Food Issues Are The Focus Of The G20 Meeting In Washington, The Republic Of Indonesia Proposes That The World Needs Other Initiatives

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Ministry of Finance)

JAKARTA - Ministers of Finance (Menkeu) and Minister of Agriculture (Mentan) of G20 member countries held their first Joint Finance and Agriculture Ministers (JFAMM) meeting in Washington DC earlier this week.

The agenda follows up on the results of a meeting between the Deputy for Finance and Agriculture of the G20 last week regarding the world's food security issues.

Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani in her statement said that the Indonesian G20 Presidency has emphasized its commitment to use all appropriate policy tools in overcoming economic and financial challenges, including the risk of food insecurity.

"The G20 is ready to take quick collective action on food and nutrition, including by collaborating with other initiatives," he said on Wednesday, October 12.

According to the Minister of Finance, several global initiatives have been launched by regional, international, and even independent organizations by several countries to face food security problems, such as the UN Global Crisis Response Group (GCRG), the G7 Global Alliance for Food Security (GAFS).

Then there are also the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP), International Finance Institute Action Plan, and the Global Development Initiative.

In addition, it is also stated that the World Bank has committed to providing 30 million US dollars in new funding or existing projects related to food security and nutrition for the next few years.

"The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) also provides developments in food market conditions, including through the G20 Agricultural Market Information System," he said.

At the event, it was known that the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Agriculture of the G20 had emphasized their commitment to utilizing all policy tools in overcoming current economic and financial challenges, including food security.

"The G20 Forum will continue to take quick steps together in dealing with food and nutritional security problems, including by collaborating with other initiatives," he said.

On the same occasion, Minister of Agriculture Syahrul Yasin Limpo stated that as an effective forum in responding to global challenges in terms of food insecurity, the Indonesian G20 Presidency implemented a strategy to increase production capacity.

"This is useful for stabilizing food prices, suppressing inflation, reducing imports and increasing food exports," said the Minister of Agriculture.

He also explained about the strategy applied to several strategic food commodities.

"Through operational activities, we can overcome problems that arise in the food agribusiness system, so that efficiency and increased competitiveness can be achieved," he added.

For information, food security issues have become the concern of the G20 forum, as has been raised in the Seminar High-Level: Strengthening Global Collaboration for Tackling Food Insecurity as well as the third Minister of Finance and Governor of Central Bank (FMCBG) meeting in July 2022.

Meanwhile, the first JFAMM meeting today became the basis for close coordination needed in the future to determine the best way to face the challenges of food security.

During the meeting, the Ministers of Finance and the Ministers of Agriculture of the G20 supported increased coordination to ensure a global response that was in line with food insecurity and cooperation with other multilateral initiatives.