Background Notes on Sustainable, Productive and Resilient Agro-Food Systems: Value chains, human capital, and the 2030 Agenda

Abstract

Agricultural production more than tripled between 1960 and 2015, owing in part to productivity-enhancing technologies and a significant expansion in the use of land, water, and other natural resources for agricultural purposes. Today, more than ever, agriculture faces multiple and complex challenges. It has to provide sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to meet boosting demand by a growing and progressively more prosperous population, and ensure food security for all. Prepared to support the G20 Presidency of Japan and the G20 Agriculture Deputies, these three background notes provide an overview on the following interlinked issues: (i) the policy challenges for strengthening the participation of farmers into modern value chains and promoting value addition, inclusion, sustainability and rural economic growth; (ii) the need for a transformation in the skillset of agricultural workers and a renewed focus on human capital development in agriculture, and (iii) the contribution of agriculture to the realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.