Vietnamese delegation from MARD visited Sierra Leone in February 2023

Viet Nam-based experts visited Sierra Leone to contribute alongside FAO officers to the formulation of a rice development project, as part of the FAO South South Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) programme.

It is expected that over the course of this four-year project, Viet Nam will provide its expertise in rice-value-chain development to Sierra Leone. This project will support diverse actors to increase productivity and production of rice through increased access to improved technologies and upscaling of best practices along the rice value chain in Sierra Leone.

Since 1996, FAO has been working at central and decentralized levels to promote SSTC amongst its Member States as a means to reduce poverty and hunger, while promoting sustainable agrifood systems.

The SSTC Guidelines for Action, a key tool to scale up SSTC technical and financial partnerships in support of agrifood systems transformation, is one of the many ways in which FAO is spearheading and mainstreaming SSTC.

FAO's South-South Cooperation endeavors to facilitate the exchange and transfer of agricultural knowledge and expertise among developing countries. By leveraging proven innovations and best practices from the global South, countries grappling with similar challenges can benefit from these collaborative efforts.

With regards to the development of the rice sector in African countries in particular, FAO has supported, through SSC, major rice-producing countries such as Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda to address the challenges facing their rice value chains.

Through country-level capacity-building, regional knowledge exchange events and study tours, FAO has extensively facilitated the sharing of good practices, lessons learned and the dissemination of analysis on rice value chains. In carrying out these functions, FAO has established strong partnerships with institutions such as the Africa Rice Centre (AfricaRice) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), bringing their expertise to the benefit of target beneficiaries.