Priorities for Cooperative Action: What the G20 can do for Food Security and Agricultural Development Ella Kokotsis, Ph.D Director of Accountability G8 and G20 Research Group Enhancing Development Effectiveness through New Partnerships Moscow, Russia April 20-21, 2011

Presentation Overview The MDGs at 10 Current status of MDG #1 Role of the G20 in the global food challenge Seoul Development Consensus for Shared Growth France’s priorities for Cannes Policy options for G20 action Discussion

The MDGs at 10 Time-bound and measurable targets injected new momentum into the fight against global poverty A mixed story: success, uneven progress, challenges and opportunities Much remains to be done by 2015, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa

The Promise of MDG #1 “Poverty and Hunger”: o Target #3:  to halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger

Current Status of MDG #1 Multiple and interrelated crises over the last two years have led to volatile food prices and ongoing concerns over food security 3 billion people have sub-optimal diets Unsustainable nature of current food production has implications for poverty, health, economics, migration and conflict

The Role of the G20 in the Global Food Challenge How does the G20 enter the equation? A sustainable and equitable food system must assume a higher priority in political agendas  inaction is not an option Concerted and collective action at the G20 level can play a key role in the global food challenge

Seoul Development Consensus for Shared Growth Global financial crisis slowed progress on achieving MDGs Narrowing the development gap and poverty reduction are key to achieving strong, sustainable and balanced growth G20 endorsed the Seoul Development Consensus for Shared Growth This included nine key pillars where action is necessary to resolve the most significant bottlenecks  food security is one of these pillars

Seoul Development Consensus for Shared Growth G20 took two actions on food security at Seoul:  Action 1: enhance policy coherence and coordination  Action 2: mitigate risk in price volatility

France’s Priorities for Cannes One of the key themes for the 2011 French hosted G20 is working on behalf of development Within the development agenda, 4 key priorities include:  m obilizing resources for development  extending social protection  strengthening infrastructure in developing countries  ensuring food security

Ensuring Food Security On food security, France will propose for their G20, measures to:  stimulate agricultural production supply  promote responsible agricultural investments  develop risk hedging tools to combat the effects of price volatility

Recommendations for Future G20 Action The food challenge needs to be considered more broadly, from “production to plate” This involves inter-connected policy making which needs to happen because:  all these areas affect the food system  a threatened food supply will lead to hostile conflict  as the food system grows, it will place demands on other critical resources

Policy Options for G20 Action 1. Food waste minimized 2. Demand for most resource-intensive foods contained 3. Investments in knowledge and innovation increased 4. Environmental impact of food reduced 5. Export bans reduced during times of food stress 6. Stronger metrics built to assess progress