South–South and Triangular Cooperation is an established mechanism for the delivery of tried-and-tested solutions for Africa’s development aspirations, and food security and nutrition challenges. As SSTC continues to expand, its effectiveness will also grow.
FAO’s work to support South–South and Triangular Cooperation’s contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals is outlined in the Guidelines for Action 2022–2025. FAO’s efforts will focus on four main areas: i) stepping up knowledge generation, including ensuring systems for monitoring, documenting and packaging results; ii) growing networks and partnerships for SSTC; iii) 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 iv) consolidating FAO’s expertise in matchmaking.
In Africa, FAO will be working with lower-middle-income countries in the region to support them in sharing their best practices and lessons learned, including through the flagship Hand-in-Hand Initiative.
Partnership with regional blocs and institutions will also help facilitate SSTC learning exchanges.
the African Continental Free Trade Area will increasingly shape South–South and Triangular Cooperation
Looking further ahead, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will play a greater role in shaping South–South and Triangular Cooperation in the future. This huge African free trade area aims to promote sustainable socioeconomic development across the continent, and SSTC can be a useful vehicle for promoting and deepening trade and investment in Africa.
Under the AfCFTA, emerging economies will be encouraged to develop new trade partnerships and investment opportunities in Africa. Through South–South and Triangular programmes, FAO can assist these countries in developing a road map with an eye on fast-tracking development in the agriculture sector.
Through partnerships, the private sector will also be encouraged to play a greater role in SSTC in Africa, particularly recognizing their role in adopting, adapting and spreading new innovations and technologies.
At the core, country ownership of SSTC is vital for enduring success. Integrating SSTC into national plans is vital. FAO will not only continue to support countries to broker new partnerships, but also inspire new participants to take part in debates, norm-setting and other activities that help to establish ownership.
FAO remains committed, in collaboration with our partners in the Global South as well as traditional development partners, to supporting the efforts of African countries towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Agenda 2063.
back to top
Required citation:
FAO. 2022. FAO’s work on South–South and Triangular Cooperation in sub-Saharan Africa – Exchanging rice-farming knowledge and technology for food security. Rome. https://doi.org/10.4060/cc1960en
The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers, whether or not these have been patented, does not imply that these have been endorsed or recommended by FAO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned.
ISBN 978-92-5-136862-6 [FAO]
© FAO, 2022
Some rights reserved. This work is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO licence (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/igo/legalcode).
Under the terms of this licence, this work may be copied, redistributed and adapted for non-commercial purposes, provided that the work is appropriately cited. In any use of this work, there should be no suggestion that FAO endorses any specific organization, products or services. The use of the FAO logo is not permitted. If the work is adapted, then it must be licensed under the same or equivalent Creative Commons licence. If a translation of this work is created, it must include the following disclaimer along with the required citation: “This translation was not created by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). FAO is not responsible for the content or accuracy of this translation. The original [Language] edition shall be the authoritative edition.”
Disputes arising under the licence that cannot be settled amicably will be resolved by mediation and arbitration as described in Article 8 of the licence except as otherwise provided herein. The applicable mediation rules will be the mediation rules of the World Intellectual Property Organization http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/mediation/rules and any arbitration will be conducted in accordance with the Arbitration Rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).
Third-party materials.
Users wishing to reuse material from this work that is attributed to a third party, such as tables, figures or images, are responsible for determining whether permission is needed for that reuse and for obtaining permission from the copyright holder. The risk of claims resulting from infringement of any third-party-owned component in the work rests solely with the user.
Sales, rights and licensing.
FAO information products are available on the FAO website (www.fao.org/publications) and can be purchased through publications-sales@fao.org. Requests for commercial use should be submitted via: www.fao.org/contact-us/licence-request. Queries regarding rights and licensing should be submitted to: copyright@fao.org.
Cover photograph:
© FAO/Ozavogu Abdul
