G20 china_web

Agriculture, food and nutrition
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Economies can and have been built
on small farms
Investing in small farms generates
both growth and jobs
As the international
community implements the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs), including the
ambitious target of eliminating extreme
poverty and hunger within 14 years,
investments must address the needs of
smallholder farmers and small-scale
agricultural producers.
Around two-and-a-half billion people
depend on the world’s 500 million smallscale
farms. They are the backbone of
food systems in developing countries. In
sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia, small
farms are responsible for 80 per cent of
production. Paradoxically, often the people
who grow food also go hungry. About 70
per cent of the poorest and hungriest
people live in the rural areas of developing
countries, and many smallholder farmers
are also net food buyers.
There is no reason why small farms
should be poor or small-scale producers
should go hungry. Small farms predominate
in rich countries such as Italy, Japan,
Norway, Korea and Switzerland. Thailand
and Vietnam have built their economies
on small farms. Small farms also make
significant contributions in Brazil. Investing
in small-scale farming significantly affects
growth and poverty reduction. Growth
in gross domestic product originating in
agriculture far more effectively reduces
poverty than growth outside agriculture.
Small farms are alsomore productive per
unit of land, driven largely by efficiency
gains from family labour.
Smallholder benefits
Investing in innovations that benefit smallscale
agriculture reaches far and wide.
Smallholder farmers with more income
employ more people and spend more
on goods and services close to
home. This leads to growth
– and jobs – both within
and outside the farming
sector in services, agroprocessing
and small-scale
manufacturing.
This employmentgenerating
potential is
especially important in countries
with rapidly expanding youth
populations. In Africa, around 18 million
young people enter labour markets every
year. Even the most optimistic scenarios
concede that urban sectors will be unable
to offer employment to such large numbers.
18M
young people
enter the African
labour markets
every year
Innovation in smallholder agriculture is
therefore key to feeding the planet, reducing
poverty and creating jobs.
Agricultural research has given the
world new instruments such as marker
assisted selection, tissue culture and
embryo rescue techniques. Technology
is only a tool. It is not an end in itself.
Agricultural research must meet the needs
of poor farmers. That includes improving
existing methods that are easily affordable
and accessible to poor people.
For example, 15 years ago the
International Fund for Agriculture
and Development partnered
with the Government of China
to pioneer the development
of biogas for poverty
reduction. The programme
used biogas digesters to turn
waste into household fuel by
burning bio-methane, which
is 22 times more damaging than
carbon dioxide. When methane is
burned, it is less harmful to the environment
and provides a source of renewable and
affordable energy.
For poor people not on the power grid,
the gas provides energy for lighting, cooking
222 G20 China: The Hangzhou Summit • September 2016 G7G20.com