China, Mongolia and the FAO have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for South-South Cooperation (SSC) tripartite agreement to implement the National Program for Food Security and the National Livestock Program
The aim of this agreement is to select and field Chinese experts and technicians who will make up the SSC team and assist with the implementation of the SSC programme in Mongolia.
During the course of two years, the Chinese government will closely collaborate with Mongolia in identifying, designing and implementing an SSC program in support of food security through the implementation of the two programmes. According to FAO, technical assistance will be provided by Chinese experts and technicians in areas like animal feed production, horticulture, poultry production, livestock and animal husbandry, bee farming and aquaculture to Mongolia.
Agricultural inputs and equipment will also be provided as appropriate for demonstration purposes, with the implementation of capacity development activities including technical training and exchanges, the UN organisation added.
José Graziano da Silva, FAO director-general, expressed his thanks to the contribution and support provided by China to the success of FAO’s South-South Cooperation initiatives for the improvement of global food security. ”China has been one of the important partners of FAO’s South-South Cooperation Program since it was launched in 1996,” da Silva said.
da Silva pointed out that the first phase of the South-South project had been successfully implemented. “Nineteen Chinese experts and technicians were involved in these efforts. They helped strengthen the capacity of their counterparts in implementing activities that contributed to the fulfillment of the National Program for Food Security of Mongolia. Based on the successful experience and results of the first phase of the project, Mongolia requested the implementation of a second phase of this South-South Cooperation,” the director-general added.
During the second phase, and on the basis of the expressed needs and objectives discussed with China, Mongolia will receive technical assistance from 12 experts and five technicians and Mongolia will provide the facilities and logistics support to host them. The programme is funded through the Chinese Trust Fund with a total budget of nearly US$1mn.
