Indonesian Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo while chairing the G20 Agriculture Ministers' Meeting in Jimbaran, Badung District, Bali, Wednesday (Sept 28, 2022). ANTARA/HO-Agriculture Ministry
Food is an issue related to human rightsIndonesian Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo emphasized that food is an issue related to human rights, thereby necessitating a joint commitment of countries to overcome the threat of the global food crisis.
While chairing the G20 Agriculture Ministers Meeting (AMM) in Jimbaran, here on Wednesday, Limpo stated that the presence of G20 countries' delegations at the AMM meeting demonstrated their seriousness and commitment to working jointly to overcome the threat of the food crisis and hunger.
"Food is an issue related to human rights. The presence of all delegates here shows our commitment to overcoming the threat of a global food crisis and our full support for the G20 Presidency of Indonesia," he remarked.
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The G20 AMM is one of the ministerial meetings organized as part of the G20 Summit. The G20 is made up of 19 countries and the European Union.
The minister cited the World Food and Nutrition Security Status Report in 2022 that estimates the increase in cases of chronic malnutrition to reach 150 million people and 702 million-828 million people affected by hunger due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report said that in 2021, some 670 million people had been affected by hunger.
The impact of climate change and political tensions followed by the blockade are also believed to exacerbate the threat of the food crises and hunger.
Hence, Indonesia invites G20 member countries to jointly formulate the short-, medium-, and long-term strategies to accelerate the transformation of agriculture and food systems that are more resilient, efficient, and inclusive, Limpo remarked.
In order to achieve this, Indonesia proposed three priority issues at this year's G20 agriculture ministers' meeting, with the first being that it encourages G20 countries to create strong and sustainable agricultural and food systems.
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Under the second priority issue, Indonesia invites G20 countries to ensure that agricultural trade remains open, fair, predictable, transparent, and non-discriminatory in order to ensure the availability of food at affordable prices for all.
"Finally, innovative agricultural entrepreneurship through digital agriculture to improve farmers' livelihoods in rural areas," he remarked.
The G20 AMM was attended by 138 representatives from 17 member countries and six invited countries as well as representatives from international organizations.
Six countries invited at the meeting were Rwanda, Cambodia, Fiji, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates.
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