Starting date: September/2005. Conclusion: September/2006

The main objective in the project "Building a Trade and Agriculture Research Network within South America: a step towards increasing South-South Cooperation" with the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC) was to identify centers and independent researchers in the MERCOSUR (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) and the Andean Community (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela), that work with applied research in the areas of agricultural trade and international agricultural negotiations. The project lasted for one year. In the long-term, the purpose is to contribute to agricultural research integration between the MERCOSUR and the Andean countries.

The second objective of the project was to identify the main agricultural products being traded between the two blocks and other destinations, such as China, India and Russia. Through this exercise we tried to identify common interest areas between South American countries and other emerging economies. The two objectives have the long-term purpose of increasing South-South trade cooperation.