Speaking at the G20 Agriculture Ministers Meeting in Hyderabad, India, the UK’s Secretary of State for Food and Rural Affairs, Thérèse Coffey, urged countries to come together to boost food security,  harness the power of nature to get food to people’s plates both now and for future generations.

The UK government also announced a £3 million (US$3.84 million) investment to help fund a new consortium to develop, test and scale up alternative fertilizers that can enhance soil health and agricultural productivity.

It also builds on strides the UK makes at home to support farmers to run sustainable, profitable and productive farming businesses. This includes more than £168 million (US$215.3 million) in grants being made available to farmers this year to drive innovation, support food production, improve animal health and welfare and protect the environment, and accelerate the rollout of the Sustainable Farming Incentive.

Up to £30 million (US$3.84 million) has recently been awarded to arming projects to boost food production, move toward net zero, and create a more resilient and sustainable agricultural sector. 

Meanwhile, the second round of Landscape Recovery launched last month to support up to 25 more projects to protect and restore thousands of acres of the English landscape.

Spotlight on security 
The India meeting focused on identifying actions and solutions to help tackle global food security and nutrition, including moving to sustainable agriculture to lower impacts on climate and environment while increasing global food security and ensuring agriculture and food systems are more resilient to shocks.

It comes at a time when resilient food systems are gaining traction across the industry as consumers seek more sustainable food and climate change affects nutrition security. 

Ministers also discussed how to achieve more sustainable food supply chains to reduce impacts such as deforestation caused by unsustainable agriculture and the importance of long-term action and support for farmers and rural communities to ensure we can continue to feed a growing population.

An “ongoing priority”
“Building more resilient food security must be an urgent, ongoing priority for G20 and sustainable agriculture must be at the heart of our efforts,” says Coffey.

“As well as making the most of science, tech and innovation, we need to recognize that protecting and supporting the power of nature is essential and, in many cases, the most effective and cost-effective way to roll out solutions at scale.”

These discussions build on the UK’s ongoing commitment to develop and scale up more sustainable agricultural practices internationally and follow the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate) Summit in Washington last month.