The enlargement of BRICS in 2024 with the accession of five new countries (Egypt, Iran, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Ethiopia) has opened new prospects for international economic cooperation, including food security.

Prospects for BRICS cooperation in the food security sector

According to The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024, the BRICS countries have significant potential in food production and supply. China is the leading producer of agricultural products; India is the largest exporter of rice; Brazil is a major exporter of soybeans and sugar; Russia is a significant exporter of cereals; and South Africa is an important producer of fruit and wine.

According to the The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World data, the BRICS countries account for about 40 per cent of global grain production and are both emerging markets and large developing countries. With the accession of new members, the BRICS have a combined grain production of 1.23 billion metric tonnes and consumption of 1.22 billion metric tonnes.

In 2021, the agriculture ministers of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, and Russia adopted the Action Plan 2021–2024 for Agricultural Cooperation of BRICS Countries at a meeting in New Delhi, as announced by India’s Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.

The main objectives of the 2021–2024 Action Plan were:

Accelerate agricultural development to improve food security and nutrition in the BRICS countries.

Improve the utilisation of water resources in agriculture.

Expand trade in safe and quality agro-products and investment in BRICS agribusiness.

Promote sustainable agriculture with a special focus on small and family farmers.

Share information and best practices in agriculture through dedicated BRICS platforms.

According to the BRICS Strategy on Food Security Cooperation, the BRICS group has developed the main areas of cooperation in the food sector and outlined specific ways to implement them.

BRICS dialogue in the food sector

As part of the cooperation strategy, Russia hosted the first meeting of the BRICS Working Group on Agriculture via videoconference on 16–17 April 2024. The meeting was chaired by Maxim Markovich, director of the Department of International Cooperation and the Export Development of Agro-Industrial Products of the Russian Ministry of Agriculture.

The participating countries were presented with the priorities of the BRICS chairmanship in the agricultural sector: ensuring food security, developing mutual trade, and ensuring sustainable agricultural production. Together with the Indian and Chinese parties, the working group presented the existing BRICS initiatives.

Further, in June 2024 at SPIEF-2024, Vasily Osmakov, First Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, said at the session “The Role of BRICS States in Ensuring Global Food Security” that Russia is ready to be the guarantor of the technological foundation of food security.

“Russia has everything necessary to ensure food sovereignty: fertilisers, plant protection products, and agricultural machinery. We are ready to offer the world our solutions in this area, and such solutions can also ensure the food security of the BRICS and the Global South countries,” he said.

The session also discussed the results of the BRICS Food joint programme of the member countries to eliminate hunger, ensure food security, improve nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The official SPIEF website informs that at the end of 2023, trade turnover with BRICS countries increased, and economic growth accelerated. This joint project on global food security was thus an important step towards a more effective international response to ensure food availability and security for all countries.

Rodrigo de Lima Baena Soares, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federative Republic of Brazil to the Russian Federation, highlighted at the session the role of strengthening the BRICS partnership and introducing social technologies in the area of food security.

“We have created an alliance to combat hunger and poverty. This global alliance can attract resources and knowledge to implement projects within social technology to address these issues. This alliance will be open not only to G20 members but also to all interested parties,” he said.

He also noted that Russia, as a key supplier of fertilisers to the global market, plays a crucial role in ensuring food security. Brazil has a similarly significant role, producing food that can feed 1 billion people in the world.

“Fertilisers from Russia are especially important for us as our countries are complementary within the framework of a single agricultural production chain. This is important for ensuring global food security. Russia is the largest producer and supplier of fertilisers in the world. Russia supplies about a quarter of fertiliser to our country,” the ambassador said.

Andrey Guryev, President of the Russian Association of Fertiliser Producers (RAPU), noted that in 2023, Russian farmers will have purchased 80 per cent more fertilisers than they did five years ago and 2.5 times more than in 2013. At the same time, we see a steady increase in crop outcomes.

According to the expert, in 2023, agricultural export revenues for the first time ever exceeded US$45 billion, and in the past five years, agricultural exports have almost doubled. All this is happening thanks to the well-thought-out government strategy for the development of the sector. In addition, over the last year, Russia has increased its exports of mineral fertilisers to the countries of the Global South by 25 per cent, from 23.5 million tonnes in physical weight in 2022 to 29.1 million tonnes in 2023.

Andrey Guryev added that about 1.2 billion people in the Global South consume food grown with Russian fertilisers. Russian products account for 22 per cent of all fertility vitamins used by local farmers.

In turn, Egyptian Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala Helmy El-Said noted that in order to provide more than 100 million people in Egypt with food, the country’s authorities are expanding the area of agricultural land and promoting higher crop yields.

Mikhail Khachaturyan, Associate Professor of the Department of Strategic and Innovative Development of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, said in an exclusive commentary for TV BRICS that “the most important initiatives in the field of BRICS agriculture and food security are programmes to share farmers’ experience in implementing agricultural projects under risky farming conditions, investment projects in land reclamation, seed production, crop production, livestock breeding, and the construction of water treatment systems. The most significant project in solving the problem of providing the population of the member countries with clean drinking water is the investment of US$200 million for the construction of water supply systems in Brazil. The New BRICS Development Bank is considering similar projects in other BRICS countries, such as Ethiopia and South Africa.”

In June 2024 Moscow hosted the 14th Meeting of BRICS Agriculture Ministers. The event, chaired by Russian Minister of Agriculture Oksana Lut, was attended by representatives of Brazil, China, India, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Egypt, and Ethiopia. The meeting discussed the development of sustainable agriculture, the establishment of the BRICS grain exchange, and other topical issues.

According to the Russian Minister of Agriculture, Russia, as the BRICS Chair in 2024, attaches special importance to food security. Due to the high degree of food self-sufficiency, Russia can share experience and develop cooperation in this area with other BRICS members, the official
website of the Russian 2024 BRICS Chairmanship reports.

In 2024, Brazil’s joint initiative with Cuba and the UAE on cooperation in the field of food security was launched. Under this initiative, the UAE will provide financial support to increase the resilience and adaptability of food systems and increase investment in projects specialising in the production, distribution, and support of nutritious, healthy, and sustainable food systems.

Results of cooperation

During her speech at the 14th Meeting of BRICS Agriculture Ministers, Oksana Lut noted that the outcome of Russia’s BRICS Chairmanship was a general report on the implementation of the Action Plan 2021-2024 for Agricultural Cooperation of BRICS Countries, which was approved by the meeting of the BRICS Working Group on Agriculture.

Ministers also announced at this meeting plans to expand cooperation with BRICS countries in the field of agriculture. She said that the Russian Ministry of Agriculture is ready to work out with BRICS members the possibility of settlements in national currencies, as well as the creation and development of a BRICS grain exchange.

“We are grateful to all BRICS member countries and representatives of the Ministries of Agriculture for supporting the Russian initiative to create a BRICS grain exchange. Now, in accordance with the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, we will work together with our colleagues on the creation and development of this platform,” Lut said.

In addition, Ministers said that Russia’s agricultural exports to the BRICS countries could increase by 6 per cent in 2024 and exceed US$16 billion.

The minister noted that BRICS is a priority market for Russia, and last year the association accounted for more than a third of Russia’s agricultural exports.

“The key future goals in the field of food security for the BRICS countries should obviously be to increase the volume of financing for agricultural projects in the member countries, especially in the newly joined Egypt, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, and Iran. The second important aspect should be the development of a transport and logistics system, mainly in the form of the North-South transport corridor, which could ensure prompt and uninterrupted delivery of agricultural products both between member countries and to third countries”

Mikhail Khachaturyan Expert in the field of the BRICS countries economics

A number of initiatives aimed at improving food security around the world are also being prepared for the future.

For example, the UAE will
host the World Summit on Food Security in November 2024, where the UAE’s National Strategy for Food Security will be presented. The strategy aims to place the country at the top of the global food security index by 2051, according to the UAE government’s official website.

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