FAO and Egypt join forces under South-South and Triangular cooperation

24 January 2023, Cairo – The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has met with the Egyptian Agency of Partnership for Development (EAPD) to discuss a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at strengthening their efforts in promoting south-south and triangular cooperation (SSTC) to boost the transformation of agrifood systems, improve food security, and support the global efforts towards the 2030 Sustainable Agenda.

The MoU, which is due to be signed in the coming weeks, is a testament of the strong efforts of FAO’s delegation led by Mr. Anping Ye, Director PST, coordinated by Mr. Nasredin Hag Elamin, FAO Representative in Egypt, and a delegation from the Egyptian Agency of Partnership for Development (EAPD) led by H.E Ambassador Achraf Ibrahim, the Secretary General of EAPD.

The new MoU underlines Egypt’s efforts to prioritize the sustainable development of agrifood systems in Egypt and Africa, which is in line with FAO’s strategic Framework 2022-2031. 

While acknowledging the effective contribution made by Egypt over past decades, Mr Ye emphasised the need for Egypt to further extend its technical excellence in support to countries in the region and beyond. Egypt will benefit from the experiences of countries across other regions at the same time, these skills could also be transferred to the African countries. Mr. Ye reiterated that South-South Cooperation is key to upscaling and sharing expertise to meet the 2030 Agenda. He also encouraged Egypt to intensify its involvement through SSTC; confirming FAO’s readiness to support these efforts.

The Secretary General of the EAPD appreciated the growing partnership between FAO and Egypt confirming that EAPD attaches high importance to this MoU, and requested the effective implementation of activities through this MoU. EAPD underlined high importance to the MoU suggested that FAO and Egypt strengthen their coordination to facilitate the process by which Egypt could consolidate partnerships with countries beyond the region.

FAO Representative in Egypt, Mr. Elamin recounted the high impact Egypt had achieved through extending support to South Sudan by supplying vaccines, which was immensely appreciated by the international community.

The two sides agreed on the importance of South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) as a complementary modality to bridge the technological gaps in support of sustainable development and eradication of poverty and hunger in the world, including in the Near East and North Africa region. The modality could also be instrumental to make resources available and FAO and EAPD agreed to join forces to mobilize resources through SSTC.

South-South Cooperation key to upscaling and sharing expertise to meet the 2030 Agenda

SSTC can play a pivotal role in accelerating progress towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This cooperation between and among countries of the Global South can act as a key delivery modality to catalyze agricultural development, food and nutrition security, rural development, and poverty reduction for the attainment of FAO's four betters- Better Production, Better Nutrition, Better Environment and Better Life -- leaving no one behind.