3 June 2016: Agriculture Ministers from the Group of 20 (G20) reaffirmed the role of agriculture and rural development in achieving global food security, poverty alleviation and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Meeting under the theme, ‘Agricultural Innovation and Sustainable Development,’ the G20 Agriculture Ministers adopted a Communiqué through which they agree to promote food security, nutrition, sustainable agricultural growth and rural development, and to contribute to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and sustainable natural resource use.
The meeting of Agriculture Ministers from the G20 took place in Xi’an, China, on 3 June 2016. The meeting was the third Agriculture Ministers Meeting since the establishment of the G20 and the first since the adoption of the SDGs. The G20 Agricultural Entrepreneurs Forum (AE20) and the Meeting of G20 Agricultural Chief Scientists (MACS) preceded the meeting, with the aim of promoting discussion among entrepreneurs, scientists and governments on global agriculture and food security cooperation.
On the 2030 Agenda, Ministers stressed the role of sustainable agriculture in achieving the SDGs and its links with poverty reduction, environmental protection and rural development. Ministers committed to support the agriculture-related SDGs and to pay attention to links with other SDGs.
In the Communiqué, the G20 Agriculture Ministers express concern that 795 million people in the world suffer from hunger and two billion people experience malnutrition. They recognize the impacts of climate change on agriculture and reaffirm their strong support for the Paris Agreement and to implementing Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs).
The Communiqué further addresses: soil protection; food loss and waste; urbanization; the role of science, technology and social innovation in sustainable agricultural growth; and food price volatility. On family and smallholder farmers, Ministers support increasing smallholders’ productivity and enabling their collective action as part of broader efforts to improve food security and nutrition and eradicate poverty. On information and communications technology (ICT) applications in agriculture, Ministers invite the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and others to build on existing ICT applications and propose areas for action by the G20 Agriculture Ministers ahead of their next meeting.
Leaders also agreed on the G20 Food Security and Nutrition Framework and the G20 Action Plan on Food Security and Sustainable Food Systems, which promote innovation in institutions, policies and science to increase agricultural productivity in a sustainable manner. They supported coordination through the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), FAO, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Progamme (WFP).
The Communiqué will be submitted to the G20 Summit for its deliberation. The Group of 20 is composed of: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union (EU), France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, and the US. [G20 Press Release] [IFAD Press Release] [Ministerial Communiqué]