Nutrition & Food Systems
Ref. 120004
This MOOC addresses the necessary linkages within food systems and the importance of adopting a multi-sectoral approach to nutrition-sensitive interventions.
- Duration: 5 weeks
- Effort: 25 hours
- Pace: ~5 hours/week
- Languages: English and french
What you will learn
At the end of this course, you will be able to:
The overall objective of this course is to apply a systems-thinking approach to issues of food security and nutrition, thus contributing to a transformation of food systems towards more sustainable, equitable and healthy diets.
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 among food systems, nutrition, agriculture and food.
- Distinguish between linear approaches and a food systems approach to promote healthy diets and address malnutrition.
- Advocate for a multisectoral and multidisciplinary food-systems approach for promoting healthy diets and to address malnutrition.
- Contribute to the design of actions and programmes for sustainable food systems that promote healthy diets and address malnutrition drawing on lessons learned in different countries and contexts.
Description
This MOOC is designed for people involved in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of nutrition-sensitive food systems and agriculture policies and programmes, policy and decision-makers.
It can also be of interest to students, specialists and professionals working in the areas of food systems, nutrition, agriculture, forestry and fisheries who may be seeking to obtain the “Nutrition and Food Systems” certificate.
This MOOC was designed and developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Agreenium (Institut Agro Montpellier et Cirad), and funded by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (2021 first edition), the Université Virtuelle Environnement et Développement Durable (UVED) and Montpellier Université d'excellence (Muse).
The MOOC on Nutrition and Food Systems is fully aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals Agenda 2030 (SDGs).
Format
The course runs over five weeks and starts on Friday 06/05/2022, and it requires about 5 hours’ average time commitment per week.
Learning will be progressive. Each week you will have access to new modules. Once the module is open, materials and activities will remain available to allow participants to organize daily schedule at their convenience.
Please note that all module and live webinar opening times refer to universal time, CUT (e.g. for France, it is CUT+1).
Use this site to find out your time difference: https://www.worldtimeserver.com/
Prerequisites
This MOOC does not require any particular prerequisites.
Target audience:
- curious people who want to learn about nutrition and food systems: no prerequisites required
- professionals who want to acquire skills: a flexible system and content based on the latest research and development
- students who want to learn: from scientific basics to operational implementation
- enthusiasts who want to share their knowledge and learn from others: a unique opportunity for exchange with a wide range of learners
Assessment and certification
Quizzes within the units are not graded. At the end of each week of learning, participants will be offered to pass a graded test which will be available each week. There will be a total of 5 weekly tests, each covering the content of the corresponding Units of the related week.
By passing all 5 weekly tests with a minimum score of 70% of correct answers each, the certificate will be granted and participants will have the possibility to download it in .pdf format.
Only students who participate actively and pass the tests of each week, will be granted the final certificate, which attests the acquisition of competencies related to the MOOC.
Course plan
The course is based on a modular approach and consists of ten units, grouped in each of the 5 weeks of course :
- Unit 1: INTRODUCTION
What this course is for? - Unit 2: HOW DID WE GET THERE?
75 years of food and nutrition policies - Unit 3: THE FOOD SYSTEM
Dimensions, drivers, outcomes, complexity
- Unit 4: A MULTIDIMENSIONAL LENS
Case studies addressing multiple dimensions of the food system - Unit 5: PATHWAYS, LEVERS, OUTCOMES
Making the food system work for better results
- Unit 6: CONSUMERS
Supporting consumers to change their behaviour - Unit 7: THE FOOD ENVIRONMENT
Systems approaches to the food environment
- Unit 8: PRODUCTION AND SUPPLY
Systems approaches to food production and supply - Unit 9: FROM DATA ... TO IMPACT
Tools for gathering information and making decisions
- Unit 10: POLICIES AND GOVERNANCE
Lessons for policy, strategy and programmes
Course team
Nicolas Bricas
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Nicolas Bricas is a researcher in socio-economics of food systems in Cirad and Director of the Unesco Chair on World Food Systems
Patrizia Fracassi
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Senior Nutrition and Food Systems Officer leading the work of the nutrition policies and programmes team in the Food and Nutrition Division at FAO.
Sylvie Avallone
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Sylvie Avallone is a professor of food science and nutrition at the Institut Agro Montpellier. She conducts research activities to identify natural resources to improve children's nutrition. More recently, she has joined an international consortium on school health and nutrition to evaluate the impact of school programs on children's well-being.
Florence Tartanac
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Works at FAO since 2001 and she is actually Senior Officer in the Food and Nutrition Division at FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy.
Fatima Hachem
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Senior Nutrition Officer and is the leader of the Nutrition Education and Consumer Awareness team of the Food and Nutrition Division at FAO
Israel Klug
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Agrifood engineer experienced in assessing policies and practices for sustainable food production and consumption.
Ana Islas Ramos
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Ana Islas Ramos is a Nutrition Officer in the Nutrition Education and Consumer Awareness team of the Food and Nutrition Division at FAO
Cristina Petracchi
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Philippe Prevost
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Chargé des coopérations numériques au sein d’Agreenium, l’Institut agronomique, vétérinaire et forestier de France.
Bianca Carlesi
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Bianca Carlesi is a nutrition-mainstreaming communication consultant at the Food and Nutrition Division at FAO.
Chiara Deligia
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Chiara Deligia is communication expert, supporting the communication and publishing processes of the Food and Nutrition Division at FAO.
Sara Ferrante
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Sara is an instructional technology specialist in the FAO e-Learning Academy team, where she works from 2014.
Julien Rose
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Julien Rose is in charge of a pedagogical and digital team in Institut Agro Montpellier
Organizations
Partners
Institut Agro Montpellier
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
FAO Elearning Academy
Agreenium
Cirad
Financial support
Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture
Muse (Montpellier University of Excellence)
Uved (Université Virtuelle Environnement et Développement durable)
License
License for the course content
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
- ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.
License for the content created by course participants
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
- ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.