JBS CEO highlights hunger as top priority for Brazil’s G20 Presidency

In seeking to improve food systems, countries will face challenges in eradicating hunger, increasing productivity, enhancing the lives of those involved in production processes, promoting sustainability, and making food accessible. To achieve all this, it will be necessary to confront the challenge of trade barriers, which raise food prices in some regions of the world, pointed out JBS Global CEO, Gilberto Tomazoni.

These points were brought up in Mr Tomazoni’s address as head of the Sustainable Food Systems and Agriculture task force at the launch of B20 Brazil – the business arm of the G20. Mr Tomazoni said that the task force he coordinates aims to consider international trade with fair practices as a mechanism for inclusive food systems and as an incentive for producers to adopt modern and sustainable technologies.

Mr Tomazoni expressed full support for tackling hunger as the main priority of Brazil’s G20 Presidency this year and for the creation of the Global Alliance around the theme. The CEO of JBS, one of the world’s largest food companies, leads one of the eight task forces defined by the B20, which connects the business community with the governments of the group that brings together the world’s largest economies, the G20.

The mission of each task force is to develop private sector suggestions that influence the decision-making process in the priority agendas of their respective governments. All work will be guided by the theme “inclusive growth for a sustainable future” and by the following pillars: promoting inclusive growth and combating hunger, poverty, and inequalities; promoting a just transition to a net-zero economy; increasing productivity through innovation; promoting the resilience of global value chains; and valuing human capital.

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Mr Tomazoni highlighted that the reestablishment of the Sustainable Food Systems and Agriculture task force, which was last active in 2018, is a milestone in the B20’s commitment. Food systems represent 10 percent of global GDP and 35 percent of jobs worldwide. To this undeniable importance, there are intense contrasts: 2.3 billion people face food insecurity in the world, the sector contributes 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions and is responsible for 80 percent of biodiversity loss.

Cutting-edge technology for small producers

The task force that Mr Tomazoni leads has as its main objectives, at this initial stage, to identify the most critical actions for businesses and governments to transform global food and agricultural systems and to recommend policies that can support the global business communities in accelerating the necessary changes.

Among the possible actions presented by Mr Tomazoni are increasing productivity and efficiency, enabling fairer trade practices aimed at achieving global food security, promoting more sustainable production methods, and fostering a public-private global-local framework to coordinate financing efforts for transformation.

The leader of the Sustainable Food Systems and Agriculture task force said that Brazil is in a privileged position to contribute to this agenda and catalyze its impact. “Our modern agribusiness adopts cutting-edge technology, but we still have a huge opportunity to bring these innovations to small producers, recover degraded lands, adopt regenerative practices, and be a tool to help the world achieve greater food security”.

As the world’s third-largest food producer, second-largest biofuel producer, and one of the leading countries in agricultural technology, Brazil must do its utmost to protect its natural resources not only to achieve its local goals but also to contribute to the transformation of global food systems and to face the challenge of hunger and ensure that the B20’s goals are achieved.

Biography

Gilberto Tomazoni, Global Chief Executive Officer, JBS

Gilberto Tomazoni, CEO Global JBS

Gilberto is qualified as a mechanical engineer with a postgraduate degree in management, he has extensive experience and knowledge of the food industry. For almost three decades he worked in the Brazilian food processing and exporting industry. Gilberto joined JBS as Global President of the Poultry Business. As CEO he has led the formation of Seara Alimentos. In 2015, he assumed the Global Operations Presidency and in 2017 he became Global COO of JBS. In December 2018, he was named Global CEO. Since 2013, he has chaired the Board of Pilgrim´s Pride Corporation.