The course is part of the broader joint effort and consultations led by PARM/IFAD, FAO, and NEPAD on occasion of the ‎workshop hosted in IFAD HQ in Rome in July 2015, where international agencies, experts and practitioners met to ‎develop a curriculum outline on “Agricultural Risk Assessment and Management for Food Security in Developing ‎Countries”. ‎

PARM, a G8-G20 outcome initiative supported by the EU, AfD, Italian Government, KfW, BMZ and in strategic partnership with NEPAD, led ‎the development of the curriculum content, as part of its broader capacity ‎development strategy.  FAO, in joint collaboration with PARM, has adapted and designed the curriculum into an e-learning course, which is structured into four modules:

• Module 1: Understanding the risk environment in agriculture
• Module 2: Assessing risk in agriculture
• Module 3: Agricultural risk management tools
• Module 4: Planning and implementing and evaluating agricultural risk management strategies

The principal target audience for this informative technical e-learning course is policymakers dealing with risk program/project development and implementation. However, considering compounded nature of agricultural risks at various levels, the broader target can be categorised into three main groups – the policy group, including government officials, the farmer groups, including farmers and farm management advisors, and the service group, including input service providers and research institutions.

PARM is working with external and internal experts to ensure the content and design, as well as the production of the curriculum, is tailored to the needs of the target audience. The complete course materials are expected to be finalised and published by the end of 2018. When disseminated, the materials will familiarize the learner with an array of tools potentially applicable for agricultural risk management by providing the basic knowledge of each tool with respect to the content, pros and cons, and suitability in given specific risk situations.