Global South and Triangular Cooperation: Emerging Facets

3–4 June 2025. New Delhi. 

Conference on Global South and Triangular Cooperation: Emerging Facets.

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), in collaboration with the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), launched the ICRISAT Centre of Excellence for South-South Cooperation in Agriculture (ISSCA). 

The initiative aims to accelerate agricultural innovation and collaboration across the Global South. The launch also featured the signing of a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between ICRISAT and DAKSHIN (Development and Knowledge Sharing Initiative) - a Government of India initiative focused on strengthening South-South cooperation through capacity building and development partnerships.

An emerging modality of engagement being spearheaded by the Global South comprise of various models of Triangular Cooperation as a hybrid collaboration of the North and the South, strongly embedded on principles of ownership, horizontality and partnership that has the potential to emancipate countries from debilitating dependence and encourage them to expand capacities for sustainable future. The important issue of enhanced development cooperation, along with development financing has been articulated at multiple levels by member governments including from the Global South, G7 and others. The G20 during the Indian presidency in 2023 emphasized the need to enhance North-South, South-South and Triangular Cooperation (TrC) and the Brazilian G20 presidency in 2024 made trilateral cooperation one of its priorities.

A cursory study of TrC projects demonstrates value addition, enables home-grown innovations in developing country pivots to test for scale and replication, and builds better trust among all stakeholders on account of participative decision making.

• Background Note # 6 pp.
• Tentative Agenda # 13 pp.

03/06 Special Session on Agriculture as Driver of Growth in the Global South in partnership with ICRISAT

Agriculture remains a cornerstone of livelihoods, employment, and food security across the Global South. The sector contributes significantly to GDP and employs a large share of the population,

particularly women and youth. However, the potential of agriculture to drive sustained, inclusive growth is often underutilized due to structural challenges such as low productivity, climate vulnerability,

land degradation, and limited access to finance and technology. Key issues:

• Examining the transformation of agriculture into a highvalue, technology-driven sector including the role of agri-tech, precision farming, and digital infrastructure.
• Revisiting Cross-country knowledge sharing through South-South and Triangular Cooperation, and policy frameworks and institutional innovations supporting rural transformation

Speakers:

• 
  Special Address by Dr M. L. Jat, Secretary-DARE & Director General, ICAR, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India
• Professor Sachin Chaturvedi, Vice Chancellor, Nalanda University and Director General, RIS
• Dr Himanshu Pathak, Director General, ICRISAT, India
• Ms Ama Brandford-Arthur, SSTC Global Technical Coordinator, Department for Country Operations, IFAD, Italy @2:53:31
• Ms Archna Vyas, Director, Gates Foundation, New Delhi
• Ambassador Ashraf Rashed, Chairperson, COMESA Committee of Elders, Egypt
• Professor (Dr) Govind Raj Pokharel, former Vice-Chairperson, National Planning Commission, Nepal
• Professor Joseph Keiyah, Deputy Director, KIPPRA, Kenya

03/06 Action Labs on Successful Case Studies and Sectoral Specificities of Triangular Cooperation

Action Lab I: Agriculture, Health, SMEs, Entrepreneurship and Digital Solutions 

• Co-Chair: Mr Chaman Lal Dhanda, Head, Triangular Cooperation, India Component, GIZ, India
• Co-Chair: Dr Saravanan Raj, Director, National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE), India
• Ms Dima Al-Khatib, Director, UNOSSC, New York US (Online)
• Mr Manuel Mera, Director Social Protection, CIPPEC, Argentina
• Dr Manuel Gonzalo, Research Professor, The Argentine Council for International Relations (CARI), Argentina
• Dr Beatriz Muriel, Executive Director, INESAD, Bolivia
• Ms Temwa Disi, Founder, Temwanani Agri Food's Enterprise, Malawi (Online)
• Dr Jayanta Choudhury, Professor, Nagaland University, India
• Mr Anal Raj Bhattarai, CEO, N.R.N Nepal Development Fund, Nepal

04/06 Valedictory Session:  Preparing for Future Global South Partnerships

In the fractured multilateral space, this high-level panel charted the path for future global partnerships in general, and in/of the Global South in particular.

• Co-Chair: Mr Dammu Ravi, Secretary, Economic Relations, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India* 
• Co-Chair: Mr Pradeep S. Mehta, Secretary General, CUTS International, India
• Key Takeaways: Professor Sachin Chaturvedi, Vice Chancellor, Nalanda University and Director General, RIS 
• Dr Sabyasachi Saha, Associate Professor, RIS
• Dr Dushni Weerakoon, Executive Director, Institute of Policy Studies, Sri Lanka
• Dr Posh Raj Pandey, Chair Emeritus, South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment, Nepal
• Dr Carlos Correa, Executive Director, The South Centre, Switzerland 
• Professor N. R. Bhanumurthy, Director, Madras School of Economics, India
• Vote of Thanks: Dr Sushil Kumar, Assistant Professor, RIS 

DAKSHIN – Global South Centre of Excellence

DAKSHIN - Global South Centre of Excellence emanates from an announcement made by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, during the 1st Voice of Global South Summit in January 2023.

DAKSHIN stands for Development and Knowledge Sharing Initiative. It endeavours to assist relevant stakeholders and partners in the identification and implementation of scalable and sustainable solutions that can transform the economies and societies of countries of Global South.

22 January 2025. Sustainable Agriculture and Agro-Ecological Approaches in the Global South.