Agroforestry, or the use of trees in agriculture, is a traditional farming practice in India, Nepal and China that provides food, nutrition and ecosystem services to support livelihoods and agricultural production. The modern agricultural trend towards commercial monocultures has siphoned resources and attention from this indigenous system. Agroforestry systems require a longer waiting period before beginning production than annual crops. Therefore, the need for farmers to make both cash and time investments during the early years of planting presents major challenges. Consequently, adding seasonal and annual harvests available from the first year could be a vital boost to the viability of agroforestry systems for smallholders’ livelihood security. This is possible through the integration of agroforestry with mushroom cultivation.

Landlocked and hilly, Rwanda is one of world’s least developed countries and one of Nile River headstream countries. It faces major social challenges such as a high poverty and unemployment rate, and major economic challenges, such as a weak industrial capacity, with over 95 percent of produce imported. In addition, it faces major ecological challenges with severe soil and water erosion, as well as a negative impact on countries downstream of the Nile River caused by a sharp decline in forest coverage from 75 percent before the 1994 genocide to 28 percent. Rwanda has rich bamboo resources but are untapped due to lack of technology.

China was not only a supporter and initiator of South-South cooperation (SSC) in its nascent stage, it is also a major contributor to growth in Southern countries today, playing more of a leading role in SSC than ever before. It firmly safeguards the new globalization model, works to build a community with a shared future for humankind, advocates new development concepts nationwide and advances the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Nevertheless, South-South and triangular cooperation still face a number of important challenges at the international level, as well as in China. For example, while globalization has enabled many people to escape poverty, its benefits are not shared equitably and its costs fall disproportionately on the poor and vulnerable. Improved cooperation is therefore needed so that countries may learn from each other, grow more quickly, close income gaps and build inclusive, resilient societies. Greater efforts are needed to leverage partnerships with stakeholders from multilateral agencies, civil society, the private sector and think tanks to increase their engagement in SSC.

The increasing economic and technical capacities of the South and the emergence of a growing group of Southern countries, such as Brazil, China, India, South Africa and the Gulf countries, as influential stakeholders in international economic relations have created important opportunities for South-South development cooperation as a complement to North-South cooperation. China, as a large developing country with a great deal of development experience, has always been a champion and staunch supporter of South-South cooperation. Yet, despite this commitment, stakeholders in the Chinese Government recognize that the full potential to share Chinese knowledge and experiences with the world, and to bring Southern solutions to China, has not yet been realized. For example, most SSC activities in China are still carried out on a bilateral basis led by the Government with minimal participation of the private sector. Like many South-South initiatives, funds mobilization and utilization efficiency are limited.

The year 2019 marked the beginning of a transformative era for South-South and triangular cooperation, with the conclusion of the second High-level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation in Buenos Aires and the adoption of its outcome document. South-South cooperation (SSC) is now emphasized in over 80 States as part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, and that there has been a surge in new partnerships. As the largest developing country, China has been an active advocate and promoter of SSC. Nevertheless, South-South and triangular cooperation still face a number of significant challenges at the international level, as well as in China. For example, much of the transfer of knowledge and skills has been one way, and most activities are still carried out by Governments, with minimal participation from the private sector. In addition, the mobilization of funds is limited, and they are not used efficiently

With a fast-growing population and rapid urbanization process, many African countries now face increasing pressure to provide adequate housing for their citizens. Over the past 10 years since the end of the civil war in Liberia, the country has been vigorously developing its infrastructure, attracting foreign investment, developing production and aiming to achieve long-term peace and stability in order to revitalize the economy and improve livelihoods. As one of the mportant components in infrastructure construction, the development of civil, commercial and industrial buildings and other projects are essential to improve livelihoods and stimulate economic development. However, the lack of local construction materials and a small manufacturing sector, with only one cement factory in Liberia, have impacted infrastructure development.

The world is rapidly urbanizing. In 2008, for the first time in recorded human history more than half the world’s population, 3.3 billion people, lived in urban areas. By 2030, it is estimated that this number will have increased to five billion. Cities play a pivotal role in economic growth and have therefore become a front-line in efforts to address social and economic development challenges. However, the negative impact of urbanization is increasingly being recognized. Cities can exhibit extreme, densely concentrated forms of poverty and inequality and significantly contribute to other global issues such as climate change. Particularly in the developing world, cities often lack much-needed infrastructure, urban planning capacity, while exhibiting weak institutions such as limited data availability, collection and analysis, and limited social protection. These can limit the ability of cities to contribute to the achievement of the sustainable development agenda.

Africa is on track towards rapid development and its cultural industries need to be developed simultaneously. As a key component of the broadcast and television industry, dubbing is important not only to introduce outstanding overseas programmes into Africa to promote knowledge and learning, but also to develop the African television and broadcasting industry as a whole. Currently, dubbing in Africa faces two challenges: the lack of professional voiceover actors and actresses and the lack of professional dubbing technology. These challenges can be observed particularly in the United Republic of Tanzania. Given economic and social evelopment advances, demand is rising for wider television broadcast coverage and richer programme content, especially for earning. The translation of foreign TV programmes is an important source for content providers. Therefore, international support in dubbing, including technologies and skills, are greatly needed.

In most developing countries, agricultural wastes are left untreated, which may cause environment pollution and animal-human disease transmission. Moreover, farmers have limited access to modern energy such as kerosene, liquefied gas and electricity, which leads to deforestation, water loss and soil erosion. Women and children are overburdened with low-value work, such as the collection of firewood and cow dung for cooking. Moreover, the overuse of chemical fertilizers is a threat to soil, ecosystem and human health. The above issues have impacted the sustainable development of the vulnerable small island countries such as Samoa. Based on the common goal of tackling climate change and the energy shortage, some countries have independently or jointly developed biogas in the pursuit of their environmental, economic, health and social benefits. Since the natural environment and social conditions differ from region to region, and country to country, identifying the most suitable biogas model in a country is still a challenge