This event will spotlight the leading approach to manage risks in a given context, which encompasses a holistic methodology, that has grounded the series of four elearning courses on agricultural risk management (ARM) developed by PARM and the FAO elearning Academy, in partnership with IFAD and NEPAD. The session will cover the first two elearning courses, which focus respectively on understanding and assessing risks in agriculture.
OBJECTIVES
Dr Kisan Gunjal has been working as Senior International Consultant for IFAD, FAO, and WFP. Some of the high-profile assignments that he covered include – food security implications of Ebola, the impact of El Niño, development of four e-learning courses on Agricultural Risk Management (ARM) for FAO/IFAD, and support in the preparation of ECA Regional SOFI 2020. He is currently working with FAO-RAF on impact of COVID-19 on Africa, and Risk Mapping in Africa for ARM. He also worked as a Consultant with the World Bank on Ethiopia and Mongolia. Kisan leads the NGO iREAMDev-Canada and India and is considered a leading authority on global food security. He taught at McGill University, Montreal, Canada, for 20 years and served as Food Security Economist for FAO’s Global Information and Early Warning System for 12 years.
Cristina Petracchi heads the FAO elearning Academy. She manages and coordinates the design, development, delivery and language adaptations of an extensive portfolio e-learning courses and blended learning programmes for the benefit of FAO member countries, and is responsable for the creation of University Masters’ and Post Graduate Degree Programmes. She engages actively in consolidating partnerships across United Nations agencies, academic institutions and universities, regional organizations, CSOs and NGOs, for capacity development initiatives. In addition to a University Degree in Biological Sciences, Ms Petracchi holds a PhD in Nutrition and Food Science, and has several years of experience of capacity development activities, in a number of countries.
Dr Gideon Onumah is a Principal Economist in the Food and Markets Department of the Natural Resources Institute (NRI), where he has been for over 20 years, having also actively collaborated with PARM through research and capacity development activities. His main practice area includes agricultural marketing, rural/agricultural/SME finance and risk management in agricultural value chains. He is a leading global authority in researching, piloting and promoting uptake of structured agricultural marketing and financing systems in developing countries. Gideon has undertaken research/development advisory services for governments, donor agencies, NGOs and the private sector in Africa, Asia and Europe. He has been actively engaged in projects that foster upscaling of technologies to boost productivity and/or reduce waste and losses in agricultural value chains across Africa.
Richard Miiro is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Extension and Innovations Studies, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at Makerere University, Uganda. He is passionate about research and innovations that solve challenges in Agricultural development using a system view. As an experienced researcher, academic, trainer and facilitator of change processes, he has worked with farmers’ organizations, innovation platforms, gender transformative processes, return on training investment research, and training targeting agricultural researchers, and research managers in Sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. He co-organized the HARM training with PARM in Uganda. In 2021, he is poised to train internationally on gender responsive and resilience plant breeding for climate smart agriculture.
Mariam Sow is an Agricultural Economist with 30 years of experience in food insecurity risk management and resilience building, sustainable agriculture and food system policies, natural resource management and early warning systems. From 2011 to 2020 she worked as Senior Programme Manager at the African Union Development Agency – NEPAD. Prior to AUDA-NEPAD, Mariam was FAO Chief Technical Advisor in Chad for establishing a Food Security and Early Warning Information System, and before then, Food Security Regional Coordinator at the Sahel Institute (Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel- Bamako). Mariam conducted consultancy work for organizations such as FAO, WFP, and UNIFEM. She started her career as teaching and research assistant in Economics at the University of Dakar, Senegal.
Massimo Giovanola is the Lead Technical Specialist for the Platform for Agricultural Risk Management (PARM) at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). He is responsible for managing the PARM process in eight African countries. He works to define the appropriate strategies with the host governments and then guides the organization and implementation of technical studies on subjects such as country profiling, risk management and feasibility. He also develops and maintains partnerships with national and international stakeholders and partner organizations.
Giovanola joined IFAD in 2014 from his previous position at Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Between 2000 and 2014, he worked in both emergency and rehabilitation-development programs for Burundi, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Tunisia, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan as Country Director and Program Manager with INGO (7 years) and FAO (7 years). His main areas of expertise are country strategy development and program management, agriculture sector, food-security and nutrition.
Giovanola has a master’s in Animal Science from the University of Milan (Veterinary), a diploma in Business Administration from Varese, along with certificates and qualifications from FAO and IFAD in procurement, strategy development, food security and coaching techniques.