Marrakesh, 15 December 2014 – African Ministers of Agriculture recognized the facilitating role of FAO “under the new strategic framework established with the leadership of the Director General José Graziano da Silva during the last biennium”, and stressed “the need to ensure continuity in the strategic direction (…) to enable the organization to realize its full impact”, as part of the final declaration of first International Conference on South-South Cooperation held in Marrakesh, Morocco, this weekend.

The Declaration of Marrakesh also acknowledges FAO’s initiatives in “helping African countries to formulate and articulate their needs and to provide a framework for the development of a South-South cooperation mutually successful”.

Since 1996, FAO's South-South program has worked to identify needed expertise and connect countries that can benefit from one another, helping deploy over 1,800 experts and technicians in more than 50 countries in the process.

The two-day South-South conference (Dec. 13-14) brought together agriculture ministers and high-level representatives of over 20African countries to exchange knowledge on water management, financing and innovation in family farming and build stronger collaboration based on shared experiences and challenges.

The Minister for Agriculture and Marine Fisheries of Morocco and host of the event, Aziz Akhannouch, said he hoped the high-level meeting would strengthen our "shared commitment to reduce the agricultural divide and guarantee food security through enhanced South-South cooperation in agriculture."

A relationship among equals

Graziano da Silva stressed the different perspective that South-South exchanges bring to international cooperation, as "a relationship among equals" that "breaks the traditional dichotomy between donors and recipients."

The approach is widely recognized as a cost-effective tool for sharing homegrown development initiatives, he said, adding that "this sharing is more than just technical assistance -- it is also an exercise in solidarity."

New South-South agreement

The conference occurred following the establishment by Morocco of a new South-South Cooperation Trust Fund at FAO in April 2014, which will facilitate the sharing of Moroccan expertise in Africa.

 With support from the fund, a tripartite South-South Cooperation agreement was signed on Sunday between FAO, Morocco and Mali.

The conference was attended by ministers from Burundi, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Mali, Morocco, Swaziland and Sudan.