Context:
India is becoming the destination country for healthy food items like millets and the government is promoting biofortified varieties to address malnutrition, India’s Agriculture Minister said as he participated in the G-20 agriculture meeting virtually.
Relevance:
GS-II: International Relations (Important International Groupings, Important International Agreements), GS-III: Indian Economy (Growth & Development of Indian Economy)
Dimensions of the Article:
- About G20
- Structure and functioning of G20
- Highlights of the G20 Agriculture meeting 2021
- Highlights of India’s Position at the G20 meet
About G20
- The G20 is an informal group of 19 countries and the European Union, with representatives of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
- The G20 membership comprises a mix of the world’s largest advanced and emerging economies, representing about two-thirds of the world’s population, 85% of global gross domestic product, 80% of global investment and over 75% of global trade.
- The members of the G20 are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union.
- Spain as a permanent, non-member invitee, also attends leader summits.
Structure and functioning of G20
- The G20 Presidency rotates annually according to a system that ensures a regional balance over time.
- For the selection of presidency, the 19 countries are divided into 5 groups, each having no more than 4 countries. The presidency rotates between each group.
- Every year the G20 selects a country from another group to be president.
- India is in Group 2 which also has Russia, South Africa and Turkey.
- The G20 does not have a permanent secretariat or Headquarters.
- The work of G20 is divided into two tracks:
- The Finance track comprises all meetings with G20 finance ministers and central bank governors and their deputies. Meeting several times throughout the year they focus on monetary and fiscal issues, financial regulations, etc.
- The Sherpa track focuses on broader issues such as political engagement, anti-corruption, development, energy, etc.
Highlights of the G20 Agriculture meeting 2021
- The G20 Agriculture meeting was held as a part of the G20 Leaders Summit 2021 to be hosted by Italy in October 2021.
- The G20 signed a final statement named the “Florence Sustainability Charter” that will strengthen cooperation between G20 members and developing countries on food and agriculture to share knowledge and help developing the internal production capacities best suited to local needs.
- The G20 countries reaffirmed their intention to reach the goal of zero hunger, which is also threatened by the consequences of Covid-19.
- The G20 countries also reaffirmed the commitment to achieve food security in the framework of the three dimensions of sustainability: economic, social and environmental.
Highlights of India’s Position at the G20 meet
- India emphasised on re-introducing traditional food items including millet, other nutritious cereals, fruits and vegetables, fish, dairy and organic products in the diet of the people.
- The United Nations (UN) has accepted India’s proposal and declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets and urged the G20 nations to support the celebration of the millet year to promote nutrition and sustainable agriculture.
- India said that Biofortified varieties, which are the source of a staple diet rich in micronutrients, are being promoted to remove malnutrition. About 17 such varieties of different crops have been developed and released for cultivation.
- It was highlighted that India has also taken steps to increase the optimal use of water resources, create infrastructure for irrigation, conserve soil fertility with balanced use of fertilizers, and provide connectivity from farms to markets.
-Source: Indian Express
