Leveraging South-South and Triangular Cooperation to achieve results - Proceedings of the IFAD Roundtable Discussion

On 7 July 2015, IFAD’s Strategy and Knowledge Department convened a roundtable discussion entitled “Leveraging South-South and Triangular Cooperation to Achieve Results”. The event benefited from contributions made by more than 50 participants, including both IFAD stakeholders (management, staff and Member State representatives) and participants representing IFAD grantees, sister institutions and partners, including: the African Development Bank, CIRAD, Embrapa, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Poverty Reduction Center in China, PROCASUR, the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation, the World Bank Group and the World Food Programme. The roundtable focused on four areas of discussion: (i) the evolving context – the ‘utility’, demand, supply, risks and opportunities – associated with delivering South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) activities; (ii) incorporating technical assistance exchanges, study tours, learning routes and similar activities into countries’ development strategies; (iii) using grant mechanisms to facilitate the transfer of development solutions through SSTC; (iv) developing knowledge hubs and other models. A number of observations, experiences and good practices were shared over the course of the day, and much of the richness of the discussion has been recorded in the following pages of this report. The most salient messages are presented in the Conclusions section and are summarized briefly below.