G-20 Agriculture Ministers Meeting: G20 nations resolve to ensure food security, safety amid COVID-19 pandemic

The G-20 Extraordinary Agriculture Minister’s Meeting was held on April 21, 2020 to address the impact of COVID-19 on nutrition, food security and safety. Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar represented India at the virtual meeting. 

The G20 Agriculture Minister’s Meeting was attended by the agriculture ministers of all G-20 members, some guest countries and International organizations. Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar welcomed the initiative taken by Saudi Arabia to bring the G-20 nations together.

While speaking at the meeting, the Union Minister shared the decision of the Indian Government to exempt all agriculture operations during the lockdown period and ensuring continued supply of all essential agriculture products, while adhering to the social distancing protocol and ensuring the health and hygiene of all those involved in the process.

The Minister highlighted how Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been at the forefront of supporting countries to combat the coronavirus crisis in various ways and that agriculture will not lag behind and will be consistent with the needs of our citizens.

G20 Agriculture Minister’s Meeting: Key Highlights 

• The G-20 agriculture ministers accepted a declaration at the conclusion of the meeting. The G20 nations resolved to work towards building international cooperation amid COVID-19 outbreak to avoid food wastage and losses, maintain the continuity of food supply value chain across borders. 

• The nations also resolved to work together to ensure food security and nutrition and share the best practices and lessons learnt.

• They also agreed to jointly promote research, responsible investments, innovations and reforms, which will help improve sustainability and resilience of agriculture and food systems. 

• The G-20 nations also agreed to develop science-based international guidelines to ensure stricter safety and hygienic measures for zoonosis control.

Background

The G-20 Agriculture Ministers virtual meeting was organized by Saudi Arabia, which is the President of the group for this year. The meeting was organised to discuss the ways and means of ensuring continuity of food supply value chain including the livelihood of farmers. 

The extraordinary meeting was attended by Agriculture Ministers from all the G-20 member nations, some guest nations and international organizations.