Ukraine’s Agriculture Minister Solsky joined the G7 meeting

Ukraine’s Minister of Agriculture Mykola Solsky also came to Stuttgart and talked to his G7 colleagues about the consequences of the war for his country.

Federal Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir said in Stuttgart: “Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified attack on Ukraine dictated the focus of our meeting. Not only is climate change threatening food security, but the war has also increased the pressure on global food systems.” According to Özdemir, Putin’s war has exacerbated world hunger. He said: “We have given a pledge to support Ukraine with long-term measures. We will continue to ensure food supplies for the Ukrainian population and we will support the Ukrainian agricultural sector wherever possible. And we will help Ukraine to resume its agricultural exports.”

The discussions also addressed:

• sustainable global agricultural supply chains and the goals of sustainable agriculture;
• the opportunities and risks of new approaches in the agricultural sector, such as humus formation with carbon storage;
• the “silent pandemic”, i.e. the further spread of antimicrobial resistances; and
• the strengthening of the role played by inclusive and intergovernmental multi-stakeholder platforms, such as the Committee on World Food Security (CFS).

A joint final communiqué on these topics was adopted. Statements and commitments from this document will be fed into the summit of the G7 heads of state and government, which is to be held at Schloss Elmau in June 2022.

At the closing press conference, Federal Minister Özdemir said: “We are against export bans and we call for markets to be kept open. We have also spoken with concern about the fact that some countries have imposed an export ban on wheat or palm oil. We urge all countries to meet their responsibilities.”

Continuing the work on combating hunger, climate change and the extinction of species

With a view to the implications of the climate crisis, Minister Özdemir said: “I am delighted that we have also reached a common understanding that we cannot solve crises by exacerbating others. It is clear to us that we must continue our work on combating hunger, climate change and the extinction of species.” He continued by saying that it was people from areas that had been worst hit by the climate crisis and biodiversity loss that were suffering most from hunger. He added: “The G7 want to take the lead at international level to outline pathways towards sustainable food systems. The right to food can only be implemented if we enable farmers all over the world to sustainably increase productivity and to strengthen resilient ecosystems.”

G7 Presidency rotates between members on an annual basis

The G7 consists of the democracies of Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Canada and the U.S. The European Union is also represented at all G7 meetings. The Presidency rotates between members on an annual basis. At the beginning of 2022, Germany took over the Presidency from the United Kingdom, and will be succeeded by Japan in 2023.

The G7 is considered a platform for developing key impetus for the solution of global issues on a basis of common values. The Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) is building on this: the climate crisis, the global loss of biodiversity and the high levels of hunger and malnutrition worldwide underline the importance of forward-looking and concerted international action. Through their meeting, the G7 Agriculture Ministers will contribute to this effort.

In addition to the meetings at ministerial level, the milestones of the 2022 G7 process included two meetings of the national negotiators. In April and May 2022, they prepared the joint final communiqué that the Agriculture Ministers adopted in Stuttgart.

The G7 countries did not isolate themselves from other organisations and bodies: Federal Minister Özdemir had invited representatives from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO). This process also ensured that others were heard, for instance the G7 engagement groups Business7, Civil7, Labour7, Science7, Think7, Women7 and Youth7, as well as other stakeholders. The BMEL will inform these groups about the G7 projects and the outcomes.

In early March, the G7 Agriculture Ministers had met virtually for an extraordinary meeting at the invitation of Cem Özdemir, German Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture. This meeting was aimed at discussing the effects the unfolding war was having on global food and nutrition security. Despite global market disruptions, the food supply in Germany is secure. However, a special meeting of the Rapid Response Forum of the G20 Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) held in early March showed that countries reliant on imports – in particular developing nations – could be expected to have considerable supply shortages.

Russia accounts for 10 percent and Ukraine for 4 percent of global wheat production. In recent years, the EU share in global wheat production amounted to approximately 20 percent.