Arabfields, Sana Dib, Financial Correspondent Johannesburg, South Africa — In a strongly worded statement following the conclusion of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Rio de Janeiro on November 18,19, 2025, South Africa’s Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, John Steenhuisen, described the final declaration as a “culmination” of years of advocacy by the Global South, particularly on the African continent. For the first time in G20 history, the leaders’ communiqué devoted no fewer than five full paragraphs to agriculture and food security, an unprecedented level of detail that Steenhuisen said “finally places the issue where it belongs: at the very center of the global agenda.”
EXCLUSIF | Le Sud global “ne se laissera pas intimider”, selon un ministre sud-africain
💬 “Nous [les pays du Sud] avons notre place sur la scène internationale et nous allons la prendre”, a déclaré le ministre de l’Agriculture, John Steenhuisen, dans un entretien accordé à… https://t.co/YbfXdLrK9N pic.twitter.com/KMnAepuTwA
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Speaking to journalists on November 23, the minister underscored that food security is not merely an economic or humanitarian concern for Africa; it is the cornerstone of political stability and sovereignty. “Hungry nations are unstable nations,” he said. “When people cannot feed their families, governments fall, borders become porous, and extremism finds fertile ground. Securing affordable, nutritious food for 1.4 billion Africans is the single most effective peace-building and counter-terrorism strategy the world can invest in.” The G20 text explicitly recognizes this link, committing member states to remove export restrictions on food purchased for humanitarian purposes and to strengthen the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) to prevent future price shocks.
Steenhuisen welcomed the declaration’s acknowledgment that climate change, conflict, and protectionist trade policies remain the primary drivers of food insecurity, disproportionately affecting sub-Saharan Africa. The document calls for accelerated investment in climate-resilient agriculture, expanded access to drought-resistant seed systems, and the scaling-up of digital agriculture tools, priorities that mirror the African Union’s own Post-Malabo Agenda. Notably, the G20 also reaffirmed support for the reform of subsidized agricultural export credits and the phasing-out of trade-distorting support in developed economies, measures long demanded by African and other developing-country exporters.
Perhaps most significantly from Pretoria’s perspective, the communiqué elevates the voice of the Global South in global governance. South Africa, alongside Brazil (2024 host), India (2023 host), and now set to assume the presidency in 2026, has played a pivotal role in ensuring that the G20 no longer functions as an exclusive club of industrialized nations. “The days when a handful of countries could dictate terms to the rest of the world are over,” Steenhuisen declared. “The Global South will no longer be lectured to, nor will it be intimidated. We are claiming our seat at the table, not as supplicants, but as equals who bring solutions, markets, resources, and demographic vitality to the world.”
Looking ahead to South Africa’s own G20 presidency next year, the minister confirmed that food systems transformation will be one of the three overarching themes, alongside energy transitions and artificial intelligence for development. Pretoria intends to use its year in the chair to push for concrete deliverables: a dedicated G20-Africa Agricultural Investment Facility, binding commitments on climate finance for adaptation in agriculture, and the establishment of an African Food Security Crisis Response Mechanism modeled on AMIS but with stronger early-warning and rapid-financing components. “We are not asking for charity,” Steenhuisen concluded. “We are demanding partnership, and the G20 in Rio has just proven that the world is finally ready to listen.”
