Indonesia G20 Presidency CGIAR at the G20 Global Forum on Digital Agriculture Transformation in Accelerating Women and Youth Entrepreneurship

Under its G20 Presidency, the Government of Indonesia organized the Global Forum of the G20 Agriculture Ministers Meeting in Bali on 27 September 2022, with the participation of a CGIAR delegation led by Johan Swinnen, Managing Director of Systems Transformation CGIAR and Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute, Gianpiero Menza, Senior Manager Partnerships & Innovative Finance at the Alliance/CGIAR and Rob Vos Director Market, Trade and Institutions at IFPRI/CGIAR. The G20 Global Forum served as a platform to discuss policies, training programs, strategies, and best practices to support women and youth entrepreneurship and ensure the digitalization of the agriculture sector.

In recent years, technological changes in agriculture and food value chains have greatly enhanced yields, efficiency, yields, and profitability. The digital revolution that is underway is already impacting all stages of domestic and global food value chains. However, not all food system actors stand to benefit from the gains and opportunities that digital innovation brings. Women and youth often face hurdles in accessing digital applications and related business opportunities, hindered by regulatory bottlenecks, gendered cultural norms, or limited means to acquire or invest in such innovations. In low- and middle-income countries, women are 7% less likely to own mobile phones and 15% are less likely to use mobile internet. From a business standpoint, 90% of start-ups seeking venture capital investments are founded by men, reflecting the large gender gap.

Dr. Johan Swinnen (CGIAR) intervened in the first session that focused on “Leveraging Digital Agriculture and Revitalizing the Role of Women and Youth towards Agriculture Entrepreneurship”. The session was moderated by Máximo Torero, Chief Economist at FAO and other panellists included high-level experts from IFAD, GIZ, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan.