Meeting of Agriculture Chief Scientists (G20-MACS)
Agriculture and food systems are central to global food and nutrition security, with over 700 million people experiencing hunger and Africa being particularly worst affected by food insecurity. The transformation of agrifood systems is essential to achieving global food and nutrition security, ensuring sustainability and building resilience, which also fosters job creation and community development in the face of climate change, biodiversity loss, fragmentation, and economic inequalities. This transformation can be realised by embracing climate-smart practices, preserving biodiversity, and adopting precision and digital agricultural solutions, among other things.
The G20-MACS provides a critical platform for key agricultural research and innovation partners to interrogate solutions for these challenges. South Africa’s G20 presidency presents a unique opportunity to lead the charge in transforming agrifood systems to enhance climate resilience, sustainability, and inclusive growth. Premised on the underlying principles of Ubuntu, South Africa’s G20 presidency approach emphasises collective effort and shared responsibility, fostering collaboration across nations to craft policy recommendations and actions that are inclusive and equitable and offer pathways for long-term, sustainable transformation.
The six proposed thematic areas for the G20-MACS support the Agriculture Working Group’s resolve to advocate for policy actions that promote inclusive market participation, empower youth and women, foster innovation and technology transfer, and build climate resilience. Identification of the themes followed intense national and continental dialogues held physically and virtually, considering inputs from local, continental, and global knowledge partners, experts, industry, farmers, and related community organisations. The African continental consultation makes this South African G20 presidency unique, and it was done consciously to ensure that science, technology, and innovation deliberations in G20-MACS support Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the African Union’s Agenda 2063, and Africa’s Common Position on Food Systems.