The agricultural discussions within the G20 Agricultural Working Group are pointing to a promising direction for global agricultural growth and food security, particularly for the African continent.
I am writing these reflections from Durban, South Africa, where we are gathered for the G20 Agricultural Working Group sessions. Under its leadership, South Africa has set four G20 agricultural priorities, namely:
- The promotion of policies and investments that can lead to improved food and nutrition security
- Empowering youth and women to participate in agrifood systems
- Fostering innovation and the transfer of useful technologies in agricultural industries
- Building climate resilience for sustainable food production.
On April 23, among other things, we spent time reflecting on the first theme: “the promotion of policies and investments that can lead to improved food and nutrition security.”
Without delving into the details of the Working Group and the specific matters discussed, I want to highlight that the themes that emerged from the discussion are primarily aligned with some of the points we have raised in these pages.
These points include the need to 1) promote knowledge-sharing about climate-smart agricultural practices, 2) improve food security through increased trade, 3) increase fertiliser manufacture and trade with the rest, and 4) argue for stronger protection of land and property rights.
First, we have already seen some firm calls for sharing knowledge on climate-smart agricultural practices. These are innovations and farming methods that minimise the damage caused to crops by climate-related disasters, such as droughts and heatwaves. This is important because Africa and Asia are very vulnerable to natural disasters.
Governments in Africa must establish coordinated policies to respond to disasters and support agricultural development. These responses must encompass everything African countries need to mitigate against climate-related disasters, adapt to climate change, and recover from disasters.
The G20 Agricultural Working Group could be the first body to champion this messaging, with South Africa consulting other African countries and leading the discussion.
Second, the leading economies should consider championing improving global food security through trade. As a chair of the G20, South Africa already enjoys deeper access to agricultural trade with several G20 economies through lower tariffs and some tariff-free access.
It is in the interest of G20 members to maintain open trade. Many of the G20 countries, such as Australia, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, Mexico, the European Union region, the U.S., and India, to name a few, are among those whose agricultural sectors have grown notably, benefiting in part from the efficient and non-restrictive global trading system. This enables countries to buy and sell lower-priced agricultural products, further supporting global food security and, in turn, benefiting farmers in the exporting countries.
This open trade system is vital in the current environment, where some nations are increasingly looking inward and adopting a more confrontational approach to trade.
Farmers in African countries with less productive agriculture may not benefit as much from the open trading system in the short term. However, in the long run, the benefits will cascade to other parts of the continent. Significantly, African consumers will benefit from better access to affordable products.
It is, therefore, reasonable to suggest that the G20 Agricultural Working Group should consider making a firm call against the excessive use of tariffs and other non-tariff barriers that limit trade.
Third, the G20 Agricultural Working Group should continue prioritising discussions about improving fertiliser manufacturing and trade, particularly in Africa. Sub-Saharan African countries have poor access to and usage of fertiliser. Yet greater fertiliser adoption is key to growing more food and reducing hunger.
Access to affordable finance is also a challenge. Therefore, linking discussions on fertiliser with investments in network industries such as roads and ports is key. It is one thing to have fertilisers available, but moving them to farming areas is difficult in some countries and increases the costs for farmers. The network industries would also ensure that farmers deliver goods to the consumption points.
Producing fertiliser on the continent would lessen the negative impact of global price shocks. It would also make it affordable for even the most vulnerable African countries to buy and distribute fertiliser.
Lastly, the above points can be improved, but they won’t be sufficient to lift Africa’s agriculture from its current low productivity levels. A key area for improvement is strengthening land governance in Africa to attract investment. This would entail extending title deeds or tradable leases to farmers. Africa is one of the continents with the largest areas of informal land rights, partly leading to weak large-scale agricultural development, which is crucial for driving exports and ensuring national food security in countries.
In countries that already enjoy strong property rights, these must be protected.
In essence, the key themes emerging from discussions about agriculture in the world’s leading economies effectively address the primary challenges facing global agriculture, particularly on the African continent.
However, we can only observe and learn key policy recommendations from such forums; a significant amount still relies on various governments to effectively decide and implement appropriate policies that will drive their agriculture forward and address food security challenges.
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