Despite progress in reducing both the number of undernourished persons and the prevalence of undernourishment in recent decades, people living in rural areas have been left behind, with many continuing to face grinding poverty and hunger. In particular, smallholder farmers in remote and mountainous areas, drought and desertification- affected regions and small island developing states encounter constant challenges for growing crops, putting them at risk of poverty and hunger. The socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic has further compounded these challenges, adding urgency to the call to galvanize action and delivery of the SDGs and the eradication of poverty and hunger, particularly in rural areas. Inadequate land use patterns and lack of sufficient arable land, land degradation, and desertification compound the perennial problems of poverty and hunger in many developing countries. Juncao technology that the National Engineering Research Centre of the Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University of China has developed, has allowed smallholder farmers to grow nutritious mushrooms from dried, chopped grasses, without cutting down trees and damaging the environment. This environmental-friendly technology can help small-scale farmers and farming communities to develop a low-cost, commercial-scale mushroom cultivation industry that can provide sustainable livelihood options for family farmers and rural entrepreneurs along agri-food value chains. In addition, the technology can also be used for producing cattle feed, methane gas as a renewable source of energy and minimize soil erosion. The key beneficiaries of the project will be small-holder farmers, people living in poverty, women and youth, rural entrepreneurs along agri-food value chains, agriculture experts, and policymakers from relevant line ministries and government agencies, in particular in the ministries/agencies of agriculture, forestry, and of planning and economic development and  other stakeholders who would be equipped with the technology. Research scientists in the participating project countries will also benefit from the project as they will be able to enhance their knowledge and understanding of all aspects of the technology through study tours and online classes. Through south-south cooperation, this project aims to enhance knowledge and strengthen national capacities of developing countries to improve their policies and programmes supporting sustainable agriculture through the transfer of Juncao technology, contributing to getting back on track and accelerating global efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. In particular, the project will address rural poverty and hunger, decent job deficits and inequality as key levers to getting back on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The project will also advance efforts from development partners such as the Initiative on Partnership for Africa’s Development that was jointly launched by the People’s Republic of China and African Union on 28 May 2021. The Initiative aims at garnering more support for Africa’s post-pandemic recovery and development by increasing international support to Africa in such areas as response to COVID-19 , post-COVID reconstruction, sustainable development, agriculture, agro-industry, environmental protection, and scientific and technical cooperation. The main stakeholders that will be involved in the implementation of the project will include DESA/DSDG, as the lead implementing entity, and the National Engineering Research Centre for Juncao Technology of the Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University of China. Partners such as the AUDA-NEPAD Agency will also be engaged to implement the project in Africa. The expected results of the project are (1) enhance agricultural productivity and added value of agricultural products by building the knowledge and capacities of smallholder farmers’ and agricultural researchers to adopt Juncao technology in the project countries; (2) enhanced capacities of smallholder farmers, agricultural researchers and entrepreneurs along agri-food value chains in the products and use of Juncao technology; (3) foster the creation of decent work in rural areas and related off-farm activities, especially for women and young people; (4) enhanced capacities of policymakers in relevant ministries to implement the transfer of Juncao technology through South-South cooperation, including through exchanging experiences, best practices and expertise, and to formulate specific policy changes, including extension systems that provide quality services to smallholder farmers and services to enhance business, marketing and entrepreneurial skills for agricultural products from small-scale producers, focusing particularly on women and youth, who tend to have less access to these resources; and (5) the establishment of a network of practitioners from the project countries who would continue to support one another with continued implementation of the technology after the life of this project.

When good-quality administrative systems are in place and their information is regularly updated, they can reliably provide a full picture of key aspects of a country’s population or economy on a continuous basis. Data collected for administrative purposes can be a rich and cost-efficient source for the production of timely and high-quality official statistics, especially to address the urgent need for disaggregated data on SDG indicators to ensure no one is left behind in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. However, many countries still lack the infrastructure and technical and institutional arrangements needed for the efficient exchange and processing of administrative data and metadata for the production of official statistics. Moving in a direction of increased use of administrative data for statistics production will also make the statistical system more agile and resilient in times of crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic. The project supports 9 countries in addressing legal and technical challenges to administrative data sharing and processing administrative data. For each country one or two thematic areas are chosen. The results of the work will provide practical level experiences that also others can benefit from and will lead to a number of examples along the overall process of using administrative data for statistical purposes; from accessing data to processing them and publishing statistics based on them. Key stakeholders of this work will be the National Statistical Offices and the owners of the administrative data, along with the wider statistical system. Policy and decision makers will benefit from the results of the work.

The Technology Facilitation Mechanism (TFM) was launched as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with the objective to support the SDGs. It includes three major components – an Inter-Agency Task Team (IATT) of over 30 UN-system agencies; an annual multi-stakeholder Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Forum; and an on-line platform that is expected to serve as a gateway for information on existing science, technology and innovation (STI) initiatives, mechanisms and programs, within and beyond the United Nations. These are advised by a 10 –Member Group of academics, policy makers, entrepreneurs and others, appointed by the Secretary-General. This project aims to strengthen the capacity of key constituents in developing countries to access, operationalize and benefit from STI for the SDGs. It will strengthen the learning and adoption of relevant innovations by developing countries across both the South and the North; improve the capacity of governments and entrepreneurs to access relevant STI solutions through on-line mechanisms (including through improving their design); and strengthen the off-line partnerships, policy supports and institutional structures needed to make these self-sustaining. Throughout, the natural synergies across the different components of the TFM will be fully utilised. The direct beneficiaries of the project are STI and SDG communities in the target countries, including government officials, academics, scientists, technologists, practitioners, business persons and community leaders. The project will enhance their capacity to develop, disseminate and adapt STI solution in key strategic SDG areas, including a better understanding of relevant policy instruments and the sustainable development implications of new technology trends. The ultimate key beneficiaries of the project are all stakeholders around the world that will use the Online Platform to increase their capacity to use STI for SDGs.