New reality: how BRICS becomes global centre of food security

World Bank data show that the food crisis continues to deepen. The BRICS countries can help overcome global food shortages by ensuring affordable prices for bread and other food products. The initiative to create a grain exchange is expected to contribute to tackling the problem of hunger. However, questions remain: how soon will it start operating, what infrastructure must be created to ensure its efficiency, and how can a balanced framework for future competition policy be established? These are pressing issues that require consistent and coordinated solutions.

A pressing issue

Efforts to combat hunger began actively some 80 years ago. At the level of the United Nations, experts say that the world today produces enough calories to feed everyone. The challenge lies in how to deliver these calories to the countries and regions that need them most. According to specialists, addressing food security requires a common field for trade and logistics – as well as affordable prices and fair distribution. Much of this can be ensured by the BRICS nations, which have effectively become a global centre of food security.

When it comes not merely to food, but to healthy, balanced and nutrient-rich diets, more than a quarter of the world’s population – 2.6 billion people – cannot afford such nutrition. The reason lies in the food inflation of recent years, which has affected low-income countries most severely.

According to the World Bank’s Global Report on Food Crises ( GRFC 2024), by July 2024 around 99.1 million people in 59 countries faced acute food shortages, hunger and forced migration. Analysts believe these figures indicate a worsening food crisis that calls for decisive action.

Food security and BRICS

In addressing food security, BRICS can play a crucial role. The BRICS countries account for more than one-third of global food production and over 40 per cent of fertiliser output. Together, the BRICS nations already provide food for more than four billion people.

“The BRICS countries are a pillar of global food security. They account, by some estimates, for more than 45 per cent of the world’s agricultural land, over 40 per cent of grain and meat production, and significant shares in the global export of key crops: more than 35 per cent of rice, 30 per cent of maize and over 25 per cent of wheat, if we look at recent seasons,” Lubarto Sartoyo, TV BRICS expert in foreign economic relations, law, IT and creative industries.

Russia alone exported 109 million tonnes of food worth US$45 billion in 2024, ranking among the top 20 global suppliers to the food market. Russian agro-exports in the form of grain and oil are delivered to almost all BRICS countries. By 2030, Russia plans to increase agricultural production by 25 per cent compared with 2021 levels, which will allow exports to grow by at least 1.5 times.

Another major player in the global food market is Brazil, which ranks third in the world for agricultural exports, accounting for six per cent of global volume. In 2023, Brazilian agricultural exports reached a record US$166.55 billion. Key products included soybeans, sugar, coffee, citrus fruits, as well as beef and poultry.

China is the world’s largest producer of many crops, including rice, wheat, maize and soybeans. A significant share of this production is exported. According to People's Daily Online, a partner of TV BRICS, Chinese agriculture is now moving from exporting raw commodities to branded products – for instance, not just apples, but premium varieties of apples in gift packaging. Sales of such products abroad are steadily increasing.

At the same time, China is not only a major exporter but also an importer of agricultural products, particularly from Russia, which doubled its soybean exports to China in autumn 2025.

India is also showing high growth rates. Over several decades, the country has multiplied its agricultural production many times over. Today, India is one of the leading exporters of rice, milk, buffalo meat, spices, pulses and fruit.

Challenges in building a global food system

Despite BRICS being a powerful agricultural group, its members and partners face challenges. To ensure food security, some countries need support.

“Countries in need of targeted assistance and with specific requirements include Egypt, which requires funding and logistical support for wheat procurement; Ethiopia, which needs irrigation solutions and social protection mechanisms to mitigate the effects of climate change; Iran, which is working to develop irrigation technologies and water resource management; and South Africa, where there is a need to improve port and energy infrastructure,” said Erik Escalona Aguilar, Associate Professor at Bernardo O’Higgins University (Santiago de Chile).

Experts note that water- and resource-saving technologies are essential for most developing countries. According to Lubarto Sartoyo, it is important for BRICS countries to ensure uninterrupted fertiliser supplies.

The BRICS grain exchange as a foundation for food security

The grain exchange is expected to facilitate agricultural trade within the group. The idea of creating it within BRICS was supported as early as April 2025. As Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Patrushev emphasised, the platform will strengthen food security, establish the foundations for independent price indicators and help increase Russian grain exports.

Most importantly, the grain exchange will enable exporters to interact directly with buyers from BRICS countries and other Global South states. Its launch will also stimulate the development of supporting infrastructure: logistics hubs, port facilities, storage systems, freight services and financial instruments.

In terms of scale, such trade is truly impressive. According to the Russian Grain Exporters Union, the BRICS exchange will consolidate 30–40 per cent of global supply in key grain crops. Experts already mention trading not only Russian wheat but also Brazilian soybeans and maize and Indian rice.

The FAO’s four betters

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has been working on global food security for 80 years. In its first months of operation in 1946, about two-thirds of the world’s population lived in areas without sufficient food. Today, although the world’s population has more than tripled since then, around 8.2 per cent of people still suffer from chronic undernourishment.

This progress has been made possible partly thanks to the FAO’s work in eradicating livestock diseases, establishing food safety standards, implementing early warning and monitoring systems to reduce the risk of pest and plant disease outbreaks, and many other measures and tools. The FAO continues to unite countries and partners to mobilise action towards eradicating hunger.

“At the FAO, we implement this concept through the Four Betters: better production – enabling farmers to produce more with fewer resources; better nutrition – because quality is as important as quantity; better environment – to preserve ecosystem health and its many benefits; and better life – so that rural communities can live with dignity and expand their opportunities,” said QU Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

A look into the future

When asked how the global food security situation will evolve over the next 5–10 years, experts give mixed assessments.

Even the promising initiative to launch a BRICS grain exchange may face objective challenges. The first is time – it will take several years to establish the exchange. The second is the settlement system: for the exchange to function effectively, it needs its own payment mechanism and, ideally, a clearing currency. The third is competitiveness – prices on the BRICS grain exchange must be comparable to those on other major platforms with large numbers of buyers and sellers. Taking these factors into account, experts remain cautious. Food will be available – but will global distribution and logistics follow?

“On the one hand, global agricultural production will continue to grow and is projected to increase by more than 15 per cent by 2035. However, this growth will not eliminate hunger everywhere. The number of people suffering from acute food shortages may approach one billion. The main challenge will not be the global shortage of food, but its economic and physical accessibility for the poorest segments of the population,” noted Lubarto Sartoyo.

In the BRICS countries, the outlook is more optimistic. This group of states has every opportunity to maintain and strengthen its position as a global agricultural stronghold, to drive consumption growth and to serve as an example for neighbouring regions.

“From the perspective of Latin America, there is potential to close existing gaps in fertilisers, irrigation systems, and sanitary and phytosanitary standards, as well as to promote the consolidation of South–South trade corridors to reduce costs and delivery times,” emphasised Erik Escalona Aguilar.

Ahead lies substantial work for BRICS members and the world as a whole. To jointly address the challenge of food security, countries must not only expand agricultural production but also consolidate efforts – to develop new settlement mechanisms, logistical chains, a new architecture and rules for the operation of the global food market, and to transform raw material and resource markets for a new model of cooperation.

The quality of life for millions of people will depend on whether these tasks can be achieved. One of the UN’s earliest reports on hunger stated that in the fight against it there is no standing still: "the choice is between moving forward and moving backward.”

Photo: Scharfsinn86, piyaset, William Luque, fab4istock, vicvaz / iStock