The complete series of five free courses on rural poverty reduction is now available on FAO’s e-learning Academy as a global public good. The e-learning series is a comprehensive learning path on rural poverty and rural poverty reduction, highlighting key concepts, tools and case studies proven to support efforts to eliminate poverty and hunger in rural areas. Developed by FAO’s Strategic Programme to reduce rural poverty in collaboration with the International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth, and with the technical support of several technical divisions and external experts, the content was designed using a multi-stakeholder consultative process in 2018.

 

The series is organized in 5 courses, each lasting between 1 and 4 hours of self-paced learning. At the end of each course, learners can take a short test which if passed, will grant them a certification through a Digital Badge system. It provides learners with the basic concepts and definitions related to rural poverty and an overview of its main drivers. It builds on the knowledge of policymakers, practitioners, members of civil society organizations and researchers from member countries on approaches to reduce rural poverty. Taking a learner-centred approach, the e-learning courses are engaging and include interactive elements, examples and case-based scenarios. It is different from other poverty-related courses because it addresses and targets RURAL poverty reduction issues from the perspective of how FAO’s mandate contributes to the process. 

 

The first course – Understanding rural poverty – addresses key concepts including the different ways to measure poverty, understanding poverty and its drivers, and the role of gender equality and women’s empowerment in the processes of poverty reduction. The second course – Reducing rural poverty: policies and approaches – takes a look at rural development approaches through time and across regions, a theory of change for poverty reduction based on a multisectoral approach, and identifies policy areas where interventions are needed.  The third course – Participatory frameworks and stakeholder strengthening – focuses on the use of these frameworks to include vulnerable people in policy and programmes, looks at different approaches and the role of rural organizations in rural poverty reduction efforts, and explores the role of capacity development in rural poverty reduction. The fourth – Increasing the impact of rural poverty reduction strategies –  covers the different tools that can be used to make sure poverty reduction interventions reach those who need them most, why it is important to scale-up rural poverty reduction interventions, and looks at territorial development as a new approach to poverty reduction. The fifth and final course – Theory-based impact evaluation for rural poverty reduction – looks at impact evaluation in the context of a multisectoral approach to rural poverty, and presents the six principles on which theory based impact evaluations should be based using case study to illustrate them.

 

The whole Rural Poverty Reduction series is available here.