BRICS countries (Brazil, Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa) have taken the lead in recent global policy dialogues on economic, social and environmental issues. They are home to 3.1 billion people, representing 42 percent of the world’s population. Combined, BRICS have achieved the Millennium Development Goal of halving the prevalence of undernourishment by 2015. Building on their experience in reducing hunger, BRICS countries have also been instrumental in initiating mechanisms of South-South cooperation by supporting and promoting the establishment of nutrition-sensitive social protection systems in other developing countries. 

South-South Cooperation (SSC) is playing a greater role than ever before in the development cooperation landscape. Innovation in the global South is generating new tools and partnerships for tackling issues of food insecurity, poverty reduction and sustainable agriculture. The South offers wide-ranging development solutions – knowledge, experiences and good practices, innovative policies, technology, know-how, and resources – that have proven costeffective and have huge potential to be shared, adapted and adopted. The strategy is a response to growing demand from member countries to benefit from experiences of other Southern countries. It was adopted in 2013 after extensive consultations with national governments,...

South-South Cooperation (SSC) is a cost-effective mechanism for sharing knowledge, resources and developing capacities among countries of the global South. Global demand for successful SSC and Triangular Cooperation is at an all-time high and FAO’s Corporate SSC Strategy aims to facilitate SSC development solutions to achieve food security, poverty reduction and sustainable agriculture.

The Guide takes readers through a step by step process on how to engage in South-South Cooperation as a complementary instrument to North-South Cooperation, as a means to deliver on FAO’s mandate and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. It also provides the tools required to raise the profile of countries engaged in South-South Cooperation, as well as encourage others that have something to offer.

There is a growing consensus around the world, affirming South-South and Triangular Cooperation as effective instruments for catalyzing agricultural development. South-South Cooperation (SSC) is widely accepted as a complementary model of development cooperation to the traditional NorthSouth model, in overcoming common challenges and achieving food security, poverty reduction and the sustainable management of natural resources.