Brasília, September 16, 2024 – In the week that marked the United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation, the 5th Meeting of the Advisory Committee of the Brazil-FAO International Cooperation Program was held in Brasília on September 13. Since 2009, the Brazilian government and FAO have worked together for the sustainable, human, and institutional development of partners in various countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Currently, the Program develops trilateral South-South cooperation projects in areas such as school feeding, strengthening of the cotton sector, responsible land governance, family farming, and support for productive systems in countries of the Central American Dry Corridor.

Cecilia Malaguti, Head of South-South Cooperation with international organizations at the Brazilian Cooperation Agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (ABC/MRE), highlighted the Brazil-FAO Cooperation Program as "a reference for the design of other partnerships in the region." Malaguti explained that the Program falls under the trilateral South-South cooperation modality and aims to contribute to the creation and sharing of knowledge among partners, based on joint governance and implementation.

Maya Takagi, regional program leader at the FAO Regional Office, emphasized the importance of trilateral South-South cooperation in strengthening the capacities of countries in the region through the sharing of Brazil's experiences in areas such as family farming, food security, sustainable production, and productive inclusion. "Brazil is the most important partner in the Latin America and Caribbean region. We have over 15 years of uninterrupted collaboration in which we are seeking to innovate in governance through this advisory committee."

Future agendas and new cooperating Brazilian institutions

Representatives from the National Fund for Educational Development (FNDE), the National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA), the Ministry of Agrarian Development (MDA), the National Supply Company (CONAB), the Ministry of the Environment (MMA), the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture, the Brazilian Cotton Institute (IBA), and the Ministry of Social Development and Assistance, Family and Hunger Combat (MDS) were present.

The participating institutions discussed current government agenda topics that could shape new initiatives within the Program, involving new Brazilian institutions. Among the topics raised were: bioeconomy, plastic pollution, and genetic resources.

CONAB recently expressed its intention to start negotiations for the establishment of a project on public food supply systems. With MDS, the design of a cooperation project on food security will soon begin.

Representatives of the cooperating Brazilian institutions (IBC) already involved in the cooperation emphasized the importance of the Program and the progress made in countries in the region, such as legal frameworks for school feeding and the consolidation of the Sustainable School Feeding Network (RAES); sustainable agriculture and the use of machinery and technologies for the cotton chain; strengthening land access and governance; supporting civil society participation in regional bodies through the Specialized Meeting on Family Farming of Mercosur (REAF Mercosur); supporting water resource management in Central American countries, among other initiatives.