Australia spearheads G20 global food supply discussions

AUSTRALIA has spearheaded discussions on global food and water security in Berlin as a part of the G20 Meeting of Agriculture Ministers.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce also took the opportunity to drive agricultural trade expansion, with separate meetings with the EU agriculture commissioner, China’s minister for agriculture and Britain’s secretary of state for food and rural affairs.

Mr Joyce championed expanded trade opportunities; Australia’s role in ensuring global food security; and a focus on water management at a series of forums and bilateral meetings associated with the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture, the 9th Berlin Agriculture Ministers’ Conference and the G20 Meeting of Agriculture Ministers.

“Australia has a very strong trade agreement in place with China and both parties are keen to see that continue to flourish,” Mr Joyce said.

“Equally, Australia envisages great potential to develop a Free Trade Agreement with the EU and also new cooperation opportunities with the United Kingdom following it’s ‘Brexit’ decision.

“I’ve been encouraged by each of those bilateral meetings; and I’m encouraged by the global appreciation of the role Australia can play on the integrated issues of water accessibility and global food security,” he said.

Mr Joyce said the global population was expected to reach 8.5 billion by 2030; and almost 10 billion by 2050.

“This offers real opportunities for Australia’s agricultural sector as we work in partnership with countries across the world to address the global food and water challenges and demands of population growth,” he said.

“Ensuring we have enough safe, nutritious and affordable food to feed the world will only be possible if we continue to boost the productivity and profitability of the agricultural sector, manage water resources sensibly, and have strong trade relationships locked in place.

“We will need exceptional policies to meet this challenge. We will need to incentivise farmers to embrace new and improved technologies with better returns at the farm gate. We will need to embrace genetic modification to achieve sustainability goals and drive freer trade where the world’s farmers are recognised as partners instead of competitors,” Mr Joyce told G20 Ministers.

The Deputy Prime Minister said solving global challenges relied on global co-operation.

“G20 Ministers reaffirmed our commitment to the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which includes the goal of doubling agricultural productivity,” he said.

Mr Joyce said the policies of the Coalition Government to offer significant investment to build water infrastructure were key to delivering on the G20 and United Nations expectations, along with the Coalition government’s significant investment in research and development funding.