Access to knowledge and education about the effective use of open data in tackling the food security and nutrition challenges by building capacity of potential stakeholders is crucial to foster an innovative environment to maximize the outreach of FAO’s programmes, as well as enhancing awareness about the principles of data, information and knowledge sharing. 

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) facilitate access to knowledge and education to thousands of participants all over the world. By the end of 2020, the online courses made it possible for over 20,000 participants to be trained in multiple facets. Online courses provided knowledge and education on areas including: Access to Scientific Information Resources in Agriculture (ASIRA) for Low-Income Countries, AGORA: Fundamentals of Information Literacy and Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture, Research4Life, Open Data Management in Agriculture and Nutrition and Farm Data Management, Sharing and Services for Agriculture Development. 

MOOC’s  are enablers to FAO to address gaps and needs, and have an impact in the agriculture community across its services and tools provided. Through the MOOC’s, individuals and organizations gain skills and competencies they need to perform effectively in their work environments.

Recent MOOC’s:

• Access to Scientific Information Resources in Agriculture (ASIRA) Online Course for Low-Income Countries
• AGORA Online Course : Fundamentals of Information Literacy and Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture
• Open Data Management in Agriculture and Nutrition Online Course
• Farm Data Management, Sharing and Services for Agriculture Development
• Research4Life