Innovation and trade: Twin engines for food security after COP30

As the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP30, draws to a close in Belém, Brazil, global attention is turning to Johannesburg, South Africa, where B20 — the official G20 dialogue forum with the global business community — is bringing together leaders from industry, government, and civil society. The overlap is more than symbolic: It reflects a growing realization that climate, trade, and food security are increasingly interconnected.

In the months ahead, trade ministers will gather for the World Trade Organization’s Ministerial Conference in Yaoundé, Cameroon, followed by the Convention on Biological Diversity’s 17th Conference of the Parties in Yerevan, Armenia. Together, these milestones form a continuum of opportunity to turn climate ambition into concrete action.

At the heart of this opportunity is one clear truth: Innovation only matters if it reaches the field. Farmers everywhere need access to the tools and technologies that allow them to produce more sustainably, protect biodiversity, and build resilience. And they need it now.

Enabling access: From lab to land to market

Climate extremes are reshaping agriculture worldwide — changing rainfall patterns, intensifying droughts and floods, and shifting the spread of pests and diseases. But together, innovation and trade can empower farmers to adapt, sustain productivity, and strengthen food system resilience.

Innovation, on the one hand, provides the tools to adjust to this reshaping. Advances in plant science — from crop protection solutions that help manage evolving pest and disease pressures to new genomic techniques, or NGTs, that can enhance selected traits to increase drought tolerance or disease resistance — are expanding the options available to farmers. These innovations enable the development of climate-resilient and drought-tolerant crops, reduce the need for tillage, and optimize the use of inputs such as water and fertilizers. Complementary technologies such as biologicals — products derived from living organisms that promote crop health and productivity — digital tools, and precision agriculture further enhance efficiency and sustainability on the ground.

And we can already see the impact. Crop-breeding technologies such as drought-tolerant maize have shown significant benefits, reducing the risk of crop failure by 81% in parts of Nigeria. Integrated pest management, which combines targeted pesticide use with biological controls, has been shown to boost yields by over 40%. And NGTs have protected crops such as banana, orange, coffee, and cocoa from otherwise untreatable diseases, keeping them plentiful and affordable.  

In parallel, open, predictable, and science-based trade systems are essential to ensure that these technologies — and the food they help produce — can move across borders efficiently and affordably. Trade allows innovations developed in one region to reach farmers in another, helping to stabilize supply chains and cushion the impacts of climate shocks.

Innovation delivers the solutions, and trade ensures access.

Together, they form the foundation of climate-smart global food systems. And as the world faces the dual challenge of feeding a growing population and coping with a changing climate, both will be indispensable in building a future that is not just productive, but resilient and sustainable.

That is why alignment between innovation and trade policy is critical — and why upcoming multilateral meetings must reinforce commitments to open and transparent agricultural trade under the World Trade Organization framework.

Building on momentum toward change

As shown in the 2025 Global Agricultural Productivity Report, reinvigorating productivity growth is critical for maintaining affordable food and other agricultural products, while raising farm incomes and reducing pressure on environmental systems. By aligning tools, capital, and policy, we can match the right solutions to the right contexts and accelerate gains where they’re needed.

CropLife International and NTT Data’s recent report highlights real-world examples where productivity and sustainability are already advancing together. In Brazil, integrated crop-livestock-forestry systems have transformed degraded land into thriving production zones, doubling maize yields and tripling pasture capacity without expanding acreage. In Asia, digital pest-monitoring tools are helping farmers use fewer inputs while maintaining yields. And in Africa, regenerative soil management is restoring fertility and livelihoods.

Each of these examples demonstrates that with the right policies and partnerships, innovation can simultaneously drive productivity growth, resilience, and environmental protection.

The Group of 20 major economies’ Food Security Task Force Declaration, adopted in Cape Town under South Africa’s G20 presidency, provides a strong policy foundation for this agenda. Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to “open, … predictable, and rules-based agriculture, food and fertiliser trade,” consistent with WTO principles. They also emphasized the importance of tackling excessive food-price volatility, improving transparency through the Agricultural Market Information System, and promoting sustainable, inclusive food systems.

The declaration makes clear that food security depends not only on availability, but also on access, affordability, and resilience. It recognizes that healthy ecosystems and biodiversity are essential to sustaining the variety of foods that support global nutrition — yet remain highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change or trade disruptions. Solutions, therefore, must combine innovation, investment, and multilateral cooperation.

From innovation to capacity building

True capacity building goes beyond dialogue — it entails forging real, on-the-ground partnerships that deliver measurable change. No single player can transform food systems alone; it’s the connections between them that drive lasting impact.

An example of this approach in action is CropLife International’s Sustainable Pesticide Management Framework, or SPMF, launched in 2021. This five-year, multistakeholder program brings together dedicated partners and governments across Africa, Asia, and Latin America to promote the responsible, science-based use of crop protection tools. What makes SPMF powerful is that it doesn’t just train farmers — it creates scalable best-practice models, strengthens regulatory and stewardship capacity, and supports national authorities in embedding the International Code of Conduct on Pesticide Management.

In nine different countries across the global south, the program demonstrates what collaboration can achieve when everyone plays their part: local governments enabling regulation; industry sharing its expertise; and farmers adopting safer, more sustainable practices. Together, these partnerships create the enabling environments that allow innovation to reach the field faster — helping farmers strengthen productivity, respond to climate pressures, and trade more efficiently.

The coming months offer a unique opportunity to align global efforts across climate, food security, and biodiversity agendas. If the momentum of COP30 carries through Johannesburg, Yaoundé, and Yerevan, it could mark a turning point in how the world tackles food security: by making innovation accessible, trade predictable, and agriculture both productive and sustainable. Farmers are already leading this transformation — now the world must keep pace with them.

For more information about CropLife International's ongoing work in supporting climate change adaptation, visit www.croplife.org.