The SSC concept gained international recognition in 1955 during the Bandung Conference that brought 29 African and Asian leaders together in Indonesia, and has been used for decades as a basis for academic research and voluntary cooperative efforts between Southern countries to promote South-South trade and investment.

SSC is the mutual sharing and exchange of key development solutions between and among countries in the global South. Knowledge sharing, capitalizing on experiences and good practices, policies, technologies or resources are the most common forms of cost-effective country-country cooperation.

The key underlying principles to SSC are solidarity, national ownership and leadership as well as respect for national sovereignty, mutual benefit, accountability and transparency, coordination of evidence- and results-based initiatives, involving a multi-stakeholder approach. , SSC is alternative and complementary to conventional North-South cooperation.

TrC involves two or more countries of the global South in collaboration with a third party, typically a multilateral institution, traditional resource partner, or emerging economy, facilitating SSC through the provision of technical or financial resources. For example Spain supported to SSC between Namibia and Viet Nam through the establishment of a USD 1.8 million Trust Fund that fielded Vietnamese experts to advice on how to boost Namibia’s aquaculture production.

The Global South-South Development Expo (GSSD Expo) is a UN forum dedicated to showcasing successful Southern-grown development solutions that contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). GSSD Expo was endorsed by the UN General Assembly Member States through the Nairobi Outcome Document in the High-level UN Conference on South-South Cooperation, held in Nairobi, Kenya in 2009.

The General Assembly of the United Nations decided back in 2003 to observe this day every year to highlight the importance of South-South Cooperation “as an important element of international cooperation for development, which offers viable opportunities for developing countries and countries with economies in transition in their individual and collective pursuit of sustained economic growth and sustainable development.”

It used to be celebrated on the 19 December, but in 2011, the UN General Assembly moved the date to 12 September to commemorate the adoption - that day in 1978 - of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action for Promoting and Implementing Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries.

FAO provides a tested framework for cooperation, setting SSC in a broader context to reach national food security and agricultural development goals. Quality is assured in line with FAO’s mandate and compliance with SSC principles. FAO’s country presence in over 153 country, sub regional and Regional Offices, enables the Organization to support the operational, logistical, and technical aspects of the exchange, and brings development cooperation to scale: through FAO Southern and triangular partners can participate in regional/ global initiatives supported by FAO and thus achieve greater impact which bilaterally would not have been possible. Greater visibility and outreach can be reached by partnering with FAO.

FAO is recognized as a leading player and facilitator of SSC for food security and agricultural development. FAO is one of the few UN organizations that has a Division for SSTC, with accompanying staff and regular programme funding.

The Organization helps connect SSC country demand and supply, as well as it ensures the quality of exchange. More and more countries are requesting support to FAO, recognizing its role as neutral broker. With over two decades of experience, FAO has been involved in fielding more than 2000 Southern Experts to over 80 host countries. Since 2012, the organization has put special emphasis to this way of cooperation to achieving its objectives.

Most of FAO’s SSC projects have been funded by Middle-Income Countries. In the last two years, financial contributors to SSC included Angola, Brazil, China, Korea, Japan, Morocco, Turkey, Uganda and Venezuela. Furthermore, new funding sources, such as the Africa Solidarity Trust Fund (ASTF) SSC Facility, have attracted more interest to SSC related projects.

FAO works across all the regions. Majority of its SSTC projects are implemented in Sub-Saharan Africa (45%), followed by Latin America and Caribbean (22%), Asia Pacific (12.5%), Near East and North Africa (12.5%) and Europe (8%).

The FAO-China SSC Trust Fund programme has had a huge impact. One aspect of the programme enabled countries to set-up their own trust fund, with FAO, to be able to bring in expertise in the agriculture sector. Nigeria for instance was able to set-up a trust fund of about $US40 million which enabled Chinese experts to be deployed to Nigeria. They shared technologies and innovations for the benefit of Nigeria.  

Similarly, in 2022, Uganda is setting up nearly a US$ 10 Million Trust Fund for a South-South Cooperation project with China. This project builds on two successful projects supported by the FAO-China SSC Trust Fund which yielded dramatic results, including a quadrupling of rice production per hectare.

The second major success has been the Brazilian school feeding programme which was adapted to a number of African countries: Senegal, Ethiopia, Malawi and others. The Brazilian national model centred on procuring food from family farmers for the schools. It meant increased production and incomes for the farmers, and better nutrition for the children. It shows to me very clearly that you can adapt a methodology to another continent and it can be very well received. 

Yes, we will be seeing more countries in the next few years, especially lower-middle income countries in Africa financing their own South-South programmes. For example, Sierra Leone wanting to establish a unilateral trust fund with FAO to be able to have Vietnamese experience-sharing on irrigation and the rice value chain. So, we will be having more countries from sub-Saharan Africa financing their own agricultural development and dictating which countries they would like to learn from.  

We will also see more countries from the Global North participating in Triangular Cooperation because it is a win-win for everyone. FAO is engaging with a number of partners already, including Germany, Netherlands and Ireland.

An FAO Quick Guidelines for Action 2022-2025 is available in Arabic, English, French, and Spanish. The guide encourages all stakeholders to engage in South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC), as a complementary instrument to conventional North-South Cooperation and key means to deliver to achieve the overarching Sustainable Development Goals.

FAO’s efforts will focus on four main areas:  stepping up knowledge generation including ensuring systems for monitoring, documenting and packaging results; growing networks and partnerships for SSTC; developing resource mobilization action plans and engaging with emerging middle-income countries from the South, emerging donors, triangular partners, the private sector and International Financial Institutions; and consolidating FAO’s expertise in match-making.