Farmers welcome G20's strong commitment to agriculture, food security and open trade

SOUTH Africa's agricultural organisations have welcomed the G20 Leaders' Declaration issued over the weekend, saying its renewed focus on agriculture, food systems resilience and global food security marks a major step forward for the sector.

- YOGASHEN PILLAY

G20 Leaders emphasised that progress depends on modernising agriculture, strengthening biodiversity and soil management, improving water and energy efficiency, reducing food waste, adopting climate-smart technologies and supporting smallholder and family farmers.

Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist at the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz), on Monday said the statement is a welcome and necessary affirmation of the importance of World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules in global agriculture.

"South Africa's agricultural sector is export-led, and the WTO plays an essential role in ensuring fairness in international trade. The fairness of global trade is also key to ensuring that the world can achieve food security through trade, amongst other interventions," he said.