G20 Agriculture, focus on technology transfer
Making agriculture more sustainable and resilient to climate change, combining tradition and innovation; but also protecting natural resources, promoting inclusive growth and aggregation models to strengthen small farmers.
These are the key points that emerged from the Italian-led G20 Agriculture Summit, held on 17 and 18 September in Florence. The summit closed with a 21-point joint declaration - dubbed the "Florence Sustainability Charter" - reaffirming the commitment to achieving food security in the context of the three dimensions of sustainability: economic, social and environmental. During the two-day meeting in Florence, the G20 ministers reaffirmed their desire to achieve zero hunger, the attainment of which is also jeopardised by the consequences of Covid-19.
"Even as production increases, a quarter of the world's population still suffers from food insecurity. Climate change, extreme weather events, pests, animal and plant diseases and shocks such as pandemics require coordinated and effective responses," the document says.
In particular, the ministers decided not to adopt any restrictive measures that could lead to strong price volatility on international markets and thus limit access to food resources. During the summit, the need was expressed to strengthen cooperation between G20 members and developing countries on food and agriculture in order to share knowledge and support domestic production capacities better suited to the needs of individual territories.
On this topic, the Italian Minister of Agriculture, Stefano Patuanelli, reiterated the importance of technology transfer and knowledge sharing between the countries most dedicated to innovation and developing countries, which must have access to what is in fact a common heritage. Genuine technology transfer, which has its cornerstone in agricultural mechanisation, is the key to ensuring production increases in the name of sustainability.
