G20 - Highlights of The 2nd Agriculture Deputies Meeting of AWG

The 2nd Agriculture Deputies Meeting (ADM) of the Agriculture Working Group (AWG) under India’s G20 Presidency began yesterday, i.e., 29th March at Chandigarh. The day was dedicated to the Rapid Response Forum (RRF) of the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) and started with a welcome remark by Mr Arun Kumar, Senior Economic and Statistical Adviser, Government of India. He welcomed all the delegates to the 12th session of the RRF and spoke about timely evidence-based policymaking as the need of the hour to address the concern of high food prices.

Opening remarks for the session were given by Dr. Abhilaksh Likhi, Additional Secretary, MoA&FW where he mentioned that the main objective of G20 is to build consensus on the current challenge of food security and nutrition, sustainable agriculture with a climate-smart approach, inclusive agricultural value chains and food systems, and digitalization for agricultural transformation. Dr. Likhi further emphasized PM Modi’s vision of Mission LiFE through which everyone can contribute in the fight against climate change.

The RRF was chaired by Mr. Seth Meyer, Chairperson, AMIS wherein he spoke about the current situation on global food security and the contribution of AMIS to the same. Dr Pramod Kumar Meherda, Additional Secretary, MoA&FW giving examples from India, spoke on the need for digital public infrastructure architecture that is standardized and non-proprietary. This would help AMIS in obtaining credible and real-time information on production estimates, supplies and consumption for countries to respond quickly to shocks and volatility in food markets.

 He then introduced the speakers for the first and second sessions of AMIS on ‘Food Market Situation and Outlook’, which was based on providing the current situation on global food markets and an outlook for 2023 and on the status and development of AMIS highlighting their notable achievements in 2022 and any new developments for 2023, respectively.

Mr. Ritesh Chauhan, Joint Secretary, MoA&FW introduced the speakers for the third and the fourth sessions. The third session was focused on the vision for the future evolution of the AMIS initiative and the fourth session was based on identifying capacity-building needs and strategies.

Mr Samuel Praveen Kumar, Joint Secretary, MoA&FW, introduced the speakers for the fifth and sixth sessions. The fifth session was centred around Asia’s role in regional and global food security and the sixth session discussion was on the impact of financial factors on importing countries.

Mr Samuel Praveen Kumar stressed the need for regional cooperation and investment in climate-resilient agriculture to address the challenges of climate change, urbanization and food waste. The first day concluded with the visit of delegates to the food festival at Rock Garden.

-With PIB Inputs

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