BRAZIL Meeting of the G20 Ministers of Agriculture Opening Statement

Excellences,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am pleased to be here with all of you today.

Hunger rose sharply from 2019 to 2021 and persisted at the same level for three years.

Our latest estimates indicate a global Prevalence of Undernourishment of 9.1 percent in 2023 - this amounts to 730 million people who face hunger.

Over the course of the past year, a notable progress has been made in the Latin American and Caribbean region, but hunger is still on the rise in Africa and remained relatively unchanged in Asia.

The drivers of food insecurity are interlinked and superimposed on structural vulnerabilities that make it more difficult to respond and recover from a shock.   

Economic shocks drive hunger. The decline of global food prices had not yet transmitted to low-income, import-dependent countries, and high public debt limits governments’ ability to intervene and to cover the increase of their food import bill.

Climate change drives hunger. 2023 was the hottest year on record. Many countries are affected by recurrent droughts or flooding, depleting their coping resources. We expect climate variability will continue to increase, and this will continue to impact the most vulnerable countries.

And conflicts are pushing millions into acute food insecurity. Conflict continues to create and amplify acute food insecurity - globally and in the region - and was among the main drivers of eight of the world’s ten largest food crises in 2023.

While poorer countries and the most vulnerable communities including the family and smallholder famers are more exposed to these drivers.

Family farmers play a central role in ensuring global food security.

Addressing inequalities and building resilience are impossible to achieve without the active participation of family farmers who account for more than 90 percent of the world’s farms, occupy 70-80 percent of farmland and are producing more than 80 percent of the world’s food in value terms.

To transform our agrifood systems to become more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable requires a stronger political commitment, social agenda and overall inputs, which should strengthen the role of family famers, small producers, indigenous peoples and traditional communities.

Excellences,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

One of the G20’s key values is to serve as a venue for policy coordination among the largest economies in the world.

It has been remarkably successful at this.

The G20 has pioneered the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS), which is now a consolidated pillar of the global agricultural market.

As we exchange views on the future of agrifood systems over the next two days, let us be inspired by the efforts and progress made in Latin America, and especially by our host Brazil, on reducing hunger.

The unanimous support by G20 Members to Brazil’s proposal to launch a Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty is a recognition to Brazil’s strong leadership in the fight against hunger.

But it also testifies to the remarkable achievements this Group is capable of when it sums up its efforts.

The world needs more cooperation within the G20 and beyond.

For this reason, I would like to commend the Government of Brazil for bringing food security back to the center of the G20 discussions, and for promoting and ensuring support beyond the G20 to end hunger, through the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty.

The Global Alliance will be key to bringing knowledge, expertise and show case successful examples from the regions to the parts of the world where it is needed the most.

FAO is proud to play a substantial role in supporting the Global Alliance, by hosting its Support Mechanism in Rome and curating its Policy Basket and contributing to its three pillars.

Dear Colleagues,

In our discussions over the next two days, let us be guided by our collective responsibility to respond to those in most need of our assistance.

Today we are witnessing food crises of a scale not seen in many years.

In Sudan, the ongoing conflict has devastated the country and pushed people to the highest levels of acute food insecurity - Famine (IPC Phase 5).

Over 25 million people in the Sudan are estimated to face high levels of acute food insecurity between June and September 2024.

In Gaza, the entire population of 2.2 million people continues to need urgent food and livelihood assistance.

Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, South Sudan, Pakistan, Haiti and Nigeria all currently have over 1 million people each in Emergency - IPC Phase 4.

We cannot fail them. We need to step up food assistance, while developing and implementing strategies that protect the environment and generate fair incomes for farmers.

Let us work together to ensure the Four Betters: better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life – leaving no one behind.

Together, I am confident that this Group can help build a future where a prosperous and food secure world is a reality for all. Thank you.