G20

Think20 (T20) is a G20 engagement group that connects and collaborates with think tanks around the world to provide ideas and recommendations to G20 leaders. This blog pulls from one of the briefs published by the T20 task force on Sustainable Energy, Food, and Water Systems, one of ten T20 task forces for this year’s Saudi Arabia G20 Presidency.

This post originally appeared on IFPRI.org blog.

In a recent blog post, we analyzed how the spread of the disease associated with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) may bring damage to the global economy, and with it to food security and efforts to reduce poverty. We emphasized that the economic impacts of the present pandemic will be different from previous ones, including SARS, avian influenza, and MERS, which caused direct damage to livestock sectors, leading to food shortages and food price hikes in affected areas. No major food shortages have emerged thus far because of COVID-19.

2018 marked the 10th anniversary of the first G20 Summit , held in Washington in 2008 at the height of the global financial crisis. At the 2018 G20 Summit , held Nov. 30-Dec. 1 in Buenos Aires under the auspices of the Argentina Presidency, world leaders faced a different set of challenges, from persistent hunger to the eruption of trade wars. They worked to build consensus on a range of topics including the future of work, infrastructure for development, the need for gender mainstreaming in global agendas, and a sustainable food future.

The countries that make up the G20 account for around 60 percent of the world's agricultural land, some 80 percent of global agricultural trade, and about two-thirds of global population. As such, these countries have an important role to play in global food and nutrition security, as well as sustainable agricultural production.

By: Luciana Delgado, IFPRI

A recent brief by authors from the World Bank, IFPRI and the University of Antwerp notes that reducing food loss and waste can improve food and nutrition security. The brief was prepared through the T20 program as part of the preparation for the G20 meetings in Argentina that took place this month.