The potential of BRICS in the field of agriculture and food security

On October 22-24, 2024, the 16th BRICS Summit was held in Kazan (Russia). The event was organized in a new format: in January 2024, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates joined the association.

BRICS is recognized as one of the actively growing and developing associations. By 2030, it is planned to increase the share of BRICS in global trade from 16 to 25%. The average annual GDP growth of the BRICS countries in the next 10 years will be 4-5%. By 2035, $1.5 trillion will be invested in the BRICS infrastructure. Today, the BRICS countries account for 40% of the world's proven oil reserves and 53% of natural gas, 50% of all energy produced in the world, about 50% of mined copper, 80% of platinum and palladium, 70% of rare-earth metals.

In BRICS Summit Kazan Declaration, BRICS leaders, in particular, committed themselves to promoting the development of a fair agricultural trading system, to implement resilient and sustainable agriculture, to minimize disruptions with the view to ensure a continuous flow of food and essential inputs for agricultural production which should be exempted from undue restrictive economic measures, inconsistent with WTO rules, including those affecting producers and exporters of agricultural products as well as business services with regard to international shipments (§73).

The expanded configuration makes BRICS a more diversified international platform unlocking new opportunities for the elaboration and promotion of joint priorities at international venues with the global agriculture and food agenda.

The weight and potential of the BRICS in the global food security system is objectively growing.

Further details are outlined below.

Added value of expanded BRICS

In the livestock market, the real share of BRICS in the total of the main types of meat and dairy production increased from 42% to 44% of the world market, mainly due to Egypt, Iran and, partly, Saudi Arabia. The new BRICS members added 5% in the production of chicken, increasing its share from 67% to 72% of world production. The share of BRICS in the world raw milk production grew from 35% to 38%, mainly due to the contribution of Iran and Egypt.

Agricultural raw materials

The share of BRICS in the global production of potash fertilizers is ensured primarily by the production capacities of Russia and China and amounts to 26%. The share of the expanded BRICS in the production of nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers increased by 8% and 5%, respectively, reaching 51% and 59% of global production, respectively.

Investment and financial potential

Among the BRICS members, the leader in attracting foreign direct investment in the agricultural sector is Brazil ($600 million to $700 million per year), followed by Egypt ($20 million per year). At the same time, China is the leading foreign investor in the agricultural sector in BRICS ($800 million to $900 million per year), followed by India ($200 million to $300 million per year). Another potential point of growth is the role of the UAE and Saudi Arabia as new powerful forces of attraction for foreign investment, some of which can be directed to financing projects in the agricultural sector.

Research and development potential

In terms of spending on research and development (R&D) in the agricultural sector, the initial members – China, India and Brazil – lead among BRICS members. Over the past decade, China has been able to increase its spending on agricultural R&D from $1.3 billion to $ 6.6 billion. By the end of 2022, China ranked the world’s first by this parameter, overtaking the United States, India and Brazil, whose spending totaled $5.6 billion.

The emergence of new members with different agriculture and food models may encourage synergy for mutually beneficial cooperation, especially larger trade in agricultural products, agricultural raw materials (including fertilizers and foodstuff), and vaccines for livestock. Such synergy can eventually lead to the appearance of stable, sustainable supply chains within BRICS.

Using its own or affiliated financial mechanisms (New Development Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank) BRICS can offer new, innovative forms of investment in the agriculture and food sector of least developed countries and create an alternative to traditional donor aid through Official Development Assistance (ODA).

For more details of Report “Agriculture in BRICS Countries: Expansion and Deepening” visit: https://nccibc.ru/upload/iblock/cda/Doklad_BRIKS_en.pdf