1. A Partnership-based Blended Learning
Programme to Support Food Security
Professionals in Africa
presented by:
Mehmet Korkmaz
E-Learning Officer
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Rome, Italy
Blended Learning

2. Title: “Improving the abilities of Regional Organizations to develop, implement
and monitor food security learning programmes”
Project Overview:
Support 2 regional organizations in designing,
developing and delivering learning programmes to
strengthen capacities of food security professionals
in their member states to:
• analyze and report on the food security (FS)
situation and
• support policy formulation and emergency
response strategies.
Project

3. Regional Organizations
New Partnership for Africa's Development
Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa
20 member states
Permanent Inter-State Committee for Drought
Control in the Sahel
Economic Community of West African States
17 member states

4. Framework
The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP)
CAADP is a continent-wide framework for developing, implementing and measuring
agriculture development investments. CAADP is entirely African-led and African-
owned. Pillar III aims to increase food supply and reduce hunger.
Our role:
• support CAADP Country Teams and Food Security
Thematic Working Group Members ;
• provide required skills and knowledge to support the
design and implementations of the CAADP FAFS in their
countries.

5. Undertaken in tandem with the EU‐FAO Improved Global
Governance for Hunger Reduction Programme
Partnerships
ECOWAS
CILSS
Agence Universitaire de la
Francophonie (AUF)
Agence Française pour le
Développement (AFD)
COMESA
University of Pretoria, SA
Worldbank
Western AfricaEastern/ Southern Africa

6. Providing a continuous learning
opportunity:
• e-learning and online collaborative
workshops
• face-to-face workshops
• post-workshop online mentoring
Learning Programme

7. Regional Learning Needs
Assessment Workshops

8. Participants should be mid- to senior-level in agencies
and organizations related to food security and nutrition
and:
- have a decision making role or ability to influence decision
making;
- advise and guide the work of others in matters of food
security; and
- able to create multiplier opportunities to share and spread
knowledge, skills and capacities.
Typical Participant
Profile

9. Interactive Lessons
Name of Stakeholder/Organisation Type of Stakeholder/
Organisation
Kind of data concerning food
security they collect
What kind of report do they
publish
Ministry of Finance & National
Planning
Public Gross Domestic Product
Contribution, Sector Growth
Country Economic Performance
Report
Agribusiness & Marketing
Department
Public Agricultural Commodity Prices
Agricultural Producer Prices
(inputs)
Market Bulletins
National Food and Nutrition
Commission
Autonomous body
under Ministry of Health
-National Nutritional
Status(statistics on stunting
levels,micronutrient deficiencies)
-Food consumption patterns
-Annual food and nutrition
report
- Nutrition Surveillance reports
-Recommended daily food
pyramids
-Nutrition assessment reports
Country Mapping Exercise
Expert-led Group Discussions
Facilitated Online Workshop

10. Country level FNS analysis
Soft Skills (advocacy, facilitation)
Action Planning and
Reporting
Face-to-Face Workshop

11. • 3-months online mentoring by subject-
matter experts provided continuous support
after the face-to-face workshop
• Guidance and follow-up on action plans
• Participants exchanged experiences and
reports with other countries
Online Mentoring

12. Workshop COMESA ECOWAS Total
Online 58 47 105
Face-to-Face 51 46 97
Male / Female 53% / 47% 84% / 16% 67%/33%
14 of the 19 COMESA Member States participated: Burundi (4), D R Congo
(4), Djibouti (3), Ethiopia (2), Kenya (2), Madagascar (2), Malawi (3), Rwanda (3),
Seychelles (3), Sudan (4), Swaziland (4), Uganda (1), Zambia (5), Zimbabwe (4)
All 17 ECOWAS Member States participated: Benin (4), Burkina Faso (4),
Cape Verde (1), Chad (2), Côte d'Ivoire (5), Gambia (4), Ghana (3), Guinea (1), Guinea-
Bissau (2), Liberia (5), Mali (5), Niger (1), Nigeria (2), Senegal (2), Sierra Leone (4), Togo (2)
Status Report

13. “This is the most effective workshop that I have participated in”
“The course was very relevant to my work”
“Having more than one representative per country was helpful”
“The general layout and the interactive nature of the online course make this one a
masterpiece”
“Great learning experience on FNS; useful tools for FNS that we can apply...”
“…an insight on what other countries are doing to achieve food and nutrition security.”
“This workshop in conjunction with the online training has been an ‘eye opener’ for me
on CAADP.”
Feedback

14. Sierra Leone: Participants organized a workshop on contingency planning and
strengthening the national platform on food and nutrition security, and are
supporting the finalization of a National Food and Nutrition Policy.
Zambia: Participants re-established the CAADP country team and organized a
regional stakeholders' CAADP awareness meeting with 40 sector stakeholders.
Seychelles: Held team building exercises for strategic reflection and leadership
on issues related to CAADP (including establishing a road map) and requested
with the Ministry of Health the assignment a nutritionist to the team.
Impact

15. Face-to-Face Workshops:
• Photodocumentation (5)
• Food Security Trainers (5)
Online Workshops:
• Online Facilitators (6)
• Learning Management Experts (2)
Further training scheduled for 2013:
• Setting up/ upgrading the learning platform for CILSS and COMESA
Sustainability

16. E-Learning Guide
Why this guide?
• Assist partners in creating their
own e-learning courses
• Share good practices
(workflow and methodologies)
• Practical aspects of
instructional design
To whom?
• CD managers and trainers
• Instructional designers
• All those interested in creating
e-learning courses
FAO Corporate Document Repository:
http://www.fao.org/docrep/015/i2516e/i2516e00.htm

17. • Negotiation with the regions was a long process –
resulted in ”buy in” and co-funding.
• New way of thinking – working with the regions to
develop capacities to deliver on their food security
frameworks.
• A capacity needs analysis was a key factor in
ensuring learning programmes were well targeted.
• Blended learning works – online component builds
teams and required knowledge base.
• Collaborative and group learning is an effective
mechanism to develop both hard and soft skills.
Lessons learned

18. EU-FAO PROGRAMME IMPROVED GLOBAL GOVERNANCE FOR HUNGER REDUCTION will
contribute €950 000 for follow-up and parallel work to be undertaken in the three regions
over the period 2012‐15.
Further support regional partners to deliver additional learning
programmes for food security professionals in the three
regions.
The three regional partners and FAO are organizing a series learning
programmes in 2013-14 to enhance the communication, advocacy
and knowledge sharing skills of food security professionals.
FAO will continue to support the regional partners in the integration
of e-learning technologies and methods into their training centres
for food security.
Looking ahead

19. For more information, please contact:
mehmet.korkmaz@fao.org
Thank you!