FAO eLearning Academy

Global · Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN · professional

51practice questions written to this syllabus
5subjects

Format

Free online courses with certificates and digital badges; 9 languages, 25 thematic areas (trade and markets, agricultural risk management, food security and others).

Over the years

Free external enrichment; Laisha links to it and does not copy it.

Official source: https://elearning.fao.org/

Subjects this exam draws on

Agri Value Chain Management10 questionsEconomic Development and Agricultural Economies of the World11 questionsAgri Risk Management & Insurance2 questionsFood Processing & Technology Management13 questionsQuality Management & Food Standards15 questions

Five practice questions, worked

Original questions written to this exam's published syllabus and pattern. Not past papers.

1. Under the WTO SPS Agreement, which body is the reference standard-setter for food safety?

  1. The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH)
  2. The International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC)
  3. The Codex Alimentarius Commission
  4. The International Organization for Standardization
Answer and working

C. The Codex Alimentarius Commission

The SPS Agreement recognises three sisters: Codex for food safety, WOAH for animal health and zoonoses, and IPPC for plant health. ISO standards are voluntary and relevant to the TBT Agreement and management systems, not the SPS reference role.

Agri Value Chain Management · External drivers: globalisation and trade

2. The four pillars commonly used to describe food security are:

  1. production, procurement, storage and distribution
  2. calories, proteins, fats and micronutrients
  3. availability, access, utilisation and stability
  4. self-sufficiency, imports, aid and stocks
Answer and working

C. availability, access, utilisation and stability

Following the 1996 World Food Summit definition, food security is analysed as availability, access (economic and physical), utilisation (diet, health, sanitation) and stability over time. Procurement and storage are policy tools; macronutrients are aspects of utilisation; self-sufficiency is one strategy, not a pillar.

Economic Development and Agricultural Economies of the World · Food security and nutrition

3. The index-based livestock insurance programme for pastoralists in northern Kenya, developed by ILRI and partners, pays out based on:

  1. Individual veterinary certificates of animal death
  2. Milk yield records at dairy cooperatives
  3. A satellite NDVI index of forage
  4. Livestock prices at the nearest market, averaged over the season by the county government
Answer and working

C. A satellite NDVI index of forage

Verification of individual deaths is impractical for mobile herds, so the product uses an NDVI-based index of forage scarcity as a predictor of livestock mortality or, in later versions, of the need to protect assets before deaths occur. The index measures forage conditions in the herder's own area.

Agri Risk Management & Insurance · Weather-index insurance

4. According to FAO's definitions, 'food loss' refers to the decrease in quantity or quality of food:

  1. At retail, food service and household level, after sale
  2. From harvest up to, but not including, the retail stage
  3. Only during storage on the farm
  4. Only when food is thrown away by consumers
Answer and working

B. From harvest up to, but not including, the retail stage

FAO defines food loss along the supply chain from harvest up to but excluding retail; food waste occurs at retail, food service and consumer level. Loss is not limited to farm storage.

Food Processing & Technology Management · Post-harvest losses and their reduction

5. 'Who checks the checkers?' In conformity assessment, this role is performed by:

  1. Certification bodies, which audit farms and factories and then periodically review one another's certificates
  2. Codex committees, which set food standards
  3. Accreditation bodies, which assess the competence of certification and inspection bodies and laboratories
  4. Retailers, through supplier audits
Answer and working

C. Accreditation bodies, which assess the competence of certification and inspection bodies and laboratories

Accreditation is formal recognition that a conformity assessment body is competent for a defined scope. Certification bodies certify producers; Codex sets standards; retailers perform second-party audits.

Quality Management & Food Standards · National standards bodies and national standards

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