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Monitoring public expenditure on food and agriculture: the MAFAP method

Certified Course

Topic outline

  • Monitoring public spending devoted to food and agriculture is a critical policy analysis tool to better understand agricultural public expenditure and how it affects agricultural development, food security and economic growth.

    ​ This course will equip you will the skills to carry out your public expenditure analysis, looking at total amounts and breakdown of spending. This will allow you to better monitor areas that are underinvested or those that have higher returns on investment, and to identify budget bottlenecks and to prioritize spending, in line with national development objectives. The analysis and results can then be used to shape and influence policymaking on food and agriculture expenditure and investments.

    • System Requirements 

      The online version of this course runs on the latest versions of the major browsers, such as Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari.

      The downloadable version only runs on Windows PC’s and no additional software is needed.

      • Audience

        This e-learning course is a technical course on public expenditure on food and agriculture. It is for you if you work in agricultural policy and development. The course is particularly interesting for:

        • Government officials, in particular, economists, policy analysts or researchers in ministries of agriculture, finance or trade.
        • Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) staff
        • FAO policy and technical officers
        • University students/academia

        • You will learn about

          • The importance of monitoring public expenditure
          • Best practices to collect, organise and classify expenditure data
          • How to carry out your own public expenditure analysis based on the MAFAP methodology

          • Course structure

            The course consists of 8 lessons, ranging from approximately 30-60 minutes duration each:

            • Lesson 1 - Introduction to Policy Monitoring in Agriculture
            • Lesson 2 - MAFAP Public Expenditure Analysis: Theory and Concepts
            • Lesson 3 - MAFAP Public Expenditure Analysis: Methodology
            • Lesson 4 - MAFAP Public Expenditure Analysis: Data Needs
            • Lesson 5 - Collecting Public Expenditure Data
            • Lesson 6 - Classifying Public Expenditure Data
            • Lesson 7 - Building a MAFAP Public Expenditure Database
            • Lesson 8 - Interpreting Public Expenditure Indicators

            • Partners

              This course has been funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and USAID.

              • Digital Badge Certification

                To be granted a digital certification from the FAO e-learning Centre, you will have to take the final evaluation exam after you’ve finished a course.

                Our digital badge certifications verify that you have achieved the learning outcomes and competencies outlined in FAO e-learning courses.

                What is a digital badge?
                Digital badges are online visual representations of learned skills and achievements earned in learning environments. They have already been adopted widely across a range of sectors and are being used to recognize both accredited and non-accredited learning in formal, informal and non-formal settings.
                Badges can be displayed wherever earners want them on the web, and share them for employment, education or lifelong learning.


                Please click the link below to start the test:

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