Accelerating country-led progress towards zero hunger (SDG 2) through joint and complementary efforts of the Rome-Based UN Agencies (FAO, WFP, IFAD)
Objectives and Thematic Focus
- Overview of “key milestones” that are needed to make zero hunger a reality by 2030, and the contribution that South-South and triangular cooperation can make.
- Reflection of each agencies’ contribution towards this end, and on opportunities for complementarity of the RBA’s efforts in facilitating South-South and triangular cooperation for zero hunger.
Aspects to be explored during this session can include:
Overview of different organizational approaches to promote the achievement zero hunger through South-South and triangular cooperation:
IFAD: South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) has increasingly been recognized as a mutually reinforcing component of IFAD’s business model for contributing to better rural livelihoods in developing countries. In fact, SSTC is embedded as a priority area in IFAD’s Strategic Framework 2016-2025 and in the IFAD10 replenishment commitments. At the first meeting of the IFAD11 replenishment consultation in February 2017, SSTC was again underlined as a key area of importance for the IFAD11 period (2019-2021).
FAO: FAO’s SSC strategy of 2013 aims at mainstreaming SSTC as an effective delivering mechanism of FAO’s mandate and strategic objectives, both at headquarters as well as regional, sub-regional and country offices in the field. FAO’s SSTC strategy set out a broad vision aiming at making progress in four areas, including facilitating exchanges of development solutions at the grassroots level, promoting SSTC knowledge networks and platforms at the institutional level, providing upstream policy support at highest policy level and fostering an enabling environment for effective SSTC. The 40th FAO conference held in July 2017 further consolidated these efforts and its strategy in action by approving the transition of the SSC unit to the Partnerships and South-South Cooperation Division (DPS). This move will contribute to better aligning FAO’s work on SSTC with governments, non-state actors, civil society, private sector, academia, parliamentarians, and farmer’s organizations.
WFP: Further to WFP’s Policy on South-South and Triangular cooperation, facilitating SSTC is a way to expand WFP’s engagement with developing countries to support country-led progress towards SDG 2. In the context of WFP’s work with host governments, South–South cooperation can be an important source of support for nationally owned efforts, especially in three main areas: (1) Strengthening country capacities by facilitating countries’ cooperation with each other and strengthening country systems in areas such as social protection and safety nets and food security analysis, value chain development and support to smallholder farmers, supply chain processes, climate adaptation, disaster risk reduction and resilience, nutrition;(2) Joining forces with South-South and triangular partners including through in-kind or cash contributions, twinning arrangements, technology transfer, or joint advocacy support to inspire the adoption of sustainable pathways towards achieving zero hunger; and (3) Inspiring innovation as South-South cooperation can facilitate the identification of potential prototypes and their testing in real-world conditions.
Key mechanisms and achievements towards SDG 2 through SSTC:
IFAD: During IFAD’s Executive Board (EB) held in December 2016, the Fund’s refreshed strategy on South-South and Triangular Cooperation was welcomed by the EB and several countries have expressed support to furthering SSTC activities across countries in which IFAD is implementing projects. In order to promote and advance the SSTC activities within the Fund and to respond to its member’s request to increase such activities, IFAD is also planning to create an ad hoc SSTC Facility, starting from 2018.
FAO: FAO’s SSTC was officially initiated in1996, and a specific unit dedicated to SSTC was set up in 2012, which has helped boost FAO’s SSTC activities. In the past decades, FAO has mobilized over USD 370 million from more than 30 resource partners and near 200 MoUs and project agreements have been signed. SSTC projects have been implemented in over 90 countries, and currently 37 SSTC projects are ongoing. FAO SSTC projects can be categorized, by funding resource, into trust fund project, unilateral trust fund project, triangular cooperation project and regular fund project. The major modalities of FAO’s SSTC include deploying expert to target countries; organizing study tours, training course, workshops, and policy dialogues.
WFP: WFP promotes SSTC through a diversified approach to South-South modalities, including WFP’s network of Centres of Excellence in partnership with Brazil and China, expert deployments, intra-regional collaboration, demonstration sites, peer coaching networks, policy dialogue, technology transfer, academic partnerships or options for joint emergency response. To date, 62% of WFP Country Offices are engaged in brokering and supporting host governments on South-South initiatives.
Contribution and complementarity of each agency’s approach within the RBA partnership on SSC:
The Rome-Based UN Agencies (FAO, IFAD and WFP) have similar mandates, with each one bringing in different but complementary strengths that make the RBA partnership and support to host governments in efforts to achieve SDG 2 very valuable. The last part of the presentation will explore those complementary strengths and unlock opportunities for further collaboration.
Concrete Outcomes:
- Options for a possible joint RBA “roadmap” towards BAPA+40” through collaboration on brokering South-South and triangular cooperation with a focus on SDG 2.
- The roadmap could include elements such as an action plan with concrete deliverables, suggestions for joint events (e.g. SSC Day) leading up towards BAPA+40, publications, knowledge platforms, but also joint operational collaboration on the ground by leveraging on each organization’s strength (e.g. identification of joint collaboration project with a complementary SSC component).
Agenda
Moderator: Ms. Xiaojun Grace Wang, Deputy Director of the United Nations Office for South-South and Triangular Cooperation
Opening Remarks by Mr. Jorge Chediek, United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on South-South Cooperation and Director of the United Nations Office for South-South and Triangular Cooperation
Session I: Overview of organizational approaches to promote the achievement of zero hunger through South-South and triangular cooperation
Participants:
- Dr. Dongxin Feng, Deputy Director, Partnership and South-South Cooperation Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
- Mr. Ashwani Muthoo, Director, Global Engagement, Knowledge and Strategy Division, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
- Mr. Kenn Crossley, Deputy Director, Policy and Programme Division, World Food Programme (WFP)
Session II: Key mechanisms and achievements towards zero hunger through South-South and Triangular Cooperation
Participants:
- Dr. Dongxin Feng, Deputy Director, Partnership and South-South Cooperation Division, FAO
- Dr. Sixi Qu, Director, China Centre for Excellence, WFP
- Ms. Dina Saleh, Country Programme Manager for Georgia and Turkey, Near East, North Africa and Europe Division, IFAD (TBC)
- Dr. Ufuk Tansel Sireli, Professor on Food Security, University of Ankara (TBC)
Session III: Joint Initiative on RBA – SSC Roadmap: An action plan towards BAPA+40
Briefing on the RBA – SSC Roadmap:
- Dr. Dongxin Feng, Deputy Director, Partnership and South-South Cooperation Division, FAO
- Mr. Ashwani Muthoo, Director, Global Engagement, Knowledge and Strategy Division, IFAD
- Mr. Kenn Crossley, Deputy Director, Policy and Programme Division, WFP
Session IV: Question & Answer
- All panelists
Closing Remarks
- Ms. Xiaojun Grace Wang, Deputy Director of the United Nations Office for South-South and Triangular Cooperation
Moderator

Dr. Xiaojun Grace Wang
Deputy Director for Programmes and Operations at the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC)
Dr. Xiaojun Grace Wang is the Deputy Director for Programmes and Operations at the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC). Dr. Wang brings to the position extensive senior leadership experience in brokering knowledge exchange, facilitating partnerships, and strengthening the capacities of countries to engage in South-South and triangular cooperation. She dedicates strong efforts to ensure that the larger potential of South-South and triangular cooperation for sustainable development are reflected in both programmes and policymaking dialogues.
Ms. Wang has most recently served as the Lead Advisor on South-South and Triangular Cooperation at the United Nations Development Programme’s Bureau for Policy and Programme Support. In that capacity, she initiated and spearheaded the establishment of the Global Coalition of Think Tank Networks for South-South Cooperation – the South-South Global Thinkers Initiative, jointly supported by UNOSSC and UNDP.
Opening Remarks

Mr. Jorge Chediek
Envoy of the Secretary-General on South-South Cooperation and UNOSSC Director
Since October 2015, Mr. Chediek has been the Director of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation leading United Nations system-wide promotion and coordination of South-South cooperation for development.
Prior to this, he served as the Resident Coordinator/United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative in Brazil (2010-2015). In that capacity, he was also the Director of the International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth, UNDP’s global forum for policy dialogue and South-South learning on social development innovations. He served as Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative in Peru (2005-2010); United Nations Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative in Nicaragua (2001-2005); Deputy Resident Representative in Cuba (1999-2001); Deputy Resident Representative in Uruguay (1996-1999); Programme Management Officer, Regional Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States in New York (1994-1996); and Programme Officer and then Assistant Resident Representative in Turkey (1990-1994).
Preceding his United Nations career, Mr. Chediek worked at the Department of Legislative Analysis of the Argentinean Congress and as an independent consultant assisting in the design of financial investment systems in Argentina.
Born in 1960, he holds a Master of Science in foreign service (honors) from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and a Bachelor of Science (“Licenciado”) in political science from Catholic University in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Panelists

Mr. Kenn Crossley
Deputy Director of Policy and Programme Division, United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)
Responsible for Cash based Transfer, Social Protection and Safety Nets and Climate Risk management. He has also held posts for WFP as Chief of Hunger Solutions, Deputy Country Director in Cambodia, and Deputy Director of US Government Relations. Previous programme experience includes filed assignments with WFP, UNICEF, and the Canadian International Development Agency in southern Africa, Kenya, and pre-independence south Sudan. A Canadian national, Mr. Crossley holds a Masters Degree in Philosophy from the University of British Columbia.

Dr. Feng Dongxin
Deputy Director of the Partnerships and South-South Cooperation Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Feng Dongxin is now the Deputy Director of the Partnerships and South-South Cooperation Division (DPS) of FAO, and in charge of South-South Cooperation.
Before joint FAO, she worked in Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS). She used to work as a plant pathologist for 19 years and published 8 books and more than 50 papers in world-class academic journals, including papers (as first author) published in Plant Cell, New Phytologist, Phytopathology, among others. She moved to the Department of International Cooperation of CAAS in 2005 and became the Director General of the Department in 2015.She received her B.S. (1986) in agronomy from Hebei Agricultural University, China, and M.S. (1998) in Plant Pathology from the Graduate School of CAAS, China, and Ph.D. (2003) with greatest distinction in Molecular Plant Pathology from Université Toulouse III (Paul Sabatier), France.
Dr. Feng served as Chair of RCA (Regional Cooperative Agreement for Nuclear Science and Technology for Asia and the Pacific) (2012-2013), Director of Lead Shepherd Office of the APEC’s ATCWG (Agricultural Technology Cooperation Working Group) (2009-2014) and Lead Shepherd of ATCWG (2015-2017), and member of IAEA’s SAGNA (Standing Adversary Group for Nuclear Application, International Atomic Energy Agency) (2015-2017).

Mr. Ashwani K. Muthoo
Director, Global Engagement, Knowledge and Strategy Division, International Fund for Agricultural Development
Ashwani K. Muthoo, a national of India, has extensive experience in international cooperation, agriculture development, management and development evaluation. He currently holds the position of Director of the Global Engagement, Knowledge and Strategy division in the Strategy and Knowledge Department at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
Prior to his current position, he was Deputy Director of the Independent Office of Evaluation of IFAD, and evaluated development policies, strategies and operations in all geographic regions. In particular, one of his most significant evaluations was on agriculture in Africa jointly with the African Development Bank. He has also undertaken many assessments and studies of development interventions in Brazil and numerous African countries including Kenya, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe and several others.
Mr. Muthoo is fluent in English, Hindi, Italian and Portuguese, and understands French and Spanish. He was educated in Brazil, India, Italy, and the United Kingdom.

Dr. QU Sixi
Director of WFP China Office, United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)
Dr. QU Sixi was Born in 1963 in Hunan province in South China. He graduated from China Agriculture University and holds a Doctor’s degree in management.
QU joined China Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) in 1984 as Project Officer for FAO affairs and UNDP-funded agricultural projects at the Department of International Cooperation. From 1987-1989, he was seconded by MOA to FAO China office to work as a secretary. From 1992-1993, he was seconded by MOA to WFP China office to work as Senior Programme Officer. During 1994-2003, he was first Deputy Division Director, Division Director and later Deputy Director General responsible for cooperation with FAO and WFP as well as bilateral cooperation with American/Oceanic/Asian/African Countries. From 2004-2012, he worked as the Director-General, Center for International Cooperation Service, Ministry of Agriculture, for bilateral agricultural cooperation/technical exchange programmes and technical support. From July 2012 until March 2016, he served as the Counsel (Director General level) at the Department of International Cooperation responsible for multilateral affairs related to FAO and WFP as well as CGIAR, G20, APEC and ESCAP in agriculture. He joined WFP in April 2016 as the Director of WFP China Office.
Dr. QU is married with one daughter.
Dr. Ufuk Tansel Sireli
Ankara University
Ms. Dina Saleh
Country Programme Manager for Georgia and Turkey, Near East, North Africa and Europe Division, IFAD
Focal Point Contact Details
Overall Coordinator: Lars Thomann, SSC Unit (DPSS), FAO, lars.Thomann@fao.org, +39 0657053542; Elena Bertusi, SSTC Consultant, IFAD, e.bertusi@ifad.org, +39 0654592468; JIA Yan, SSTC Focal Point, WFP, yan.jia@wfp.org, +39 0665136523
Communications Focal Point: Alberto Trillo Barca, SSC Unit (DPSS), FAO, alberto.trillobarca@fao.org, +39 0657052334; David Paqui, Regional Communications Officer, IFAD, d.paqui@ifad.org, +39 0654592213; Adriana Bianco, SSC Team, WFP, adriana.bianco@wfp.org, +39 0665133488