The duration of the SSC is usually 2-3 years. The organization, facilitation and fielding of experts to support the SPFS, NPFS and RPFS, within the framework of SSC, involves the following steps:

1. Country Request

A recipient country (host country) or an advanced developing country (cooperating country) makes an official request to FAO, expressing its wish to participate in the SSC initiative under a food security Programme.

FAO contacts the countries involved to confirm their formal agreement, and arrange for a joint SSC formulation mission. FAO informs potential donor/s who might financially support the Programme by providing tools and equipment to the experts and field technicians. FAO can support 2 SSC initiatives per host country.

2. Formulation

A joint FAO/cooperating country formulation team is fielded to work with the host country experts in designing the SSC agreement.

3. Preparation of South-South Cooperation agreement

FAO drafts the tripartite agreement between the cooperating Government, host Government and FAO, based on the joint formulation report. The agreement is then submitted to the Governments of the cooperating and host country for endorsement. The final agreement is signed in FAO headquarters by the representatives of the cooperating country, host country and FAO.

4. Terms and conditions

The SSC is a tripartite agreement, jointly prepared and signed by the cooperating country, the host country and FAO. When a donor wishes to contribute funds to SSC, it becomes a quadripartite agreement.