Free FAO Online Training 2026: Master the Basics of Climate-Smart Agriculture

The FAO eLearning Academy offers a free online course titled Introduction to Climate-Smart Agriculture, designed to help learners understand how climate change is affecting agriculture, food security and food systems.

The course introduces learners to practical approaches for adapting agriculture to climate change while also reducing the sector’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions.

With 1 hour and 30 minutes of learning, the course can be a useful professional development opportunity for people interested in climate change, agriculture, food security, environmental sustainability and rural development.

About the Course

The Introduction to Climate-Smart Agriculture course examines the relationship between climate change and agriculture and provides an overview of strategies that can help agricultural systems respond to changing climate conditions.

Learners are introduced to the Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) approach, which seeks to address climate challenges while supporting agricultural productivity and resilience.

The course also explains a five-step process for implementing Climate-Smart Agriculture, giving learners a structured framework for understanding how climate-smart approaches can be applied.

What Will You Learn?

The course focuses on three interconnected areas.

Climate Change and Agriculture

Learners explore the impacts of climate change on agriculture and food systems.

The course considers how changing climate conditions can affect agricultural production and broader food security.

Understanding these relationships is important for professionals working in agriculture, development and environmental policy.

Climate Change Adaptation

The course introduces the main adaptation strategies available to the agricultural sector.

Climate adaptation involves adjusting agricultural practices and systems to reduce vulnerability to climate-related impacts.

Learners gain an overview of approaches that can help farmers and agricultural systems become more resilient.

Climate Change Mitigation

The course also introduces mitigation strategies in agriculture.

Mitigation focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing the ability of agricultural systems to contribute to climate action.

Together, adaptation and mitigation form an important part of climate-smart agricultural planning.

Understanding Climate-Smart Agriculture

A central component of the course is an introduction to the Climate-Smart Agriculture approach.

CSA provides a framework for addressing climate change while considering the broader needs of agriculture and food systems.

The course explains how this approach can be implemented through a five-step process, helping learners understand how climate-smart interventions can be developed and applied.

Course Details

• Course: Introduction to Climate-Smart Agriculture
• Provider: FAO eLearning Academy
• Organisation: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
• Learning time: 1 hour 30 minutes
• Thematic area: Climate Change and Environment
• Format: Online
• Released: November 2018
• Languages: Arabic, Spanish, French and Chinese
• Level: Introductory
• Topic: Climate-smart agriculture, climate change, food security and food systems

Part of a Wider Course Series

The Introduction to Climate-Smart Agriculture course is part of a broader Climate-Smart Agriculture course series.

Learners who want to go beyond the introductory material can explore additional courses covering specific agricultural sectors and practices.

The series includes:

• Climate-smart crop production — 2 hours 30 minutes.
• Climate-smart livestock production — 3 hours.
• Climate-smart soil and land management — 2 hours.
• Water management for climate-smart agriculture — 1 hour 30 minutes.
• Climate-smart fisheries and aquaculture — 1 hour 30 minutes.
• Climate-smart forestry — 2 hours 15 minutes.

This makes the introductory course a useful starting point for learners who want to progress into more specialised climate-smart agriculture topics.

Who Can Benefit From the Course?

The course could be useful for a wide range of learners, including:

• Agriculture professionals.
• Environmental professionals.
• Climate change practitioners.
• Development workers.
• Food security specialists.
• Agricultural students.
• Environmental science students.
• Rural development practitioners.
• NGO professionals.
• Policymakers.
• Researchers.
• Anyone interested in sustainable agriculture.

It may also be useful for professionals who want to develop foundational knowledge before pursuing more specialised climate, agriculture or food-system training.

Why Climate-Smart Agriculture Matters

Agriculture is closely connected to climate change, food security and livelihoods.

Climate-related changes can create challenges for agricultural production and food systems, while agricultural activities can also contribute to environmental pressures.

Climate-smart approaches seek to address these interconnected challenges by considering resilience, adaptation, mitigation and agricultural development together.

Understanding these relationships can help professionals make better-informed decisions when developing agricultural programmes, environmental projects and food-security interventions.

Flexible Professional Development

With only 1 hour and 30 minutes of learning, the introductory course can be completed relatively quickly compared with longer professional development programmes.

Learners can also use the course as an entry point into the wider FAO Climate-Smart Agriculture series.

Completing several courses in the series could help learners build broader knowledge across crop production, livestock, soil and land management, water, fisheries and forestry.

FAO eLearning Academy

The FAO eLearning Academy provides online learning opportunities covering topics relevant to food, agriculture, climate change and development.

Its platform includes:

• Online courses.
• Certification opportunities.
• Webinars.
• Learning resources.
• A repository of educational materials.

The Academy is therefore useful for learners looking for structured training related to the work of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Final Takeaway

The Introduction to Climate-Smart Agriculture course is a concise opportunity for anyone wanting to understand the relationship between climate change, agriculture, food security and sustainable food systems.

In just 90 minutes, learners are introduced to climate change impacts on agriculture, adaptation and mitigation strategies, the Climate-Smart Agriculture approach and its five-step implementation process.

For professionals and students interested in climate action, environmental sustainability, agriculture, food security or international development, it can serve as a useful foundation before progressing to FAO’s more specialised climate-smart agriculture courses.

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Disclaimer: Remote Job Opportunities (RJO) is not the  organization offering this opportunity. For any inquiries, please contact the responsible organization directly. Please do not send your applications to RJO, as we are unable to process them. Due to the high volume of  emails we receive daily, we may not be able to respond to all inquiries. Thank you for your understanding.