Food security and market access for smallholder farmers top agenda ahead of G20 summit 

The use of technology to improve agricultural production, market access and stronger local value chains, particularly for family farmers and smallholder farmers, were top of mind for nations participating in the G20 meetings for the Agriculture Working Group and Food Security Task Force in Cape Town.

South African Minister of Agriculture, John Steenhuisen, said he was proud that the G20 agriculture ministers adopted a Food Security Task Force Declaration centred on the African philosophy of ubuntu on Friday, 19 September 2025. 

The working groups agreed to work towards enhancing techniques for improving food security.

“We need to invest in climate-smart agriculture: drought-tolerant seed, efficient irrigation and soil-water analytics that make farming more adaptive. We must invest in the diversification of food sources, including fisheries and aquatic foods, and strengthen local and regional value chains to reduce reliance on imports,” Steenhuisen said.

“We must support smallholder and family farmers with inputs, extension services and access to finance. We must tackle post-harvest losses through storage, cold chains and logistics, and we must diversify cropping towards more nutrient-rich foods. We must also embed social protection, from school feeding programmes to targeted transfers, as a core investment in stability and human development,” he said. 

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In South Africa, there are more than 2 million smallholder or household farmers compared to 35,000 commercial growers. They have been dubbed as one of the solutions to the ongoing hunger and malnutrition crisis the country is facing. 

The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) welcomed the conclusion of the G20 Food Security Task Force under the presidency of South Africa on Friday. 

It commended South Africa’s leadership for placing food security at the centre of the G20 agenda during its presidency, the first time the G20 meetings are being hosted on African soil. 

“The task force has rightly recognised that hunger and malnutrition persist despite sufficient global food production, with an estimated 673 million people being impacted by hunger globally in 2024, and a particularly alarming rise in Africa, where more than one in five people face hunger,” the institute said.

“The task force debated systemic issues, including food price volatility, speculative behaviour in global markets, financialisation of food systems, and climate shocks that drive food insecurity and malnutrition.” 

Steenhuisen told Daily Maverick that now all roads lead to the G20 summit in November. “All of the work here gets compiled into documents that will then be signed by the leaders in November. So these working groups, agriculture is just one of them, will now be able to put their compiled documentation, which will then go into a full G20 product file and handover file to the United States of America,” Steenhuisen said.

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He said the declaration is significant because it is one of South Africa’s top priorities this year.

“That is very, very significant, because food security has been one of the agenda items, which we as a country have pushed very high to the top of the agenda.”

The minister added that he was disappointed that they were not able to sign a declaration on agriculture following the Agricultural Working Group meeting.

He said this was “largely because the US and Argentina disagreed with some of the wording, particularly on diversity, gender equality and a few of the other climate change matters. But I was very pleased to see that climate change was mentioned by almost every single one of the participants today, participating countries as a major issue facing global agriculture. And I’m glad that it remains in the wording,” Steenhuisen said.

On the sidelines of the working groups, Steenhuisen signed a Memorandum of Intent with Japan and Brazil to promote closer agricultural cooperation between the two countries. “We see both Brazil and Japan as important trade partners for us going forward, as we seek our process of diversification during the disruption to trade markets of the US,.”

The minister said he held some productive discussions with his counterparts in Europe, especially the UK. “We obviously would like to get more citrus, more wine, more table grapes into the UK, as we try and replace some of the market share that we will lose from the US tariffs if they remain at 30%.”

On Friday evening, 19 September 2025, Steenhuisen wrapped the week of discussion with a speech at the gala dinner. 

“This week has reminded us of a simple truth: agriculture cannot succeed in isolation. Farmers rely on markets, markets rely on trade, and trade relies on trust and cooperation between countries. The G20 Agriculture Working Group is at its best when it strengthens those bonds, when it helps us open doors for improved market access, when it ensures that rules are fair and transparent, and when it builds resilience that no nation could achieve alone,” Steenhuisen said.

He amplified the significance of trade relationships for South Africa, saying these partnerships bear fruit despite ongoing challenges with biosecurity and the impact of changing global trade volatility

“In the past year, we secured new protocols to export avocados to China, opening a fast-growing market to our farmers. Our horticultural products are also breaking new ground in Southeast Asia, with table grapes now reaching the Philippines and Vietnam, and citrus gaining access to Vietnam.” 

“These breakthroughs reflect confidence in our production systems and biosecurity standards. In addition, our citrus industry, a backbone of our exports, continues to expand into new destinations thanks to collaborative work on phytosanitary measures and compliance. These successes are proof that cooperation is not an abstract idea; it translates directly into jobs, incomes and opportunities on the ground,” he said. DM