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 April 2010, 40 agreements have been signed - the most recent in March 2010, between Chad and Vietnam. See the adjacent table for other SSC.

By April 2010, 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.

Technical support to NPFS and RPFS is being increased significantly by making more strategic use of SSC potential. While practical constraints like language barrier, remuneration, etc. are being addressed, the SSC initiative has the potential of reaching out quickly to large numbers of people at a relatively low cost with appropriate technology. Efforts are presently under way for FAO to move towards Strategic SSC Alliances nwith selected countries in support of NPFS and RPFS. A recent exemple is the agreement reached with China, in March 2010, on the establishment of USD 30 million trust fund in support of SSC in selected countries, under which new SSC agreeemnts are currently under signature process between the first group of frican countries and China. Other agreements through Strategic Alliances have been signed with Indonesia and Agentina and are under discussion with India and Morocco. 

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.