Year of publication 2013

Organization development (OD) is an important area of capacity development practice to improve food and nutrition security, reduce poverty and promote sustainable development. OD is a powerful instrument that helps to analyse and engage in complex situations or contexts and discover effective ways to promote processes of organizational change. Learning Module 4 is the fourth in the FAO capacity development series. It aims to create a basic understanding of OD and system thinking approaches, as even a basic understanding can cultivate a new way of working. This module is suggested for development practitioners as well as for FAO technical officers, field officers, programme officers and consultants who are involved in capacity development for organizations, with a particular focus on public service agencies, producer organizations and public-private bodies such as extension and research agencies. It will cover the following areas: understanding organization analysis and development; supporting the design of change processes; engaging in effective multistakeholders’ processes; and measuring organizational change. For each area, this learning module proposes selected OD tools and presents practical cases derived from the experiences of FAO and other organizations.