Pre-Summit: IBRAF’s President discuss digital capacity development projects with FAO’s Director-General

Prof. João Bosco Monte and QU Dongyu

Fulfilling an agenda in Rome, Italy, at the sidelines of the 2021 Food Systems Pre-Summit, IBRAF’s President Prof. João Bosco Monte met with FAO’s Director-General QU Dongyu.

Both chairmen discussed possibilities for new engagements focused on digital capacity development. Last week, IBRAF and FAO signed a Letter of Agreement (LoA) to jointly design a South-South Cooperation (SSC) training through IBRAF’s Online Professional Learning (OPL) platform that will support 400 African trainees to gain expertise and skills on Fall Armyworm sustainable control.

“The DG has a strong eye for the potential of digital tools for disseminating knowledge and promoting good practices, even more so when it comes to bringing Brazilian experiences closer to African countries. And IBRAF, through the OPL, can contribute to the materialization of many training opportunities”, states Prof. Monte.

OPL is an online platform for professional development that has a multi thematic approach. IBRAF partners with institutions of excellence and local experts in specific fields to develop the curriculum and digital content to capacitate Brazilian and African workers. OPL opens a new path to share know-how between Brazil and African countries, exchanging good practices and democratizing learning in a time- and cost-effective manner.

During the meeting, DG QU Dongyu was also invited to attend the 2021 Brazil Africa Forum, to be held virtually on November 23 and.

Prof. João Bosco Monte is a Champion of the UN Food Systems Summit Champions Network. At the Pre-Summit he will be delivering the final remarks in the panel “Regional Pathways to Transform Food Systems”.