Agriculture and Food Security
In the context of global population growth and changing consumer demand, agriculture was introduced in the G20 under the French presidency in 2011. The OECD has been supporting the G20 agenda in key areas including food security, market information and transparency, sustainable agricultural productivity growth, water efficiency in agriculture and sustainable soil management.
Market Information and Transparency
Under the French Presidency of the G20 in 2011, the OECD, jointly with the FAO, coordinated the inputs of 10 international organisations to compile a report that served as a basis for the G20 Action Plan on Food Price Volatility and Agriculture.
The OECD also helped set up and is part of the multi-organisations Secretariat of the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) and its associated Rapid Response Forum.
The OECD further contributed in 2015 to the elaboration of the Action Plan on Food Security and Sustainable Food System, endorsed by Leaders in Antalya.
Recent OECD contributions to the G20
- G20 Background Note on Agriculture and Food Global Value Chains - ITC, OECD, UNCTAD, WBG, WTO (April 2018)
- OECD-FAO Report Food Security and Nutrition: Challenges for Agriculture and the Hidden Potential of Soil (February 2018)
Agricultural Productivity
In 2012, G20 Leaders called on international organisations to develop a framework to analyse and review policies and “identify best policy options for increasing productivity growth sustainably”. The Framework for Analysing Policies to Improve Agricultural Productivity, Sustainably, developed by the OECD, is an analytical tool that responds to this interest. This framework has been applied in the context of a series of country reviews of G20 and OECD member countries.
Recognising the importance of boosting agricultural productivity to enhance food security and the benefits of ICT in promoting such change, the OECD has worked on identifying emerging policy issues and support for the establishment of an exchange mechanism on ICT applications in agriculture.
The agriculture agenda under the German Presidency focused on strengthening G20 work on implementing Agenda 2030, the role of Food Security and action to deal with climate change challenges in agriculture, as well as new actions on agriculture and water.
The OECD contributed to the preparation of the Agriculture Ministerial meeting (Towards food and water security: Fostering sustainability, advancing innovation) held in Berlin on 22 January, 2017, based on OECD work on agriculture and ICT, water governance, AMR and responsible investment.
The 2018 Argentina G20 Presidency has focused on sustainable soil management and its impact on food security and human development. The OECD has been supporting this agenda in co-operation with other international organisations.