Brazil and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), signed on Wednesday in Rome (Italy), to the FAO Headquarters, a new South-South cooperation agreement today worth $20 million, that aims to channel Brazilian expertise in cotton production to other developing countries.

The four year collaborative effort between FAO, the Brazilian Cotton Institute (Instituto Brasileño del Algodón, IBA) and the external cooperation wing of Brazil’s Foreign Relations Ministry (Agencia Brasileña de Cooperación, MRE) will target participating countries with technical assistance and training in best practices in cotton cultivation and marketing.

Experiences, technologies and techniques acquired through the effort will be captured and disseminated to promote further knowledge- and skills transfer.

The project will initially focus on Haiti and the MERCOSUR zone of South America, with a possible later extension into other developing countries in Latin America and Africa.

Brazil’s IBA is providing $10 million in financial support; the Brazilian Cooperation Agency is supplying an additional $10 million.

Beyond financial support, Brazil also has considerable experience in devising new technologies for the cotton production chain, including through cooperative rural development efforts undertaken with other developing-world cotton producers such as Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali.

For its part, FAO’s Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean will contribute $200 000 worth of nonfinancial support, including the provision of expertise and technical information as well as mobilizing its international networks in support of the effort.

"This agreement represents an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the effectiveness of South-South cooperation between developing-world partners as a vehicle for sustainable economic growth," declared José Graziano da Silva, FAO Director-General at an agreement signing ceremony.

HL/ HaitiLibre