Technical assistance projects financed by the recipient countries themselves from their own national resources or from loans, credits and grants made by International Financing Institutions, are called Unilateral Trust Funds (UTF).

Many countries, particularly the more advanced developing countries, can afford to finance technical assistance projects in their own countries but may have a specific need for additional technical expertise to formulate and implement development projects. Enlisting FAO's support and drawing on the Organization's experience, may enable them to design and launch major programmes aimed at creating the conditions for sustainable food production through diversification and intensification of agricultural practices.

Countries as diverse as Brazil, Iran, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia andVenezuela, and have used this type of FAO Trust Fund to finance several million dollars worth of projects within its own borders every year.

In the past eight years (2000-2008), a total of USD 595.04 million were approved for UTF projects all over the world, which represents a 7,85 percent of the total extrabudgetary funds received by FAO. Countries like Afghanistan, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Mexico, Nepal, Pakistan, and Tajikistan each approved projects for an aggregate of more than USD 5 million in 2008.

In addition to financing by the countries themselves, in recent years the World Bank, regional development banks and IFAD are increasingly contributing to UTFs.