São Paulo – The ministers of Agriculture of the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) approved, early this week, at a meeting in Chengdu, China, a joint action plan to be executed from 2012 to 2016, according to figures disclosed on Friday (4) by the Ministry of Agriculture of Brazil.
A press statement disclosed by the ministry says that the five countries aim to strengthen global agriculture. The creation of a system for information exchange between the Brics was agreed on, to be coordinated by China. The group should also work on actions for reduction of the impact of climate change in the countryside, coordinated by South Africa, the elaboration of strategies to guarantee food to the poorest members of the population, in the hands of Brazil, and a plan for investment in innovation and agricultural technology, under the responsibility of India.
“Representatives of the bloc also showed interest in providing incentives to the sustainable development of agriculture and to discussing the current distortions in global agricultural trade,” said the International Relations director at the Ministry, Célio Porto, according to a press statement. At the meeting, he represented minister Mendes Ribeiro Filho, who is recovering from a surgery.
According to the ministry’s press statement, the bloc also plans to intensify technical cooperation with African nations through technology transfer, professional training, exchange of experiences in agricultural policy and food assistance. The objective is to improve the productive capacity of the African continent.
The countries also agreed to further the exchange of information including crop figures, stocks, exports and imports in an attempt to expand the sector’s predictability and reduce volatility of agricultural commodities.
Other themes discussed were measures for stimulation of investment in the area, adoption of new biotechnology techniques and ways to make possible the simultaneous expansion of production of biofuels and food. The next meeting of the kind will take place in 2012, in India.
*Translated by Mark Ament
