Agreement signed on the sidelines of FAO 40th Conference
Rome, 5 July 2017 – FAO and Costa Rica will deepen their technical cooperation to foster the exchange of development solutions, technology, technical information and experiences through South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC), so as to contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly in the countries of the global South.
Within the framework of an agreement signed today by FAO Director-General, José Graziano da Silva, and Ivannia Quesada Villalobos, Vice-Minister for Agriculture and Livestock of Costa Rica, the Central American country and FAO commit to collaborate in a wide range of fields, ranging from food security and nutrition, to the sustainable management of natural resources, livestock or rural development.
Graziano da Silva reaffirmed his commitment to SSTC. According to the FAO Director-General, it is \”an excellent mechanism for developing countries to share knowledge and resources together in a mutually supportive way, and to adapt experiences that have already worked well in one place for the benefit of others.\”
South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) have demonstrated their effectiveness in creating jobs, building infrastructure and promoting trade in the countries of the global South.
\”FAO provides an established and tested framework that guarantees the technical quality of SSTC exchanges while also facilitating relations with other countries, as well as the identification of recipients of Cooperation, thanks to their extensive presence and network of contacts in the global South,” Costa Rica’s Vice-Minister for Agriculture and Livestock, Ivannia Quesada Villalobos, said.
Building on Costa Rica’s experience in South-South Cooperation
Through this agreement with Costa Rica, FAO continues its efforts to foster a broad framework of collaboration among developing countries, which can also offer a complementary model to the traditional relationship between donors and beneficiaries through flexible cooperation schemes that allow innovative solutions.
The Organization unites its efforts to those of the Government of Costa Rica, which has already been carrying out SSTC through the Costa Rica Coopera Platform, \”as a way to transfer technologies, methodologies, knowledge and experiences by Costa Rican institutions and state agencies, to different organizations or public entities in third countries,\” said the Vice-Minister for Agriculture and Livestock of Costa Rica.
Training and technicians
SSTC is characterized by its flexibility in finding optimal and effective solutions to achieve cooperation between countries. Each country has something to offer, some way to collaborate and contribute in this type of exchange. In this case, Costa Rica will train staff and/or institutions from other countries of the global South in Costa Rica and, with the support of FAO, deploy technical experts from the Central American country to share their knowledge.
FAO South-South Cooperation Gateway
Costa Rica’s National Institute of Women (INAMU) and the Technological Institute of Costa Rica (TEC) will also join the FAO South-South Cooperation Gateway, a platform designed to exchange information on a wide range of institutions, and expertise on food and agriculture in the countries of the global South.
These institutions join the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) of Costa Rica, which is already part of this innovative platform. The Gateway serves as a starting point to facilitate SSTC among its member countries and provides an overview of SSTC initiatives facilitated by FAO.
Watch the Vice-Minister\’s remarks following the meeting:
