Chandigarh, 31 March 2023: The Second Agriculture Deputies Meeting (ADM) of the Agriculture Working Group under India’s Group of Twenty (G20) presidency was held in Chandigarh, India, on 29–31 March 2023.

The first session revolved around the Rapid Response Forum (RRF) of the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS). The RRF is composed of senior officials from countries participating in AMIS, an inter-agency platform to enhance food market transparency and policy response for food security. It is designed to promote early discussion amongst decision-level officials about critical market conditions to encourage the coordination of policies and the development of common strategies.

In his welcome address, Mr Arun Kumar, Senior Economic and Statistical Adviser of the Government of India, stressed the need for timely and evidence-based policymaking to address the concerns of high food prices. Mr Abhilaksh Likhi, Additional Secretary of India’s Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, said that the main objective of G20 is to build consensus on current challenges, including food security and nutrition, sustainable agriculture with a climate-smart approach, inclusive agricultural value chains and food systems, and digitisation for agricultural transformation.  An action plan on Food Price Volatility and Agriculture was launched during the meeting. A millet food festival was held in the evening.

On the meeting’s second day,  Mr Som Som Prakash, India’s Minister of State for Commerce and Industry,  welcomed the delegates from G20 countries, invited member countries, and international organisations and urged them to respond to the food crisis. Discussed during the sessions that followed was the draft of the communique that addresses four priority areas: food security and nutrition, sustainable agriculture with a climate-smart approach, inclusive agricultural value chains and food systems, and digitalisation for agricultural transformation.  Dr Venkatachalam Anbumozhi, Director of Research Strategy and Innovation at the Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), joined the discussions on the climate-smart approach,

The meeting featured two sessions to draft the statements on two new initiatives: the G20 Framework for Food Security and Nutrition and the Millets and Other Ancient Grains International Research Initiative. The delegates acknowledged that it is imperative for all key  stakeholders to develop coordinated policies, strategies, and programmes that recognise the crucial interlinkages between food security, health, climate, and conflict resolution as well as the links of food systems with energy markets and the fiscal space of vulnerable economies, especially those at risk of debt distress.  

The delegates expressed hope that further deliberations would pave the way for agreement on the communique. ERIA has been invited for an inter-sessional meeting on 2–3 May 2023 and will organise a conference on millets, climate, and food security in June 2023.