Washington DC, 11 October 2022 -
G20 Finance and Agriculture Ministers held the first Joint Finance and Agriculture Ministers (JFAMM) in Washington DC on 11th October 2022. In this event, G20 Finance and Agriculture Ministers come together as a follow up from the outcomes of the G20 Finance and Agriculture Deputy meeting last week related to global food security challenges. The issue of global food insecurity has been a concern for the G20 forum, as the issue has been discussed in the High-Level Seminar: Strengthening Global Collaboration for Tackling Food Insecurity and the 3rd Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting last July 2022.
During the press conference, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani stated, "Indonesia's G20 Presidency has reaffirmed its commitment to use all appropriate policy tools to address current economic and financial challenges, including the risk of food insecurity. G20 stands ready to take prompt collective actions on food insecurity and nutrition, including by working with other initiatives."
Several global initiatives have been launched by regional and international organizations and even by individual countries to face food insecurity issues, such as the UN Global Crisis Response Group (GCRG), the G7 Global Alliance for Food Security (GAFS), the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP), International Finance Institutions Action Plan, and Global Development Initiative. Further, the World Bank has committed to provide USD 30 million in new and existing fundings for projects related to food security and nutrition for the next couple years. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has also provided updates on food market conditions, including through the G20 Agricultural Market Information System.
G20 Finance and Agriculture Ministers have reaffirmed their commitment to leverage all appropriate policy tools to address current economic and financial challenges, including food insecurity. The G20 forum stands ready to take prompt collective actions in facing food insecurity and nutrition issues, including by working with other initiatives
Minister of Agriculture Syahrul Yasin Limpo added, "As an effective forum to address global challenges in terms of food insecurity, Indonesia's G20 Presidency implements a strategy to increase production capacity for the price of the minister of food, suppress inflation, reduce imports and increase food exports. This strategy is applied to several strategic food commodities with operational activities to overcome problems that arise in the food agribusiness system, in order to achieve efficiency and increase competitiveness."
Today's first JFAMM meeting becomes a foundation for the necessary future close coordination to determine the best way to address food insecurity challenges. In the meeting, G20 Finance and Agriculture Ministers encourages increased cooperation to ensure coordinated global response in facing food insecurity and collaborating with other multilateral initiatives.
G20 Finance and Agriculture Ministers agreed to task international organization namely the FAO and World Bank in mapping global policy responses to food insecurity which will be consolidated in the future with inputs from technical experts and other related international organization to later be reported in the 2023 Spring Meeting. Momentum on G20's efforts in dressing food insecurity issues will be built ahead of the G20 Leader's Summit.
Under the Indonesian G20 Presidency, the G20 forum will continue to maintain solidarity in adressng urgent needs while minimizing spillover effects with the spirit of consensus, collaboration, and cooperation. Initiatives in addressing global food insecurity challenges that was created during the Indonesian G20 Presidency will be carried forward until the next Presidency in 2023 under India's chairmanship.
