Retrospections

At 2024 GFFA, around 2,000 international guests discussed the food systems of our future and how to collaborate even more closely to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda and to realise the human right to food at a variety of events. There were, among others, 16 Expert Panels, 2 High Level Panels, a High Level Debate, co-hosted by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) and the Munich Security Conference (MSC), and an Innovation Forum.

The High Level Debate was co-hosted by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) and the Munich Security Conference (MSC) for the first time. Federal Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir, Commissioner from the African Union (AU) Josefa Sacko and Janet Maro (CEO Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania (SAT), among others, discussed the topic of “Food, Climate and Security: Joining Forces for a Safer Tomorrow”. The discussion was moderated by Dr. Michael Werz (MSC).

The political highlight was the 16th Berliner Conference of Ministers of Agriculture. 61 Ministers from all around the world and 12 high-level representatives of International Organisations took part. In their final communiqué, the ministers undertook to continue the necessary transformation towards sustainable and consequently resilient agriculture and food systems and underlined that this was the only way to make the right to adequate food a reality for everyone across the globe. They recognised that the climate and biodiversity crises had destabilised the world and undertook to support agricultural practices and technologies that strengthen sustainable food production. They also made it clear that Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine had drastically increased hunger in the world.

At the 15th GFFA, around 2,000 international guests exchanged views at a wide range of specialist events on the challenges posed by multiple crises and discussed how a sustainable transformation of our food systems can be achieved.
At the 15th Berlin Agriculture Ministers’ Conference, 64 agriculture ministers agreed on an ambitious final communiqué.

At the second virtual GFFA 2022, around 2,200 international guests exchanged views in 21 panels on current issues and challenges in global food security and discussed the role of soils in overcoming the global challenges of our time.

At the first virtual GFFA 2021, around 3,100 international guests and 100 speakers in 20 panels exchanged views on current issues and challenges in global food security and discussed how agriculture can feed the world in a balanced way in the long term despite pandemics and climate change.

The GFFA 2020 was all about trade: around 2,300 guests from Germany and abroad engaged in intensive discussions on how international agricultural trade can contribute to safe, diverse and sustainable global nutrition.

Digitisation can help to make agricultural production worldwide more efficient, environmentally friendly and climate-friendly. Digital solutions make it possible to use resources such as fuel, fertilisers and pesticides more sparingly and precisely, to detect animal diseases earlier and to create more transparency for consumers. They provide easy and affordable access to advisory services and market information.

The Global Forum for Food and Agriculture celebrated its 10th anniversary in Berlin from 18 to 20 January 2018 under the motto ‘Shaping the future of livestock – sustainably, responsibly, efficiently’.
More than 2,000 participants, including 69 international delegations with agriculture ministers from around the world, came to Berlin for the GFFA. The issues discussed at the various events included the importance of animal husbandry for food security and as an economic factor in rural areas, and how sustainable production should be organised. Global market developments, taking into account nutrition and consumer trends, also played an important role.

Under the title ‘Agriculture and Water – Key to Feeding the World’, a series of specialist events held from 19–21 January 2017 discussed, among other things, the questions of what contribution agriculture, as a major water user, can make to the sustainable use of this valuable resource worldwide and to water pollution control, how agriculture’s access to water and thus the supply of food to the world’s population can be ensured in the face of intensifying competition for use, and how agriculture can contribute its considerable potential for shaping the use of water as a resource to political processes at the international level.

The importance of urbanisation for for food security for people in the various regions of the world, the role of agriculture and rural areas, and partnership-based cooperation in which rural and urban development go hand in hand.

From 15 to 17 January 2015, a series of events were held under the umbrella theme ‘Growing demand for food, raw materials and energy: opportunities for agriculture, challenges for food security?’ at which the steadily growing demand for resources and the changing roles of producers and processors in the food industry were discussed, new challenges formulated and future prospects developed.

How can we strengthen agriculture and make it resilient enough to feed a growing world population? This was the key question at this year’s Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA), which took place in Berlin from 16 to 18 January 2014 under the motto ‘Strengthening agriculture: overcoming crises – securing food supply’.

Over 1,500 participants, including 65 agriculture ministers from around the world, five international organisations and the European Commission, discussed how agriculture and rural areas can be strengthened and made more resilient in the face of a variety of challenges. The event focused on three basic principles: Diverse production – sustainable management of natural resources – increased productivity!

At the 5th Global Forum for Food and Agriculture from 17 to 19 January 2013, representatives from politics, business, science and civil society joined forces to fight hunger and called for a significant increase in investment in the agriculture and food industry, particularly in developing countries. In the final communiqué of the Agriculture Ministers’ Summit, the participating states, which represent a total of almost five billion inhabitants and thus around 70 per cent of the world’s population, emphasised the particular importance of responsible public and private investment in agriculture.

The Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, together with the associations of the German agricultural and food industry, organised the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) Berlin 2012 from 19 to 21 January 2012 under the title ‘Food security through sustainable growth – agricultural use of scarce resources’. More than 1,500 participants from politics and business accepted the invitation to the ICC Berlin congress centre.

The Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, together with the associations of the German agricultural and food industry, organised the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) Berlin 2011 from 20 to 22 January 2011 under the title ‘Trade and Security of the World’s Food Supply: Global – Regional – Local’. More than 1,200 participants from the fields of politics and business accepted the invitation to the ICC Berlin congress centre.

The Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, together with the associations of the German agricultural and food industry, organised the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) Berlin 2010 from 14 to 16 January 2010 under the title ‘Agriculture and climate change – new concepts for politics and business’. More than 1,000 participants from politics and business accepted the invitation to the ICC Berlin congress centre.

On 17 January 2009, the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, together with the associations of the German agricultural and food industry, held the first Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) in Berlin under the heading ‘Securing the world’s food supply is a global challenge for politics and business’.