Bilateral meeting with H.E. John Henry Steenhuisen, Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of South Africa

Siracusa - On the margins of the G7 Ministers of Agriculture meeting in Siracusa, Italy, the FAO Directo-General met with His Excellency John Henry Steenhuisen, Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of South Africa to discuss how to further strengthen collaboration.

The Director-General congratulated the Minister on his appointment and said he looked forward to working with him, especially for the finalization of the Country Programming Framework (CPF). The Director-General also stated that he looked forward to strengthening collaboration on the ground through the FAO Office in South Africa, and he added that South Africa had a key role to play in the Southern African region, and beyond.

The Minister conveyed his appreciation for the meeting and congratulated the Director-General on his re-election, stating that he looked forward to working with him in support of global food and agriculture issues. The Minister referred to the G20 Presidency by South Africa in 2025 and stressed that it would provide an important opportunity to further expand the role of FAO within the G20 agenda on agriculture. He also stated that South Africa looked forward to building upon the excellent work by the G20 Brazilian Presidency which had placed agriculture at the heart of economic growth, rural development and the advancement of women in agrifood systems.

The Director-General noted that South Africa could make a historical contribution to the work of the G20, especially for the development of the agrifood sector through science and innovation, and for global food security. The Director-General referred to existing G20 mechanisms such as AMIS, hosted by FAO, which was an important tool to enhance food security. He also stressed the importance of family farming and looked forward to collaborating with South Africa to ensure family farmers remained at the core of the work of the G20, including through the UN Decade on Family Farming 2019-2028, co-led by FAO and IFAD.

Finally, the Director-General referred to the 80th Anniversary of FAO in 2025, which would coincide with South Africa’s G20 Presidency, and the pair agreed to work jointly to commemorate the historic occasion. The pair agreed that the G20 Agriculture Ministers’ Meeting in 2025 would be an important milestone in the lead up to the G20 Summit to help build and strengthen a new global consensus on the transformation of agrifood systems.