Food security, sustainability, trade, research and innovation were all discussed by G20 representatives including from the European Union (EU), who unanimously agreed to collaborate on these issues.
These discussions occurred at the G20 agriculture ministerial meeting that is being held in Hyderabad, India from June 16-17.
Janusz Wojciechowski, the European Commissioner for Agriculture has been representing the EU at the meeting. He said the “meeting will be a valuable opportunity to discuss our most pressing challenges and share our most promising solutions”.
Meanwhile, agri-food systems must be part of the solution to the loss of biodiversity and the climate crisis facing our planet, the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), QU Dongyu told the summit.
“Despite progress, today we are facing alarming rates of biodiversity loss, jeopardising food security and nutrition, poverty eradication, prevention of natural disasters and climate change mitigation and adaptation,” Qu said.
The FAO Director-General emphasised that we need genetic diversity to adapt agri-food systems to climate change, emerging pests, pathogens and changing ecological conditions.
He argued that we also need species diversity for diverse foods and healthy ecosystems to provide water, regulate the climate and provide resilience against disasters.
“My message is clear – agri-food systems must be part of the solution to the biodiversity and climate crises,” Qu said.
EU at the G20
“The EU welcomes strong international collaboration on sustainability,” Janusz Wojciechowski told the summit.
The commissioner showed this collaboration by holding meetings with agricultural representatives of many countries, including the US, Brazil, Japan, and India.
He said: “From production and trade, to research and innovation, we must divide our challenges and multiply our solutions.”
Wojciechowski called for greater cooperation to reinforce the resilience of food systems.
“We must restore agri-food supply chains and improve local production capacities, especially by supporting small family farmers across the world,” he added.
Key points on food security
The G20 ministers meeting released its outcomes of the discussions, with enhancing global food security being one of the priorities.
At the meeting, the G20 nations acknowledged the urgency of meeting global food security and nutrition needs and facilitating robust food and fertiliser supplies.
Initiatives to promote innovations in crop development, production including climate-resilient, nutritious, locally adapted, and underutilised grains were all encouraged at the meeting.
The G20 members unanimously agreed upon a ‘one health’ approach, to balance and optimise the health of people, animals, plants and ecosystems, and combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to reduce the risks from zoonotic diseases and other threats to global public health security.
The ministers of agriculture from the G20 nations concluded: “Sustainable, and diverse food systems offer significant opportunities to address climate change, land degradation, over-exploitation of water resources, biodiversity and forest loss while providing long-term solutions to tackle hunger and malnutrition.”
Deccan G20 high-level principles
The G20 countries at the 2023 agriculture ministers’ meeting unanimously adopted the Deccan G20 high-level principles on food security and nutrition.
The principles are:
- To facilitate humanitarian assistance to countries and populations in vulnerable situations;
- Enhance availability and access to nutritious food and strengthen food safety nets;
- Strengthen policies and collaborative actions for climate resilient and sustainable agriculture and food systems;
- Strengthen resilience and inclusivity in agriculture and food value chains;
- Promote the one health approach;
- Accelerate innovation and the use of digital technology;
- Scale-up responsible public and private investments in agriculture.