The BRICS nations are deliberating on maintaining "regional stocks" and coordinating their policies in the realm of agriculture to bolster "food sovereignty" in order to fend off various global challenges and stabilise food prices, according to a statement by the Brazilian BRICS presidency on Friday.
Addressing the first in-person technical meeting of the BRICS Agriculture Working Group in Brasilia, Brazil's Minister of Agrarian Development and Family Farming Paulo Teixeira commented that the "unpredictability" in food prices impact the economic and social stability of countries. He also blamed extreme weather events, financial speculation, and global conflicts for exacerbating fluctuations in agricultural prices, harming both producers and consumers.
"Therefore, we support the discussion on strategic stock policies as an essential tool to reduce vulnerability to these shocks and stabilise food prices," he said.
Further, the Brazilian delegate informed the BRICS meeting that the idea of "regional stocks" has been discussed at the ongoing meeting, which will conclude on Friday.
He said that these strategic stocks would comprise of food procured from "small-scale" farmers, which would not only bolster food sovereignty, but also promote rural development and inclusion.
The Brazilian chair also underlined that BRICS nations account for 42% of the world's food production, 33% of agricultural land, 39% of the planet's water resources as well as over half of the world's 550 million farms.
"This reality places a responsibility on BRICS countries to act collectively and coordinate efforts to tackle the challenges of the 21st century, such as the global rise in the cost of healthy food, which puts billions of people at risk of food insecurity worldwide," Teixeira said, warning that the impact of the crisis would be even more severe for developing nations.
Noting Brazil's commitment to international cooperation on the issue, he recalled that the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, launched by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva during the country's G20 presidency last year, aimed at shielding small and vulnerable farming communities from vagaries of global agriculture trade.
Brazil's Deputy Vice Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, Cleber Oliveira Soares, said that BRICS countries were also deliberating on the implementation and improvement of "automated systems" to strengthen intra-BRICS trade to bolster regional economic development.
"The BRICS countries are major producers and consumers of food and agricultural products. We are facing a historic opportunity, and this meeting should be a milestone for advancing concrete initiatives to ensure a fairer, more productive, and environmentally balanced agricultural future," Oliveira told the meeting.
He thanked the Russian presidency last year for solidifying its committment to fair trade, sustainability, and the strengthening of the production chains in agriculture, livestock, fishing, and other related sectors.
The BRICS working groups would present a proposed "action plan" for cooperation among the bloc's countries in fisheries and aquaculture for the 2025–2028, Oliveira revealed.
While the Brazilian presidency of BRICS is yet to directly respond to Trump's tariff threats against the influential geoeconomic grouping, President Lula told the Sherpas Meeting last month that "multilateralism is the only path we should follow".