South-South and Triangular Cooperation Featured Partner
About FAO
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Its goal is to achieve food security for all and make sure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active healthy lives. With over 194 member states, FAO works in over 130 countries worldwide.
FAO on South-South & Triangular Cooperation
FAO has embraced South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) as a key delivery modality to catalyze agricultural development, food security, rural development, poverty reduction, and nutrition over the past two decades. FAO has scaled up its support to SSTC since 2012, and the SSTC portfolio has been expanding in line with the progressive institutionalization of SSTC in FAO. During 1996-2017, more than 100 SSTC projects were implemented in FAO. In 2017- 2021, 68 projects have been/are being implemented under SSTC at the global, regional and country levels for a total of 163 million USD.
In 2020, FAO established a separate Division for South-South and Triangular Cooperation (PST) to scale up FAO’s SSTC programme, and to further leverage SSTC to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. A new SSTC Strategic Framework (2022-2025) has been developed this year. The main objective of the new SSTC Strategic Framework is to provide a results-focused vision and structure and to provide strategic direction for FAO’s SSTC programme so as to strengthen FAO’s position as global advocator, convener, broker, facilitator and enabler of SSTC in the area of agriculture and food systems.
The new Framework marks a shift from ad hoc SSTC activities to a more programmatic, focused, results-based, systematic, quality-assured and service-driven integrated approach to operationalizing SSTC in FAO. The primary focus of the Strategic Framework is to scale up SSTC technical and financial partnerships to support agriculture and food systems transformation and development in the Global South and contribute to the achievement of the Four Betters.
FAO is recognized by its Member Countries and Development Partners as an innovative, inclusive and trusted partner that fully leverages proven development solutions, resources, knowledge and technologies from the Global South to accelerate agricultural and food system transformations, food security, poverty reduction and sustainable use of natural resources.
In this new vision, FAO places greater emphasis on SSTC to support the implementation of the 2030 Development Agenda and to contribute to the SDGs achievement with State and non-State actors as well as financing mechanisms. The major contribution of SSTC is expected under SDG 17 (innovative partnerships) and, to different extents to other SDGs FAO is working towards (i.e. SDG1, SDG 2, SDG 10, etc.).
The FAO work on SSTC for 2022-2025 will be channeled into strategic focus areas (SAFs) describing the areas where, in the next 4 years, FAO would like to deliver and or/contribute to producing results:
- SAF 1: Advocacy and Agenda Setting
- SAF 2: Brokering Knowledge
- SAF 3: Partnerships and Collaborations
- SAF 4: Evidence base and Adaptive Learning
South-South Cooperation Modalities
FAO is widening the range of SSC modalities of exchange. These include:
- short-term exchange of technical expertise – deployment of experts or technicians to a country for an average of two months;
- medium- to long-term exchange of technical expertise – deployment of experts or technicians to a country for one to two years;
- study tours and training – short educational exchange between groups of participants (e.g. professors, technicians, ministers) as well as access to training courses offered by FAO’s centers of excellence;
- policy dialogue – forums for policy exchange at the national, regional or global level;
- in-kind and technical solution exchange, crosscutting the above – such as the exchange of agricultural inputs, small machinery, farm equipment and/or improved varieties and species.
Upcoming Event
RBAs Cerebration of the UN Day for SSC: Food Systems Transformation & Voices from the Global South, 17 September 2021
For the fifth consecutive year, FAO, IFAD and WFP are jointly organizing the celebration of the UN Day for South-South Cooperation (UN Day for SSC) – an annual event marked on 12 September 2021. This year, the RBAs event will take place on 17 September and will build on the commitment and focus of the RBAs to agri-food systems transformation. For more details, please click here.
Featured News
Featured Publications
FAO’S South-South and Triangular Cooperation to Achieve the SDGs: Fostering Partnerships among the Global South (FAO, 2018)
South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) is rapidly gaining ground as a powerful delivery mechanism in the development cooperation landscape. It has been recognized as a key means of implementing the…
Inspiration, Inclusion and Innovation: FAO–China South–South Cooperation Programme (2009–2019)
In 2009, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and China established a close collaboration through the FAO–China South-South Cooperation Programme, supported by a trust fund of…
Systematization of the Sustainable School Feeding Model & Proposition of Recommendations as Way Forwards to the Government of Belize (FAO, 2020)
Systematization of the Sustainable School Feeding Model and Proposition of Recommendations as Way Forwards to the Government of Belize “Mesoamerica Hunger-Free AMEXCID-FAO” in Belize “Mesoamerica Hunger-Free AMEXCID-FAO” is a South-South…
South-South and Triangular Cooperation in FAO: Strengthening Partnerships to Achieve the SDGs (FAO, 2019)
South-South cooperation (SSC) is an integral part of international cooperation for development. Grounded on its unique principles and flexible approaches, SSC, as a complement to NorthSouth cooperation, provides developing countries…
Follow FAO
