The Guide takes readers through a step by step process on how to engage in South-South Cooperation as a complementary instrument to North-South Cooperation, as a means to deliver on FAO’s mandate and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. It also provides the tools required to raise the profile of countries engaged in South-South Cooperation, as well as encourage others that have something to offer.

There is a growing consensus around the world, affirming South-South and Triangular Cooperation as effective instruments for catalyzing agricultural development. South-South Cooperation (SSC) is widely accepted as a complementary model of development cooperation to the traditional NorthSouth model, in overcoming common challenges and achieving food security, poverty reduction and the sustainable management of natural resources.

Brazil has made tremendous progress in reducing malnutrition. In 1990, 14.8 percent of the population suffered from hunger; the figure is now just 1.7 percent. This remarkable transformation owes much to the country’s school feeding programme. By 2014, the programme was supplying approximately 43 million pupils with one or more servings of food per day, in almost 250 000 schools across the country. By Brazilian law, at least 30 percent of the food must be sourced from family farms, thus providing significant benefits to over 120 000 rural families. 

Under the Nigeria-China SSC programme, which is facilitated by FAO, nearly 700 Chinese experts have been deployed to Nigeria since 2003, with assignments of two years or more. These experts have been introducing new technologies, exchanging best practices and sharing knowledge and experiences with their Nigerian counterparts in technical areas such as irrigation, crop production, livestock production, aquaculture and apiculture. 

FAO is recognized as a leading facilitator of South-South Cooperation (SSC) for food security and agricultural development. With over two decades of experience, FAO has helped to “make the match” between Southern country demand and supply, as well as ensure the quality of exchange. Middle Income Countries (MICs) are increasingly contributing to the global development agenda, and many are leading figures in SSC, providing technical expertise and financial support to countries in the South.