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 2020 Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition in Europe and Central Asia is the sixth regional report monitoring trends and progress made towards reaching SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) food security and nutrition targets in the region. The report includes studies on the drivers and regional policy responses necessary to achieve SDG 2. In addition, ensuring adequate, nutritious foods supports progress towards achieving SDG 3.4, limiting poor diets high in unhealthy fats, salt, sugar and excess energy and low in fruit and vegetable consumption and thus reducing premature mortality from non-communicable diseases. Furthermore, a change towards healthy diets contributes to the achievement of SDG 13, which focuses on climate change.

The special theme of this 2020 edition is the affordability of sustainable healthy diets and their usefulness in ending hunger and malnutrition in the region. The sustainability prospects of healthy diets are recognized and analysed throughout this report, but the main focus of this report is a quantitative analysis of the cost and affordability of healthy diets at national and subnational levels.

The report will be launched at a high-level event on Wednesday, 12 May, 10:00-11:30 a.m. (CEST).

The ceremony will be streamed live on YouTube in English and can also be followed on Zoom in English and Russian.

The 2020 Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition in Europe and Central Asia was jointly prepared by the six members of the Issue-based Coalition on Sustainable Food Systems for Europe and Central Asia: the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia; the World Food Programme (WFP) Regional Bureau Cairo for Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and Eastern Europe; the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE); the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia; the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe; and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).