On 17-19 February, in Kohbar, Saudi Arabia, the coordinator of Labex Europe, Vinícius Guimarães, participated in the 9th Annual Meeting of G20 Agricultural Chief Scientists (MACS-G20). The meeting, promoted by the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture of Saudi Arabia, precedes the meeting of Ministers of Agriculture and gathers leaders responsible for research, science and technology institutes, with the aim of discussing issues related to agriculture and nutrition in order to define strategies towards shared foals. The outcome of the MACS-G20 annual meeting is a document entitled Comuniqué, whose main themes this year included promoting agricultural productivity through innovative cutting-edge technologies, sustainable agriculture development in drylands, and the Water, Energy and Food nexus to reduce hunger. Representing the president of Embrapa, Celso Moretti, the researcher Vinícius Guimarães was appointed by Embrapa and the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply (Mapa) as responsible for the Brazilian delegation alongside the Agricultural Attaché in Saudi Arabia Marcel Moreira Pinto. “The Brazilian participation is very important, not only for the contribution to issues of G20's interest during the elaboration of the Comuniqué, but also for Brazil's stance in more critical points about agriculture in Brazil and in the world”, Guimarães stated. The first day of the event included technical visits to Saudi irrigation systems west of the country, and to a milk production and processing company. During the discussion meetings, divided into four sessions, the representatives of each participating country had the opportunity to share experiences and suggest approaches concerning each topic. The final session was dedicated to drafting and reviewing the Comuniqué, which will now be sent to the Ministers of Agriculture, in a meeting scheduled for March 18 and 19. “The final document pointed to themes and issues that have to be addressed by research”, commented the coordinator of Labex Europe. According to him, the alignment of Embrapa's agricultural research with MACS G20 discussions is very representative, especially considering field research on gene editing, digital and precision agriculture, integrated systems, crop diversification, bioeconomy and the consumption of plant protein. “These are themes that focus on sustainability, aimed at increasing efficiency in the use of natural resources, especially water and energy”, he added. For Vinícius Guimarães, there is a major challenge in producing food under extreme conditions. “We are urged to find viable and sustainable solutions for food security in countries with soil and weather characteristics like Saudi Arabia”, he asserted. Among the advantages of the Brazilian presence of the MACS-G20 forum, the Labex coordinator lists the possibility of building new relationship networks with other countries, within foreign ministries and research institutions. “In addition, Embrapa's participation shows the importance of Brazilian agriculture and strengthens link-building in such a large international relationship network”, he concluded. Translation: Mariana Medeiros