São Paulo – In addition to purchasing for domestic consumption, the nations of the Middle East and North Africa could play a larger role in the food trade with Brazil. That’s the viewpoint of Roberto Rodrigues, former minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply, presented at a lecture in the headquarters of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce this Monday (5).
“I envision a role defined not only by consumption, but by the distribution of Brazilian products by the Arab countries, including to Eastern Europe,” said Rodrigues during the event. “It’s a role that can be expanded,” said the former minister.
Rodrigues, who is also a coordinator of the Agricultural Center of Fundação Getulio Vargas, underscored that “the global market for food products will never wane. To eat is a necessity.” He pointed out also the importance of the Arab food market to Brazilian products and that it tends to grow.
“We have a very significant growth potential, including for halal products. Last year, there was an increase of 12% in certification of halal products (in Brazil),” said the FGV professor. Halal food is produced according to the Islamic Sharia.
Another point covered by Rodrigues was the ever-increasing importance of Brazil for the maintenance of the world’s food security. Based on a survey conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), he showed that the world needs to increase food production by 20% to meet the growth in demand until 2020.
“For the world to grow 20%, Brazil needs to grow 40%,” he said. Meanwhile, other regions of the world face much lower growth production estimates. “The European Union grows, at the most, 4%, the United States, at most, 15%, and Australia, 17%,” he pointed out.
For Brazil to achieve the desired growth in food production, Rodrigues pinpoints three important factors that are present in Brazilian agribusiness: technology and plenty of land and human resources.
The former minister pointed out, for instance, that from 1990 to 2016, Brazil’s grain production increased 300%, while poultry production increased 477%. Rodrigues also mentioned that, despite Brazil having a total area of 851 million hectares, only 84.6 million hectares are farmed.
On agro-energy, Rodrigues underscored that sugar cane is the most important raw material in the generation of this type of energy. “Agro-energy means not only ethanol, but also biodiesel, electricity, biorefineries. It’s a renewable energy that creates jobs in rural areas,” he said. According to him, the main countries with the potential to develop or increase production of this type of energy are those in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and some nations in Asia.
Regarding exports, the former minister mentioned that, in 2016, 46% of Brazilian exports came from the agribusiness sector. “The agribusiness trade balance is always positive,” he said. In 2016, Brazilian agribusiness registered a surplus of USD 71.3 billion, while Brazil’s total surplus was of USD 47.7 billion.
He pointed out the increase in exports by the agribusiness industry in the last few years. While in 2000 the country exported USD 20.6 billion worth of agricultural products, in 2016 the number reached USD 84.9 billion. Last year, Brazilian agribusiness sales to the Middle East accounted for 9.3% of the sector’s exports.
In 2016, the largest Arab buyers from Brazilian agribusiness were Saudi Arabia (24%), Egypt (16%), United Arab Emirates (16%), Algeria (11%), Iraq (5%) and Morocco (5%).
After his talk, Rodrigues answered some questions from the audience, with moderation by Fernando Lopes, journalist and editor of the Agribusiness section of the Valor Econômico newspaper, and the presence of the Arab Chamber’s president, Rubens Hannun.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
