Germany had to retool its priorities for its 2022 presidency of the Group of Seven leading industrial nations multiple times, after a new government came in late last year — and then Russia invaded Ukraine in February. Spiking food, fuel, and fertilizer costs became front and center on the agenda of the world’s highest-income nations.
Sebastian Lesch, head of the sustainable agricultural supply chains unit within BMZ, the country’s federal ministry for economic cooperation and development, said Germany’s goal was to ensure that governments were coordinating with one another on a response in a way that doesn’t duplicate the efforts of other institutions.
He told Devex the country felt a responsibility to ensure the food crisis was prioritized in the G-7 agenda. In May, in partnership with the World Bank, the G-7 launched a Global Alliance for Food Security.