Following our workshop on the role of South-South cooperation in Brasilia, several participants (Lidia Cabral, Daniel Bradley and Iara Costa Leite) have blogged on the issues raised at the event.

Some short extracts, with links to the full posts, are below.

Lidia Cabral, FAC:

• · After the honeymoon: what would a happy marriage between Brazil and Africa look like?

“Brazil has much to offer in tropical agriculture science and technology, as well as first-hand experience on agriculture growth, smallholder farmer development and poverty reduction… Last week’s seminar was also a healthy warning about some of the myths and challenges underlying the glitter of the Brazil-Africa honeymoon.”

Daniel Bradley, DFID:

• Should traditional donors be interfering in South-South cooperation?

“So why was DFID supporting a workshop on the role of South-South cooperation?  Isn’t South-South supposed to be about southern voices, without ‘traditional donors’ getting in the way?

Well, as FAC workshop discussant Langton Mukwereza suggested, there’s a role for everyone – it’s not simply a case of out with the old and in with the new. And the workshop helped us take another small step towards the idea of a broader and more balanced network of development actors, linked through various forms of partnership.”

Iara Costa Leite, Articulação SUL:

• Brazilian provision of cooperation in agriculture: politics and paths

“In the context of global efforts aimed at achieving the Millennium Development Goals, particularly the first one, the Brazilian “path” has been internationally recognized as an example to be followed, especially by Sub-Saharan Africa, in order to tackle primary development challenges such as food security and the fight against hunger.

Such argument, however, has to be qualified taking into consideration national as well as international broader political dynamics.”

Blessings Chinsinga, FAC:

• What would it take to make Brazil-Africa cooperation work?

“The full extent of the Brazilian success story is yet to be told to the Africans who are keen to replicate it as soon as they can in their own countries. However, although the question of context with reference to politics, culture and society has not been fully addressed yet, it is a critical component of the Brazilian success story.”

Qi Gubo, China Agricultural University

• Brazil, China and Africa: options for adaptive cooperation in agriculture

“Adaptive cooperation… implies a wide range of choices for different countries. Whatever these alternatives may be, mutual respect is essential – as is a demand for cooperation from within African countries themselves.”