Brasília, 27 February 2026 – During the 39th Session of the FAO Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean (LARC39), to be held from 2 to 6 March 2026 in Brasília (DF), at the Itamaraty Palace, the Government of Brazil, through the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), will host a special exhibition space dedicated to the 18 years of the Brazil-FAO South-South Cooperation Programme.

Through photographs and videos, the exhibition will present the main results and impacts of the partnership implemented over this period in several countries across Latin America and the Caribbean.

Installed on the ground floor of the Itamaraty Palace, the exhibition will highlight initiatives aimed at strengthening family farming, promoting healthy school feeding, advancing responsible land tenure governance, developing urban agrifood systems, and expanding access to technologies and innovations in rural areas. It will also underscore the strategic role of women, men, youth, Indigenous Peoples and Afro-descendants as key actors in transforming agrifood systems across the region.

From rural areas to cities: cooperation that nourishes the future

Over these 18 years, more than 40,000 school feeding professionals in the region have been trained, contributing to the realization of the human right to adequate food in schools. The Sustainable Schools methodology, developed under the cooperation framework, has already benefited more than 1.6 million students in over 23,000 educational centers across 14 countries. With the creation of the Sustainable School Feeding Network (RAES), 18 member countries began promoting coordinated actions to strengthen school feeding and contribute to food and nutrition security for millions of students in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The cooperation also drives other strategic initiatives integrating food systems with environmental protection and sustainable development. Among them is the promotion of efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable urban agrifood systems, with special attention to vulnerable urban populations. This is complemented by efforts to strengthen public food supply systems, an essential tool to ensure efficient and affordable food distribution in urban centers.

In the production sphere, diversified cotton and food production systems have been promoted for 12 years as a strategy for sustainable rural development, with the support of more than 100 cooperating institutions. This initiative has already benefited more than 14,000 families and 10,000 producers, who have increased their incomes, accessed markets and innovated their production methods.

Responsible land tenure governance has also gained momentum in the region through knowledge exchange, sharing of good practices, and the promotion of innovative mechanisms in land administration systems. The cooperation further supports the development of public policies grounded in regional dialogue, through initiatives such as the Specialized Meeting on Family Farming (REAF Mercosur), contributing to strengthening family farming.

In the Central American Dry Corridor, together with the governments of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, technical and institutional capacities of ministries of agriculture are being strengthened to support decision-making on productive systems and the use of innovations, contributing to greater resilience and climate change adaptation.

The Brazil-FAO South-South Cooperation Programme is jointly implemented by ABC/MRE and FAO, in coordination with Brazilian partner institutions: the National Fund for Educational Development (FNDE), the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Family Farming (MDA), the National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA), the Brazilian Cotton Institute (IBA), the Ministry of Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight against Hunger (MDS), and the National Supply Company (CONAB), with additional support from the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), the Paraíba State Company for Research, Rural Extension and Land Regularization (EMPAER-PB), and the Brazilian Association of Cotton Producers (Abrapa).