INTRODUCTION
The agricultural sector remains the mainstay in addressing these challenges, as it serves as a foundation for economic stability, social equity, and environmental sustainability. In this context, South Africa’s G20 Agriculture Working Group (AGW) Issue Note highlights four key priorities:
- Promotion of policies and investments that drive inclusive market participation towards improved food and nutrition security
- Empowering Youth and Women in Agrifood Systems
- Fostering Innovation and Technology Transfer in Agriculture and Agro-processing
- Building climate resilience for sustainable agricultural production.
These priorities reflect the pressing needs within South Africa and resonate with global concerns, offering a roadmap for collective action among G20 members.
PRIORITY 1: PROMOTION OF POLICIES AND INVESTMENTS THAT DRIVE INCLUSIVE MARKET PARTICIPATION TOWARDS IMPROVED FOOD AND NUTRITION SECURITY
- Promotion of policies and investments that drive inclusive market participation and support low-income and resource-poor farmers
- Empowering youth and women in agrifood systems
- Fostering innovation and technology transfer in agriculture.
EXPECTED OUTCOMES
- Agreement on targeted policies and investments, including climate finance, to support inclusive market participation and the empowerment of young farmers, rural women, and marginalised groups (e.g., Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities, etc.).
- Development of innovative financing mechanisms tailored to the needs of low-income and resource-poor farmers.
- Establishment of partnerships between governments, financial institutions, and private sector actors to promote inclusive market participation.
- Implementation of policy instruments focused on inclusive market participation of smallholder family farmers, young farmers, rural women, and marginalised groups in the context of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty through country-led matchmaking.
PRIORITY 2: EMPOWERING YOUTH AND WOMEN IN AGRIFOOD SYSTEMS
EXPECTED OUTCOMES
- Identification of barriers and challenges facing youth and women in agrifood systems and formulation of targeted interventions.
- Development of tailored education, training, and support programs to empower youth and women in agriculture.
- Promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment across the agrifood value chain.
PRIORITY 3: FOSTERING INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER IN AGRICULTURE AND AGRO PROCESSING
EXPECTED OUTCOMES
- Identification of barriers to technology adoption and formulation of inclusive, gender- and age-responsive strategies to address them.
- Establishment of collaborative frameworks for technology transfer and innovation diffusion.
- Public-private partnerships will offer a way to translate shared science solutions into useful tools for technology end users.
- Development of inclusive, gender- and age-responsive policies and incentives to promote innovation and technology transfer in agriculture.
- Implementation of policy instruments focused on expanding the access of youth, rural women and marginalised groups to knowledge and advisory services in the context of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty through country-led matchmaking.
- Farmer participatory research involving experimentation with farmers in their own fields and sharing of findings and new techniques developed from participatory research with other farmers. Partnerships with farmers are key to ensuring the transfer of knowledge and technology in real time. New knowledge is a part of any new technology, and without sufficient training the technology will not achieve its full potential.
PRIORITY 4: BUILDING CLIMATE RESILIENCE FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION
EXPECTED OUTCOMES:
- Identification of enablers that can improve the resilience of agriculture in the changing climate.
- Establishment of national and international climate financing mechanisms that are specific to the agricultural sector and reach small farmers and vulnerable populations.
- Development of climate-resilient policies, approaches and inclusive strategies that put climate actions at the heart of all agricultural activities.
- Implementation of inclusive climate change policy instruments in the context of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty through country- led matchmaking.
- Establishment of information networks and exchange programme to share and exchange technologies, experiences and lessons learnt.
- Increased access to technology and capacity building programmes, research, climate-smart technologies, knowledge and technical skills, and funding mechanisms by the most vulnerable countries and people to the impacts of climate change on agriculture.
