FAO organizes special South-South Cooperation (SSC) agreements, so that technicians and experts from emerging developing countries can work directly with farmers in host countries, sharing their knowledge and skills.

Up to mid-2007, 39 agreements have been signed - the most recent in January 2007, between Gabon and China. See the adjacent table for other SSC.

By mid-2007, over 1400 experts and technicians had worked in the field, on SPFS, NPFS and RPFS projects. FAO is committed to making SSC a key component of its SPFS activities.

In 2006, FAO entered into a strategic alliance with the Government of China to deploy an additional 3 000 SSC experts and technicians to national and regional food security Programmes. An agreement with China was signed 18 May 2006. In mid-2007, a similar arrangement was at an advanced stage of discussion with the Government of India.

Providing this level of expertise will strengthen the role and impact of SCC support to NPFS and RPFS, in terms of an increased number of experts and technicians, and technical coverage, and it is expected to lead to the rapid improvement in the livelihood of small-scale rural producers.