Women’s food security cornerstone of community development: G20 New Delhi Leader’s Declaration

“Rising commodity prices, including food and energy prices are contributing to cost of living pressures. Global challenges like poverty and inequality, climate change, pandemics, and conflicts disproportionately affect women and children, and the most vulnerable,” notes the preamble of the Declaration.

The declaration further states, “We highlighted the human suffering and negative added impacts of the war in Ukraine with regard to global food and energy security, supply chains, macro-financial stability, inflation, and growth, which has complicated the policy environment for countries, especially developing and least developed countries which are still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic disruption which has derailed progress towards the SDGs.”

“We appreciate the efforts of Türkiye and UN-brokered Istanbul Agreements consisting of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Russian Federation and the Secretariat of the United Nations on Promoting Russian Food Products and Fertilizers to the World Markets and the Initiative on the Safe Transportation of Grain and Foodstuffs from Ukrainian Ports (Black Sea Initiative), and call for their full, timely and effective implementation to ensure the immediate and unimpeded deliveries of grain, foodstuffs, and fertilizers/inputs from the Russian Federation and Ukraine. This is necessary to meet the demand in developing and least developed countries, particularly those in Africa,” it says.

Talking about eliminating hunger and malnutrition, the declaration notes, “We commit to enhance global food security and nutrition for all in line with the G20 Deccan High-Level Principles on Food Security and Nutrition 2023.”

To achieve this, the document provides a six-point framework, which includes encouraging efforts to strengthen research cooperation on millets and other climate-resilient crops.

“We encourage efforts to strengthen research cooperation on climate-resilient and nutritious grains such as millets, quinoa, sorghum, and other traditional crops including rice, wheat, and maize. We welcome the outcomes from the G20 members’ engagement in the 12th G20 Meeting of Agriculture Chief Scientists (MACS),” the declaration notes.

It also emphasizes “the importance of increasing access to, availability, and efficient use of fertilizer and agricultural inputs, including through strengthening local fertilizer production, and to improve soil health.”

The declaration expresses commitment to “accelerating innovations and investment focused on increasing agricultural productivity, reducing food loss and waste across the value chain, and improving marketing and storage, to build more sustainable and climate-resilient agriculture and food systems.”

The G20 leaders also made a commitment to support developing countries’ efforts and capacities to address their food security challenges, work together to enable access to affordable, safe, nutritious, and healthy diets, and foster the progressive realisation of the right to adequate food.

They also made a commitment to facilitate open, fair, predictable, and rules-based agriculture, food and fertilizer trade, not impose export prohibitions or restrictions, and reduce market distortions, in accordance with relevant WTO rules.

The leaders expressed their commitment to “strengthening the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) and the Group on Earth Observations Global Agricultural Monitoring (GEOGLAM), for greater transparency to avoid food price volatility, supporting AMIS’s work on fertilizers, its expansion to include vegetable oils, and for enhancing collaboration with early warning systems.”

The G20 New Delhi Declaration mentions the G20 Deccan High-Level Principles on Food Security and Nutrition 2023, which were piloted by India during its Presidency.

Highlighting the macroeconomic impacts of food and energy insecurity, the declaration says, “While global food and energy prices have fallen from their peak levels, the potential for high levels of volatility in food and energy markets remains, given the uncertainties in the global economy. In this context, we take note of the G20 Report on Macroeconomic Impacts of Food and Energy Insecurity and their Implications for the Global Economy.”

“We look forward to an ambitious replenishment of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) resources at the end of the year by IFAD members to support IFAD’s fight against food insecurity,” it says.

The declaration also says that women’s food security and nutrition is the cornerstone of individual and community development as it lays the foundation for women’s health, as well as that of children, families, and the general well-being of the community.