WEBINAR: Extension and advisory services on the frontline of COVID-19 response for resilient and sustainable food systems in Europe and Central Asia

Across the globe, the pandemic has generated extreme vulnerability in the agricultural sector, confronting governments with the multiple challenges of protecting human lives, and livelihoods, as well as, and ensuring sufficient food supplies and basic services for the most needy.

Through their network of partners, agricultural extension and advisory service systems can play a key role in raising COVID-19 awareness to reduce the pandemic’s spread, while assisting in emergency operations, and ensuring that rural producers have relevant and accurate information, inputs and services necessary for agricultural production and strong local value chains – both during and after the emergency period.

FAO, in partnership with the Regional Network of Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services, is providing a regional forum to discuss the role of extension and advisory services in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It ispart of a series of regional webinars, succeeding the online event for Asia and on food systems.  

Join the discussion on Wednesday, 10 June 10:00 - 11:30 a.m. CET

Please register to follow the virtual event through the Zoom conferencing platform, simultaneous interpretation in Russian is provided. The webcast will be streamed live on YouTube in English.

Speakers:

• Pedro Arias, FAO Economist
• Nevena Alexandrova-Stefanova, FAO Agricultural Extension Officer
• Inge van Oost, Policy Officer, European Commission, DG AGRI
• Pascal Bergeret, Director of the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies, AKIS-SCAR Co-Chair
• Aniko Juhász, Deputy State Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Hungary, AKIS-SCAR Co-Chair
• Milan Husnjak, Head of the South Eastern Europe Advisory Service Network
• Josipa Arapović, SEASN volunteer
• Aleksandar Musalevski, Head of Unit, Agriculture Policy Analyses , Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy, North Macedonia
  
• Botir Dosov, Chairperson of the Central Asia and the Caucasus Forum for Rural Advisory Service, Vice-Chair of APIRAS, GFRAS Board member
• Melek Çakmak, Head of FAO Partnership and Liaison Office, FAO representative, Azerbaijan
• Tahmina Sayfullaeva, Programme Manager of Sarob cooperative, Tajikistan
• Yuriy Bakun, Director of the National Association of Agricultural Advisory Services, Ukraine