FAO launches first e-learning course to transform dryland management

FAO today launched a new e-learning course that will inspire practitioners to champion transformational dryland forest management strategies.

Spearheaded by the Committee on Forestry’s Working Group on Dryland Forests and Agrosilvopastoral Systems, the Transforming Dryland Forests and Agrosilvopastoral Systems: An approach to sustaining and developing food production in drylands under change course was developed through the joint efforts and expertise of 16 partners, one of the largest collaborations to date on any FAO elearning Academy course. It is the only FAO e-learning course to focus on dryland management.

The impact of climate change is already being felt in the world’s drylands, which are home to over two billion people. There is an urgent need for a transformation in land and natural resource management through innovative community-led strategies that adapt to water scarcity and decreasing soil productivity.

“A business-as-usual approach is no longer an option for a food-secure future, but there is a huge gap between awareness and capacity to implement sustainable dryland management interventions,” said FAO Forestry Officer Fidaa F. Haddad. “This e-learning course focuses on agrosilvopastoral systems as a solution, utilising both dryland trees and livestock in a mutually beneficial system.”

“When correctly implemented, agrosilvopastoral systems can ensure the sustainability of food production and livelihoods in these regions, while alleviating poverty and reducing the risk of conflict and disasters,” continued Haddad.

The e-learning course is now available free on the FAO elearning Academy platform and is the platform’s first course focusing on drylands. It targets programme and project managers, field practitioners, policy makers and anyone interested in sustainable development of drylands.

Through five online lessons, the course will build the competencies needed to transform the way practitioners manage dryland forests, with a focus on increasing sustainability whilst retaining the benefits of other interventions. The course takes around five hours to complete and after a final test, participants will be awarded a certificate.

The e-learning course focuses on agrosilvopastoral systems as a solution, utilising both dryland trees and livestock in a mutually beneficial system.

It builds on the approaches to sustainable dryland management discussed in FAO’s 2021 publication Building climate-resilient dryland forests and agrosilvopastoral production systems, which is available in English, French, Spanish, Arabic and Farsi.