Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum)

Professionals working in food and nutrition policy and institutional environment need to understand the major nutrition problems and their consequences on human, social and economic development. In addition, they have to possess competencies to design, implement, monitor and evaluate policies and programmes, adopting a holistic and integrated approach. They should be able to apply “systems thinking” in support of equitable, integrated, sustainable food systems and healthy diets. 



This MOOC covers the interlinkages between food, nutrition, and agri-food systems, and the importance of adopting a multisectoral and multidisciplinary approach for promoting healthy diets and nutrition through food systems. It offers collaborative activities such as live webinars, video recordings of experts’ contributions, publications and other relevant learning materials including links to other relevant self-paced e-learning courses.



At the end of each week of learning, participants will be offered to pass a graded test. Only students who participate actively and pass all weekly tests will be granted the final certificate, that attests the acquisition of competencies related to the MOOC.



Structure of the MOOC

Target audience

This MOOC is especially relevant for decision makers, policy makers, policy advisors  and formulators, investment planners, project managers involved in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of agri-food system policies and programmes for healthy diets and improved nutrition.



The course is also aimed at professionals and students  in the areas of food systems, nutrition, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, who are also interested in obtaining the FAO Certificate for “Nutrition and Food Systems”.



Learning objectives



At the end of this MOOC, you will be able to:

• Explain how food systems shape peoples’ diets, and affect their nutritional and health status and the socio-economic development of countries;
• Describe the linkages and impact pathways between agri-food systems, food and nutrition;
• Advocate for a multisectoral and multidisciplinary food-systems approach for promoting healthy diets and addressing malnutrition;
• Contribute to the design of actions and programmes drawing on lessons learned from different countries and contexts. 

How to attend



The MOOC is free and open to everyone, provided you have the link to the platform.

To join the MOOC, kindly register here.

Each module is unlocked on a certain date, and all resources will remain available until the last day of the course. On average, participants will spend about 5 hours working on the MOOC each week.



Registrations by interested applicants must be submitted by 12 September 2021.



Registered participants will receive the credentials to access the course no later than 15 September 2021.

Watch the teaser here.

Knowledge is at the core of FAO’s mandate.

Ahead of the Food Systems Summit, join the Publications team to find out more about where to find FAO publications, the different formats available, how you can re-use the material, how to sign up for the latest releases, and more. Each of the five sessions in the series links to one of the Food Systems Summit Action Tracks.

Last on the agenda: Wednesday 22 September at 2 pm (Rome time) – "Knowledge session on Action Area: Build resilience to vulnerabilities, shocks and stress".

This session will focus on resources around emergencies, resilience and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Please register here. More information on FAO resources can be found here. 

If you missed the previous webinars, check out our resources related to the other Action Areas, including “Ensure access to safe and nutritious food for all”, “Shift to sustainable consumption patterns”, “Boost nature-positive production”, and “Advance equitable livelihoods, decent work, & empowered communities”.

The BRICS knowledge exchange series on formalisation, with a South-South approach, held virtually from July-August 2021, aims to promote cooperation between the BRICS countries with other developing states on the transition to formal economy, including in the rural settings.

Through country-specific coordinated actions, as well as cross country policy sharing and capacity building to implement the ILO Recommendation No. 204, transition to the formal economy is a major policy goal identified by BRICS countries in successive BRICS summits, fora and research papers.

The key online sessions with high-level speakers working on the issues of transitioning to formality, including in the rural area and agriculture, will be held from the 1^st to 20^th of August 2021. You are invited to join the webinar discussions by registering at the following link: APPLICATION FORM (itcilo.org).

The registration will remain open until 30^th of July 2021.

Welcome to the Digital Agriculture Forum, co-organized by FAO, the Zhejiang University and National Agricultural Science and Technology Entrepreneurship and Innovation Alliance of China on 5-6 Dec. 2020, aiming to foster an enabling ecosystem to accelerate the digital transformation of agri-food system through leveraging on innovative digital solutions and business models and enhancing knowledge exchanges in digital agriculture policies and practices.

Global AgriInno Pitch Event

5 Dec. Sat. | 19:00-22:10 hours | UTC+8:00 (Beijing Time)

Come and support 12 youth-led innovation solutions selected out of 172 applications from 35 countries worldwide will pitch their e-commerce solutions to address the challenge of the distribution and sales of agricultural products in front of an international jury.

Digital Agriculture and Rural Development Forum

6 Dec. Sun. | 09:00-12:00 hours | UTC+8:00 (Beijing Time)

The Forum will address new opportunities and challenges for agricultural and rural development under the epidemic and best practices of digital village. Speakers are from FAO, Zhejiang University, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, Alibaba Group, National Agricultural Science and Technology Entrepreneurship and Innovation Alliance of China, etc.

Digital Agriculture Dialogue

6 Dec. Sun. | 15:30-19:30 hours | UTC+8:00 (Beijing Time)

The Dialogue will address digital transformation of the agri-food system through policymaking, technology and international cooperation. Speakers are from FAO, AfDB, the World Bank, UNDP, ITU, GODAN, Chinese Academy of Engineering, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Wageningen University and Research, Zhejiang University, Top Cloud-Agri Technology Co.Ltd.

To REGISTER at http://fao.0571hst.cn  

More information about the forum events and speakers at http://fao.0571hst.com 

Webinar languages: English and Chinese. Simultaneous interpretation is available.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) are accepting submissions on good practices from Europe and Central Asia in digital agriculture. 

This call is the first phase of the regional contest entitled “Digital Excellence in Agriculture in Europe and Central Asia”, aiming at collecting good practices in the field of digital agriculture and providing a mechanism for identifying outstanding initiatives, projects, and programmes across the regions to be awarded with a special recognition of Digital Excellence in Agriculture.  

It will enable individuals and organizations using digital agricultural practices to share knowledge, solutions, and suggestions that highlight the potential of stepping up good practices in the region of Europe and Central Asia.

The regional contest will have six phases:

• Submission of good practices open from 4 November until 11 December 2020;
• Nomination of outstanding practices in January 2021;
• Production of a stocktaking report including all good practices collected;
• Selection of the finalists and award recipients;
• Production of a special promotional video focusing on outstanding good practices, as well as production of the Digital Excellence in Agriculture report;
• Award ceremony where the finalists will receive an opportunity to present their good practices and outstanding achievements during the “Digital Excellence in Agriculture in Europe and Central Asia” event (February-March 2021), and the winners will be awarded with a special recognition and a trophy.

Submissions are accepted in the following categories: 

• Regulatory frameworks/Enhanced market access/Financial services and insurance;
• Capacity development and empowerment;
• Agriculture innovations systems and sustainable farming;
• Disaster risk management and early warning systems;
• Food safety and traceability.

This regional contest follows a joint ITU-FAO Study on the Status of Digital Agriculture in 18 Countries of Europe and Central Asia, that clearly demonstrated how Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are playing an emerging role in the agriculture of Europe and Central Asia.

This call will contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and, in particular, SDG2 on “Zero Hunger”, by contributing to close the digital, rural, and gender disparaties, known as the triple divide, and ensure an inclusive digital transition. The contest is also an important milestone in the implementation of the Regional Initiatives of both, the ITU and FAO. 

For more information, please visit http://www.fao.org/europe/resources/call-on-digital-excellence/en/

A key pillar of the Paris Agreement is the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF), which aims to raise ambitions for climate action through transparent country reporting. The development of National Forest Monitoring Systems with open and transparent data can enable action for forest and climate. In light of the climate emergency, it is time to scale up efforts toward accurate, open and transparent forest data, to catalyze higher ambitions under the Paris Agreement.

The FAO webinar “Open and Transparent Forest data: Innovation and Technology for Climate Action” will highlight global and national efforts in the field of forest monitoring that support the implementation of the ETF under the Paris Agreement.

Specifically, the webinar aims to:   

• present the “Building global capacity to increase transparency in the forest sector" (CBIT-Forest)” project and its contribution to the ETF under the Paris Agreement;
• present latest digital data sources and related dissemination innovations contributing to the Paris Agreement by promoting transparency and open data, and
• share experience from Bangladesh on data management and transparency.        

The webinar will take place on Wednesday 11 November 2020, 14:30 – 16:00 CEST.

To join the webinar session on Zoom, kindly register here.

Please access further information on the webinar here.  

This international technical webinar is part of the series organized by the FAO eLearning Academy, Agreenium (l'Institut agronomique, vétérinaire et forestier de France) and UN-ESCAP (United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific). These webinars are an opportunity to share experiences and lessons learnt, discuss challenges, and propose innovative solutions and models. They aim to provide a holistic and comprehensive view of current trends in thematic areas related to global challenges, by combining development research and innovation perspectives.

The main objective is to give practitioners the opportunity to interact with international experts, United Nations officers, University professors, researchers and fellow participants, throughout the world. Webinars can be attended as interactive online sessions on Zoom, where sharing perspectives and asking questions to experts is encouraged.

The objectives of this session on Home-Grown School Feeding are to:

• define and explain concepts, benefits and beneficiaries of Home-Grown School Feeding (HGSF) programmes;
• present  the key elements of the HGSF elearning course to support the planning, design and implementation of HGSF programmes, and
• discuss partnerships as critical enablers for strong and potential successful HGSF programmes.

The webinar will take place on Wednesday 21 October 2020, 15:00 – 16:30 CEST.

Please register here.

FAO’s Technologies and Practices for Small Agricultural Producers (TECA) Platform has released an “Open call for technologies and practices” for submissions on sharing practices and technologies that can help smallholder farmers and producers to overcome current challenges. You are invited to submit practices and technologies that have been successfully implemented on the ground, brought positive results and are easily replicable to similar areas. This will be an opportunity to document your practices in a non-technical language and make them available to farmers worldwide.

Each practice/technology will be recorded in a standard format, using clear language and descriptive visuals to provide detailed specifications for easy implementation. The TECA practices and technologies cover a wide range of regions and countries and are available in different languages (English, French, Spanish and Portuguese) to reach a wider audience. The practice and technologies the calls can include but are not limited to the following themes:

• Agricultural Mechanization;
• Beekeeping;
• Capacity Development;
• Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction;
• Crop Production;
• Fisheries and Aquaculture;
• Forestry
• Livestock Production
• Natural Management
• Nutrition for Better Life;
• Post-Harvest and Marketing.

All information is available here: http://www.fao.org/teca/open-call/en/

The deadline is 30 July 2020.