South-South Cooperation: Crucial for Transforming Agriculture

Opinion Piece by Dr Himanshu Pathak, Director General of ICRISAT

ICRISAT May 31 2025

Agriculture remains the backbone of livelihoods, employment, and food security across the Global South. From West African millet fields to South Asian rice paddies, the sector not only sustains communities but contributes significantly to national GDPs and employs a large share of the population, particularly women and youth. Yet, despite this central role, agriculture’s full potential to drive inclusive, long-term growth remains underutilized.

Persistent structural challenges continue to hold the sector back. Low productivity, climate vulnerability, land degradation, and limited access to finance and technology are compounded by shifting global dynamics. Development assistance is becoming less predictable, and traditional funding streams are narrowing as powerful geopolitical priorities change.

In this evolving landscape, countries in the Global South must increasingly look to one another, not just to traditional donors and partners, for collaborative, home-grown solutions.

This is where South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) becomes indispensable. The Global South is rich in Indigenous knowledge, context-specific technologies, and tested development models. Nations facing similar agroecological and socio-economic conditions are uniquely positioned to exchange relevant and resilient innovations. What’s needed now is the confidence and infrastructure to scale this cooperation, turning isolated successes into shared progress.

The history of the Green Revolution offers a compelling precedent. While often associated with scientific breakthroughs originating in the Global North, its real-world success was shaped and institutionalized in the Global South.

Countries like India, Mexico, and the Philippines were not mere recipients of imported technologies—they actively adapted, refined, and scaled innovations to suit their unique agricultural, social, and ecological contexts.

See https://pressroom.icrisat.org/south-south-cooperation-crucial-for-transforming-agriculture