South Africa has called upon the Group of 20 (G20) to prioritise agriculture as a central pillar of global prosperity, emphasising the sector’s importance to food security, livelihoods, and sustainable development.
Delivering the keynote address at the G20 Agriculture Working Group Ministerial Meeting in Somerset West, approximately 50 kilometres outside Cape Town, South African Minister of Agriculture, John Steenhuisen, underscored the urgent need for inclusive, climate-resilient agricultural systems. He urged G20 members to strengthen cooperation in order to ensure that farming communities, particularly in the Global South, are equipped to meet the challenges of climate change and systemic inequality.
Steenhuisen outlined four priorities championed during South Africa’s G20 presidency: broadening inclusive market participation, empowering youth and women, facilitating innovation and technology transfer, and embedding climate resilience into agricultural systems. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), women constitute nearly 60 percent of the agricultural workforce in sub-Saharan Africa, yet continue to face barriers to land rights, financial services, and access to modern technologies.
He highlighted that smallholders, youth, and women remain the backbone of production across the continent, but are often marginalised within formal markets. This exclusion, he argued, undermines both regional food sovereignty and long-term stability.
Steenhuisen also stressed the role of innovation in transforming agriculture, particularly through the development of drought-tolerant cultivars, precision irrigation, and affordable digital tools. Drawing from ongoing research across Africa, including initiatives by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), he emphasised that innovation must be both affordable and accessible, positioning smallholders as active participants in knowledge systems rather than passive recipients of external technologies.
Climate change was described by Steenhuisen as “the single greatest threat to global agriculture,” with Africa already experiencing its adverse impacts in the form of prolonged droughts, shifting rainfall patterns, and extreme weather events. He stressed that climate finance must be made more accessible to farmers at the frontline of adaptation, echoing calls made by the African Group of Negotiators at the UNFCCC COP28 summit for increased flows of adaptation finance to developing nations.
As ministers moved towards adopting shared outcomes from the meeting, Steenhuisen urged the G20 to articulate a collective commitment recognising agriculture as central to prosperity, resilience, and sustainability. He concluded with an appeal that no farmer, community, or nation should be excluded from the opportunities of agricultural transformation.
The intervention reflects broader continental debates about the future of food systems in Africa, where climate resilience, technological innovation, and equitable participation are increasingly seen as interlinked imperatives. Analysts note that the G20—representing both major agricultural exporters and climate-vulnerable states—provides an important platform for building common ground on these pressing challenges.
