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Summary of BRICS Agriculture Ministers' Meeting

Chengdu, China, October 29-30, 2011
Prepared by Elvira Omarbagaeva, BRICS Research Group, December 5, 2011

The three-day conference (October 29-31) took place in Changdu, China, with the goal to track progress on commitments made in the joint Moscow Declaration (an agreement to fight hunger signed in 2010).

Agriculture ministers from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa agreed to jointly build an agricultural information and digital platform to provide more accurate long-term market forecasts for food producers and purchasers (Business Day, November 1, 2011).

The ministers also signed a second declaration committing their countries to

The ministers also agreed to adopt the "Action Plan 2012 to 2016" in order to achieve the objectives, which includes:

According to a press statement released October 31, 2011, Chinese State Council Vice Premier Hui Liangyu called for deeper agricultural cooperation and asked BRICS members to prioritize agricultural development, especially food production. He suggested the countries develop agricultural production sustainably and scientifically coping with new challenges. He said that the BRICS should base the development of the biomass energy industry on the premise of safeguarding global food safety. Hui also called on international organizations and developed countries to offer technological help and funds to developing countries to enhance food and agricultural production capacity and guarantee food safety (Xinhuanet, October 31, 2011; China Daily, November 9, 2011).

The third BRICS meeting will take place in India in 2012, when progress regarding the implementation of the "Action Plan 2012 to 2016" will be reviewed (South African Government Information, October 31, 2011).