FAO webinar series on strengthening agricultural extension and advisory services system

17 October. Rome. As a part of FAO’s work in transforming National Agricultural Extension and Advisory Services System (EAS), FAO’s Research and Extension Unit wishes to start a webinar series to raise awareness on various challenges and opportunities related to strengthening and reforming EAS.

EAS are undergoing a deep transformation due to the changing environment and context in which they operate. The previous top-down approach where EAS would simply transfer the technology to producers, can no longer address modern challenges. It appears to be clear that EAS will - effectively support producers only if their services become relevant to the reality of producers.

The objective of the webinar series is to raise awareness and promote ways of reforming and strengthening EAS.

Each of the planned webinars will deal with a specific issue related to strengthening capacity of the national extension and advisory service systems, such as market orientation, coordinating pluralistic providers, demand mobilization, integration of nutrition, use of information and communication technologies, etc.

The webinars are designed for a broad audience beyond EAS experts and practitioners, including others who are interested in EAS and rural development, such as:

• Agricultural policy makers and advisors
• EAS managers and staff from public sector
• Development organizations and donors
• Private companies, NGOs, Producer organizations, and Coops
• EAS experts, scholars, and independent advisors
• Agricultural researchers and experts in agricultural research systems
• Agricultural universities and other educational/vocational institutes

Webinars will be interactive with presentations by international experts, as well as highlights of good practices and country cases, and participation from the audience. Simple technology (Adobe Connect) will allow participants from all over the world, including places with weak internet connection, to learn and exchange with each other.

The first webinar is planned for Nov 2019. If you are interested in the Webinar series on EAS and wish to participate, please feel free to express your interest by writing an email to: [email protected]

More information about the first webinar will follow upon your reply of interest. We would be grateful if you could circulate this announcement to your respective networks.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon! Degi, Nevena and Zofia on behalf of Research and Extension Unit FAO .