Minister Majnun Mammadov participated in the "Big 20" countries' Meeting of the Ministers of Agriculture

A meeting of the Ministers of Agriculture of the “Big twenty” (G20) countries was held in Kuyaba city in Brazil. Azerbaijan was represented by a delegation led by Minister of Agriculture Majnun Mammadov at the prestigious international event attended by the ministers of agriculture from 23 countries. The meeting was also attended by representatives of government agencies of various countries, the private sector, international organizations, specialists and experts working in the agrarian sector.

The main objective of the event, which was hosted by Brazil for the first time, is to discuss measures to build sustainable agriculture, ensure food security and fight hunger.

Opening the event, Brazilian Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Carlos Favaro said that ensuring the inclusive and sustainable development of agriculture in the light of global climate change has become one of the main goals. He noted that increasing production in the agricultural sector and effective measures to combat hunger necessitate regular cooperation at the global level.

Speaking at the event, Azerbaijani Minister of Agriculture Majnun Mammadov said that the loss of biodiversity, climate change, land degradation and water shortages around the World pose great threats to agro-food systems. The Minister brought to the attention the need for cooperation in the fields of digital transformation of agriculture, technology transfer in this area, sharing best practices in order to achieve sustainable development against the backdrop of modern challenges. Emphasizing that the projects implemented in Azerbaijan, which is an important transit and logistics center in the Eurasian region, play the role of an important trade bridge between the East-West and North-South transport corridors, Minister Majnun Mammadov added that these corridors can greatly benefit the development of our trade relations.

Minister Majnun Mammadov touched upon the importance of holding the the the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) in Azerbaijan, and stressed that our country willingly joins initiatives arising from global challenges and attaches importance to fruitful cooperation with international partners.

The Ministerial Meeting touched upon the issues of rapid population growth, changing consumer demands, climate change and depletion of natural resources, creation of a sustainable agricultural system in line with new challenges, ensuring food and food security through increasing productivity by protecting the environment.

At the end of the two-day event, the Declaration of the Ministers of Agriculture of the G20 countries was adopted. The declaration reflected the need to build sustainable agro-food systems, strengthen the role of family-peasant farms in the agrarian sector and support the expansion of their activities, promote the integration of fisheries and aquaculture into local and global value chains, and strengthen multilateral cooperation on measures to combat hunger and poverty.