India, Dec. 5 -- At the just-concluded G20 summit in South Africa, where the agenda was themed "solidarity, equality, sustainability", Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for a "global AI compact" to ensure AI is human-centred, open-source, and inclusive. This signals a meaningful shift in how technology is being tied to development and equity - and its transition from being a blue sky, futuristic buzzword. AI is an important tool for development efforts - a new tool in addressing the old challenges. With inclusive design, they can leapfrog solutions to legacy constraints. Take health care for instance. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2021, roughly 4.5 billion people globally - i.e., close to half of the world's population - did not have access to essential health services. Personalised AI-based health chats can extend coverage to such populations. AI's potential is also realised in smarter and equitable management of resources. Whether it is energy-grids, water supply, disaster risk management, fraud detection, AI can optimise, predict, and automate for efficiency, accessibility and affordability. One of the biggest applications of the AI compact to assure equity and solidarity in developing-economy contexts will be in food production. For countries reliant on agriculture related livelihoods, smallholder farmers, monsoon variability, and resource constraints, AI holds particularly transformative potential. AI-powered sensors, drones, satellite imagery, predictive models can help farmers know when to sow, which variety to choose, how much water or fertiliser to apply - thus reducing waste, increasing yield, and lowering cost and risk of farming. Such use is of greater value for small-holder, low-input farming systems that are far more dependent on natural resources than large industrial farms. There are many examples of how AI is becoming a part of everyday farming. In the context of increasing volatility of rainfall, temperature swings, and pests, AI-driven forecasting and early-warning systems can help farmers adapt. For India's monsoon-dependent farming system, this is especially important. Developing countries can leverage AI to monitor soil health, manage cropping patterns, optimise irrigation, and anticipate regions of distress or crop failure. Also, losses after harvest remain a huge issue in most countries. AI applications in supply chain optimisation, predictive demand, and quality control can reduce wastage, improve market linkage and increase farmer income while also addressing issues of food prices and availability. If deployed thoughtfully, AI tools provide opportunities for smallholders, women farmers, and rural enterprises. The barrier is in making them accessible (cost-effective, local-language, trustworthy). As India stressed at the summit, the AI mission rests on "equitable access, population-scale skilling and responsible deployment". Thus, for development efforts, AI doesn't just add a layer of sophistication, it offers a leap-forward opportunity. If deployed equitably and inclusively, it can usher in a new age of sarvodaya (progress for all) through AI. In the era of rising geopolitical divides and differences, the hunt is for a common thread where there can be agreement. Responsible deployment of AI is one such rare area. Every country - within G20 and beyond - is trying to harness the potential of AI. Countries are feeling underprepared to regulate and manage. Building shared capacities and complementarity (rather than competition) is the only way to bridge these widening gaps. Shared AI governance frameworks, resource and capacity pooling by shared data-platforms, cloud-infra, compute services, standard-setting for ethics, transparency and safety would be an important part of an effective global compact. Without common rules, AI developed in one context may propagate risks elsewhere. Global frameworks that balance innovation and protection, thereby enabling experimentation (especially in agriculture, health, rural), while ensuring accountability and inclusiveness would be critical as no country can do this alone. The G20 summit in Johannesburg may be over, but its signal that a shared AI governance future is no longer optional - it is integral to how we design resilient, equitable economies - needs to be the lodestar for future development efforts. For countries in the Global South, and sectors such as agriculture, this is an inflection point. The key will be to adopt AI not as a luxury but as a tool for transformation through better productivity, improved livelihoods and reduced risks. If done right, the union of software and soil, data and development, innovation and regulation could usher in a new chapter of sustainable, inclusive growth - for food systems, for rural economies, for all of us....