Mobilizing the potential of South-South and Triangular Cooperation

On the sidelines of the World Food Forum and FAO’s Committee on Food Security, Mr Anping Ye, Director of the South-South and Triangular Cooperation Division (PST), of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and his team, met with both longstanding and new South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) partners, to further disseminate FAO’s work in SSTC.

Recognizing the valuable work carried out by the International Center for Bio Saline Agriculture (ICBA),United Arab Emirates, a discussion was undertaken with Dr. Tarifa A. Alzaabi, ICBA Director General, on how to strategically join forces on a series of potential SSTC activities.

Some key priority areas were identified, such as finding intersections with FAO on millet expertise, technologies and knowledge sharing via SSTC, in line with this year’s International Year of Millets. COP28 will also be a key moment for both Organizations to meet for further discussions on ways to raise awareness in this area.

Dr. Tarifa A. Alzaabi also reiterated the importance of breaking the silos, when it comes to creating efficient networks, to work on a set of common goals, such as addressing the issue of water scarcity, and for FAO and ICBA technical experts to devise joint solutions.

Mr Anping Ye and his delegation from FAO headquarters, thanked Dr. Tarifa A. Alzaabi for her support to SSTC and confirmed PST’s willingness to work with ICBA to jointly mobilize resources for potential pilot projects to establish research networks able to address agrifood transformation with a focus on climate change and other related issues.

The PST delegation also met with Dr. Abdullah Abdulrahman Al-Sumait, Director General of DirectAid, Kuwait, and his entourage, who provided PST with an extensive presentation of the important contributions DirectAid is providing, especially in the African continent.

Since DirectAid is a provider of developmental and integrated services in Africa through social centers, synergies were discussed with PST on agribusiness incubation systems, and on the Rome-Based Agencies’ (RBAs) new programme on Home-Grown School Feeding (HGSF), which ultimately will offer key benefits for farmers, supporting local food production and economies, and promoting sustainable local markets for diverse, nutritious foods.

Both parties expressed appreciation of their reciprocal support and reiterated the importance of SSTC and its fundamental role within any development project.

In order to further boost the key longstanding cooperation with Brazil, the PST team led by Mr. Ye also met with a delegation from the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC/MRE).

Brazil is one of the most important SSTC partners in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region, having contributed USD 58.8 million thus far, who confirmed its willingness to work closely with PST on new SSTC projects.

Brazilian counterparts also highlighted the importance of the newly established Center for Trilateral South-South Cooperation in Brazil, which will focus on knowledge, research, expertise, and new technologies related to tropical agriculture.  

Mr Anping Ye confirmed his support of Brazil’s SSTC endeavors and stated that the Center could also benefit from the FAO-China South-South Cooperation Centers of Excellence.

A preliminary consideration was made regarding hosting next year’s United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation (UNSSC Day) in Brazil, which seemed to be welcomed by all counterparts. This event will be further discussed with the other two RBAs, in order to mainstream the joint work on Home Grown School Feeding (HGSF).

The ongoing SSTC programmes between Brazil, FAO and WFP are an example of successful cooperation aimed at supporting different programmes including school feeding in developing countries, by leveraging the well-known Brazil’s experience in this area.

With a view to incrementing FAO’s SSTC activities in the Asia and the Pacific Region, PST also met with counterparts from the People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Republic of Indonesia. Both discussions identified key potential joint SSTC activities.

The Hon. Dr. Muhammad Abdur Razzaque, Minister of Agriculture for the People's Republic of Bangladesh, expressed his appreciation of FAO’s willingness to provide further information on how the Organization is providing SSTC support to its Member Countries. He also stressed the importance for his country to invest in processing technologies, knowledge transfer and capacity development opportunities.

PST team stressed its willingness to initiate a collaboration through SSTC to provide technical assistance in implementing the PARNER project, a large agriculture project funded by the World Bank and IFAD. Mr. Anping Ye also highlighted the Unilateral Trust Fund (UTF) success story of Uganda, which could be replicated in the People's Republic of Bangladesh.

Discussions with Dr. Ade Canndradijaya, Director for Bureau of International Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, Republic of Indonesia, and his team, focused on potential collaboration with, and support from the SSTC team in FAO, to enrich the design and structure of the upcoming Fiji Center and activities regarding the existing Memorandum of Understanding.

The PST delegation also reiterated the importance of further strengthening joint SSTC collaboration with Indonesia’s neighboring countries. 

In line with FAO’s Guidelines for Action, FAO is scaling up SSTC technical and financial partnerships to support agriculture and food systems transformation and development in the Global South and contribute to the achievement of better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life, leaving no one behind.

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