learn an approach to integrate nutrition into SME business models, in order to make food systems more nutrition-sensitive.

Audience

This e-learning course targets SME trainers, SME representatives, and policymakers working on SMEs development, sustainable food systems, and nutrition. It will also benefit those interested in learning more about sustainable food systems.

Learning Objectives

• How to craft nutrition-sensitive business visions, missions and objectives.
• Customer segmentation and identification of nutritionally vulnerable groups.
• Value proposition based on nutritious foods.
• Entry points for nutrition across the value chain.
• Strategies and tools to support the marketing of nutritious foods.
• Principles to establish partnerships with focus on SMEs and nutrition.
• Options to finance nutrition-sensitive investments of SMEs.

Course Contents

The course consists of 7 lessons, ranging from approximately 45 – 60 minutes duration each:

• Lesson 1 – Designing a nutrition-sensitive strategy
• Lesson 2 – Identifying customers
• Lesson 3 – Developing a value proposition
• Lesson 4 – Integrating nutrition in business activities
• Lesson 5 – Marketing nutritious foods
• Lesson 6 – Building partnerships
• Lesson 7 – Getting access to finance

Monitoring public expenditure on food and agriculture: the MAFAP method

Description

Monitoring public spending devoted to food and agriculture is a critical policy analysis tool to better understand agricultural public expenditure and how it affects agricultural development, food security and economic growth.

This course will equip you with the skills to carry out your public expenditure analysis, looking at total amounts and breakdown of spending. This will allow you to better monitor areas that are underinvested or those that have higher returns on investment, identify budget bottlenecks, and prioritize spending, in line with national development objectives. The analysis and results can then be used to shape and influence policymaking on food and agriculture expenditure and investments.

Audience

This e-learning course is a technical course on public expenditure on food and agriculture. It is for you if you work in agricultural policy and development. The course is particularly interesting for:

• Government officials, in particular, economists, policy analysts or researchers in ministries of agriculture, finance or trade.
• Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) staff
• FAO policy and technical officers
• University students/academia

What You Will Learn

• The importance of monitoring public expenditure
• Best practices to collect, organize and classify expenditure data
• How to carry out your own public expenditure analysis based on the MAFAP methodology

Course Contents

The course consists of 8 lessons, ranging from approximately 30-60 minutes duration each:

• Lesson 1 – Introduction to Policy Monitoring in Agriculture
• Lesson 2 – MAFAP Public Expenditure Analysis: Theory and Concepts
• Lesson 3 – MAFAP Public Expenditure Analysis: Methodology
• Lesson 4 – MAFAP Public Expenditure Analysis: Data Needs
• Lesson 5 – Collecting Public Expenditure Data
• Lesson 6 – Classifying Public Expenditure Data
• Lesson 7 – Building a MAFAP Public Expenditure Database
• Lesson 8 – Interpreting Public Expenditure Indicators

Business planning for Agri-business

Topic outline

This is the third in a series of three e-courses designed to assist field technicians in working with communities, groups or individuals wishing to prepare effective investment proposals. This course explores how to convert a business concept into a detailed business plan with the RuralInvest software and interpret the main indicators.

Audience

• People with the following profiles would benefit from taking this course:
• Field technicians and extension agents
• Financial institution agents
• International development staff
• Members of universities and training centres
• Business plan development consultants and financial specialists

Learning Objectives

• Create a business plan with the RuralInvest software from a business concept
• Describe and interpret the two main financial indicators of a business plan: the Internal rate of return (IRR) and the Net present value (NPV)
• Describe long and short term financing options and its related concepts
• Describe how to conduct an incremental and sensitivity analysis
• Configure the software as well as share plans with collaborators

Course Contents

The course consists of four lessons, ranging from approximately 20 to 60 minutes duration each:

• Lesson 1 – Business plan – Basic concepts and purpose
• Lesson 2 – Creating a business plan with the software
• Lesson 3 – Additional analysis: Incremental and Sensitivity analysis
• Lesson 4 – Configuration and administrative functions

Participatory data collection and investment planning in the field

Description

This is the first in a series of three e-courses designed to assist field technicians in working with communities, groups or individuals wishing to prepare effective investment proposals. This course explores how to create a business concept, a yearly cost benefit analysis, in the field together with the entrepreneurs. It also provides guidance to field technicians in participatory data collection and investment planning in the field and explores the key concepts of a RuralInvest business concept.

Audience

People with the following profiles would benefit from taking this course:

• Field technicians and extension agents
• Financial institution agents
• International development staff
• Members of universities and training centres
• Business plan development consultants and financial specialists
• Collecting qualitative and quantitative information in the field
• Investment planning in the field
• Investment, general and fixed costs
• Operating costs and revenue

Course Structure

The course consists of three lessons of approximately 45 minutes duration each:

• Lesson 1 – Qualitative description of the investment idea
• Lesson 2 – Investment, general and fixed costs
• Lesson 3 – Operating costs and revenue

Sustainable food systems: An introduction

Description

This course is part of a series of three e-learning courses on Sustainable Food Systems (SFS), designed to equip you with the knowledge and tools required to apply systems thinking to complex food systems challenges in an integrated manner.

The course series highlights how systems thinking, and taking a sustainable food systems approach, can help to significantly improve our work in project and policy design for sustainable food systems development and transformation.

This first course in the series proposes a definition of the concept of sustainable food systems and describes the evolution of food systems. It outlines how systems thinking can be used to develop sustainable food systems.

The course primarily targets development practitioners and policy-makers working on the development of sustainable food systems. It will also benefit those interested in learning more about food systems and how to develop sustainable food systems, such as:

Audience

• Farmer representatives
• Support services providers
• Consumers
• Agribusiness representatives
• Development practitioners
• Government policy-makers

Learning Objectives

• The concept and complexity of food systems
• The evolution of food systems and associated sustainability challenges
• The concepts of interlinkages and sustainability in food systems, including sustainability trade-offs.
• The concept of value-added in sustainable food systems development.
• Applying the Food System Wheel as an analytical framework to describe and analyse food systems.
• The Structure – Conduct – Performance (S-C-P) and SFS development paradigms to explain the dynamics of the Food System Wheel.
• The need for holistic development solutions through a sustainable food systems approach
• How to apply a systems thinking approach to sustainable food systems development
• How to apply systems thinking to sustainable food systems development
• Leverage points and binding constraints in food systems
• The four operational approaches to sustainable food systems development
• The Collaborative Framework for Food Systems Transformation as a tool for more holistic food systems policy-making

Course Contents

The course consists of 2 lessons:

• Lesson 1 – Definition and evolution of food systems
• Lesson 2 – A sustainable food systems approach
• Lesson 1 – Key concepts in sustainable food systems
• Lesson 2 – An analytical framework
• Lesson 1 – Systems thinking in sustainable food systems development
• Lesson 2 – Operational approaches to sustainable food systems development

Forest and Water Nexus – Introduction

Description

This course is intended to provide on overview of forest and water relationships, and an understanding of the impacts of changing landscapes on water resources. It can be used as a stand-alone course for those interested in learning about the forest-water nexus or as an introduction for those who will engage in workshops using the FAO capacity development facilitation guide on Advancing the Forest and Water Nexus.

Audience

This e-learning course is intended for a cross-section of audiences at various levels, from policymakers, forest, water or land managers and practitioners who wish to know more about the forest-water nexus.

Learning Objectives

• Basic relationships between trees, forests and water
• The role that forests play in regulating water quality, quantity and timing
• Environmental, economic and socio-cultural benefits resulting from forest-water relationships
• Effects of land use changes on water quality, quantity and timing
• The importance of including water considerations in sustainable forest management

Course Contents

The course consists of 2 lessons:

• Lesson 1 – Introducing forest-water relationships
• Lesson 2 – Understanding the impact of changing landscapes on water

Creating an enabling environment for responsible investment in agriculture and food systems – Reform

Description

This course, which is part of a series of three, provides guidance on driving reforms that strengthen policy, legal, regulatory and institutional frameworks for responsible agricultural investment (RAI). Specifically, the course provides support to design the reform strategy, establish multistakeholder consultation processes for decision-making and enhance the role of regulatory processes in creating an enabling environment for responsible agricultural investment.

Audience

This course is primarily intended for those who play a role in creating an enabling environment for responsible investment in agriculture and food systems. Target audience includes:

• Policy makers and parliamentarians
• Government technical staff
• Members of small-scale producer organizations
• Members of civil society organizations

Objectives

• The main decisions to make about the overall approach of a reform strategy and its key elements.
• The steps for establishing gender and youth sensitive multistakeholder platforms.
• The role that regulatory processes play in implementing policies and laws that promote and facilitate responsible agricultural investment.

Contents

The course consists of  three  lessons, ranging from approximately 20 to  40 minutes duration each:

• Lesson 1  –  Key principles for driving reforms
• Lesson 2  –  Establishing multistakeholder platforms
• Lesson 3  –  The role of regulatory processes

Preparing a greenhouse gas inventory under the enhanced transparency framework

Description

Sustainable and reliable national greenhouse gas inventories are essential instruments for assessing efforts to address climate change and progress made towards the goals of the Paris Agreement. They also are crucial for assessing the effectiveness of mitigation policies and measures; and making long-term emission projections. This course introduces basic concepts on Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV), United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) reporting requirements and the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF). It provides an overview of how to set up a national greenhouse gas inventory (NGHGI), looking at its cycle, main elements and principles, and the implications of the ETF.

Audience

The course aims to support an integrated, multisectoral approach to rural poverty reduction, by improving the knowledge and capacities of a range of professionals, including:

• Policymakers, policy administrators and policy officers.
• Researchers.
• Development practitioners.
• Members of civil society and rural organizations.

Learning Objectives

• Transparency and the reporting system under the UNFCCC.
• The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines for NGHGI.
• The Inventory cycle and the main elements and methodological requirements for preparing the NGHGI preparation.

Course Contents

The course consists of:

• Lesson 1 – Introduction to reporting requirements under UNFCCC and the Enhanced Transparency Framework
• Lesson 2 – The national greenhouse gas inventory

Design and monitor nutrition-sensitive agriculture and food systems programmes

Description

This is the fourth of a series of e-learning courses on Nutrition and Food Systems, which will guide you through the steps required to design of a nutrition-sensitive agriculture and food system programme. By the end of the course, you will be aware of key issues to consider at each step and be equipped with tools to address them.

Audience

The course is designed to assist professionals from any fields related to agriculture and food systems that are involved in designing nutrition-sensitive programmes, investments and policies. This includes staff working in a wide range of organizations including national governments, regional organizations, international organizations, non- governmental organizations (NGOs), research institutes, universities, development agencies, and private sector.

Objectives

• Basic concepts of agriculture to nutrition impact pathways, and how to apply them through practical, scenario-based examples.
• How to formulate nutrition-sensitive objectives and outcomes.
• How to target the nutritionally vulnerable and prioritize interventions accordingly.
• How to define key elements of the implementation strategy, namely capacities and partnerships.
• How to design a monitoring system.
• Considerations for costing nutrition-related elements.

Contents

The course consists of 7 lessons:

• Lesson 1 –  Introduction: Agriculture-to-Nutrition Impact Pathways. Key concepts
• Lesson 2 – Step 1: Formulating nutrition-sensitive objectives and outcomes
• Lesson 3 – Step 2: Target the nutritionally vulnerable and prioritize interventions accordingly
• Lesson 4 – Step 3: Build your impact pathway
• Lesson 5 – Step 4: Define your implementation strategy
• Lesson 6 – Step 5: Design a monitoring system
• Lesson 7 – Step 6: Costing nutrition-related elements

Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) protocols for acute malnutrition

Description

This course provides guidance to complete the Protocols for the Integrated Phase Classification of chronic food insecurity. It provides step-by step guidance to complete the protocols for each of the four functions of the IPC, and the special protocols for areas with limited or no humanitarian access.

Audience

The course is aimed at professionals who are or want to be involved in IPC activities at global, regional or country levels, including:

• food security and nutrition analysists
• local officers
• sectoral experts
• communication officers.

Objectives

• Purpose of the four IPC functions for acute malnutrition: building technical consensus, classifying severity and identifying key drivers, communicating for action, and quality assurance.
• How to complete all the protocols of each of the four functions.
• How to complete special protocols for areas with limited or no humanitarian access.

Contents

The course consists of  4 sections:

• Section 1  –  Build technical consensus
• Section 2  –  Classify severity & identify key drivers
• Section 3  –  Communicate for action
• Section 4  –  Quality assurance

Climate change adaptation and mitigation in fisheries and aquaculture

Description

This course provides an overview of adaptation and mitigation strategies that can be implemented in response to climate change impacts on the fisheries and aquaculture sector.

Audience

This course addresses the subject matter from a technical perspective. It is designed for a range of stakeholders. Individuals who would especially benefit from taking this course include:

• Policy-makers
• Development practitioners and programme managers
• Sectoral specialists and academics
• Trainers and extension agents

Objectives

• General facts on the fisheries and aquaculture sector
• Impacts of climate change on the sector and specific elements on marine fisheries, inland fisheries and aquaculture
• Main responses to climate change including: Adaptation measures and their practical application through case studies; and mitigation measures to reduce the sector’s carbon footprint

Contents

The course consists of  5  lessons, ranging from approximately  10  to  60  minutes duration each:

• Lesson 1 – Introduction
• Lesson 2 –  Understanding climate change
• Lesson 3 – Adaptation
• Lesson 4 – Mitigation
• Lesson 5 – Takeaway messages

Developing gender-sensitive value chains

Description

The development of sustainable food systems is a key component of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This course discussed why eliminating gender inequalities is pivotal to achieving the necessary transformations.

It proposes FAO’s gender-sensitive value chain framework as an approach for the analysis of value chains, and for guiding interventions to address gender-based constraints.

Audience

This course primarily targets development practitioners and policymakers working on the development of sustainable food systems.

The course also benefits those interested in learning more about how to address gender dimensions in value chain interventions in the agricultural sector, including academics and researchers, extension agents and gender specialists.

Objectives

• Why it is important to address gender equality as part of sustainable food systems development
• The FAO gender-sensitive value chain framework and its key characteristics
• How to conduct a gender-sensitive analysis of agrifood value chains
• Approaches and actions to address gender-based constraints and provide women and men with equal opportunities along the value chain

Contents

The course consists of:

• Lesson 1  –  Why is gender relevant to sustainable value chains?
• Lesson 2  –  Conducting a gender-sensitive value chain analysis
• Lesson 3 – Addressing gender-based constraints

Agricultural risk management strategy, policy and mainstreaming

Description

Responding to risk requires developing strategies that combine different risk management tools as well as policies and programs to address constraints and broader issues that create the context in which risks occur. This course will present the role that major stakeholders in the agrifood system can play to design Agriculture Risk management (ARM) strategies and make them effective and sustainable.

Audience

The target audience for this course includes:

• Farmers, farm management advisors, farmer organizations and communities;
• Policymakers and planners, and other government officials; and
• Service and input providers and other intermediaries dealing with agricultural risk management services.

Objectives

• Describing an ARM strategy at farm, local and national level
• Comparing and selecting risk management tools to create ARM plans/strategies
• Explaining the roles and responsibilities of all the major stakeholders in formulating and implementing ARM strategies
• Understanding how information system, capacity development and mainstreaming can make ARM strategies effective and sustainable

Contents

The course consists of 4 lessons:

• Lesson 1 – Implementing Risk Management Strategy at the Farm Level (Micro)
• Lesson 2 – Implementing Risk Management Strategy at the Local Area Level (Meso)
• Lesson 3 – Implementing Risk Management Strategy at the National Level (Macro)
• Lesson 4 – The Role of Government, Capacity Building and Mainstreaming of ARM

Sustainable Food Value Chains for Nutrition

Description

This course aims to equip project designers and managers with the concepts, principles and tools they need to leverage value chain approaches to improve nutrition through agriculture and food systems.

The concept of Sustainable Food Value Chains for Nutrition (SFVCN) was first presented in 2016 at the 43rd session of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and is the framework adopted by the Rome Based Agencies (RBAs). An SFVCN approach considers how development of a sustainable food value chain can contribute to improving nutrition of a target population.

Audience

This course primarily targets development practitioners and policy makers working on the development of sustainable food systems.

The course also benefits those interested in learning more about sustainable food systems and food systems thinking, including extension agents, researchers and the private sector.

Objectives

• Key concepts related to sustainable food value chains for nutrition, including diet and nutrition and value chains and their sustainability
• The elements of the analytical framework, including potential strategies and entry points for interventions
• The three impact pathways by which a sustainable food value chain can improve nutrition.
• The process of developing this type of project, including analyses and identification of commodities and interventions.

Contents

The course consists of:

• Lesson 1  –  Introduction to nutrition and sustainable food value chains
• Lesson 2  –  Framing sustainability and nutrition in value chains
• Lesson 3 – Supporting nutritional outcomes through SFVCN impact pathways
• Lesson 4 – Designing an SFVCN project

Water management for climate-smart agriculture

Description

This course focuses on water management and its critical role in climate-smart agriculture. It analyses the impacts of climate change on the availability of freshwater resources for agriculture and considers possible water management options for adaptation to climate change and for climate change mitigation.

Audience

This course addresses the subject matter from a technical perspective, but is written for the general public. Individuals who would especially benefit from taking the course include:

• Policy makers
• Development practitioners and programme managers
• Sectoral specialists and academics
• Trainers and extension agents

Objectives

• The current status, trends and challenges in water resources management
• The impacts of climate change on water resources for agriculture
• The main water management options for climate change adaptation
• Tools and approaches for preparing water management responses to climate change in agriculture
• Measures pertaining to water management to mitigate GHG emissions in agriculture

Contents

The course consists of:

• Lesson 1 – Water management
• Lesson 2 – Water management options for improving adaptation and building resilience to climate change
• Lesson 3 – Water management and climate change mitigations

Promoting youth employment and reducing child labour in agriculture

Descriptions of

This course presents strategies to strengthen the impact of child labour reduction and youth employment policies and programmes by considering the two issues together. First, it builds an understanding of the differences as well as linkages between child labour and youth employment. Then, it highlights concrete measures to improve policy and programme coherence and support for young people to access decent opportunities in agriculture.

Audience

The course is intended for: agricultural producers and their organizations; small and large-scale agribusinesses; agricultural policy makers and advisors; those working in NGOs, and public or private sector working on agricultural value chains or with rural youth.

Objectives

• Understanding the differences between youth employment and child labour
• Knowing how youth under-/unemployment is linked to child labour.
• Identifying how initiatives designed to reduce child labour and initiatives aimed at promoting rural youth employment, can work together to improve opportunities for young people in agriculture.

Experience capitalization for continuous learning

Description

This course introduces the methodology of experience capitalization and offers practical tools. Experience capitalization is a systematic, interactive and participatory process through which an experience is analyzed and documented. This creates knowledge, which can be shared and used to generate change

Audience

The course is designed for professionals involved in reflecting upon, learning from and sharing the lessons of their work. Therefore team leaders, managers, project and programme technical staff, monitoring and evaluation officers, communication professionals, knowledge management and knowledge sharing professionals.

Objectives

• How to facilitate and plan an experience capitalization process
• How to implement an experience capitalization process step by step
• How to adopt, adapt, scale up and mainstream experience capitalization

Contents

This course consists of 13 lessons, ranging from approximately 30 to 60 minutes duration, grouped into five units:

• Unit 1 – Introduction
  • • Lesson 1.1 – Why learn about experience capitalization?
    • Lesson 1.2 – What is experience capitalization?
• Unit 2 – Facilitate
  • • Lesson 2.1 – Facilitate an experience capitalization process
    • Lesson 2.2 – Facilitation techniques and methods
• Unit 3 – Prepare
  • Lesson 3.1 – Frame the experience capitalization process
  • Lesson 3.2 – Plan the experience capitalization process
• Unit 4 – Implement
  • Lesson 4.1 – Gather and organize the information
  • Lesson 4.2 – Analyse
  • Lesson 4.3 – Document the experience
  • Lesson 4.4 – Share Knowledge
  • Lesson 4.5 – Communication products and channels
• Unit 5 – Generate change
  • Lesson 5.1 – Adopt, adapt and scale up
  • Lesson 5.2 – Mainstream experience capitalization