Development and Prospect of Food Security Cooperation in the BRICS Countries

Abstract

In recent years, the international status of agriculture in the BRICS countries—Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa—has been continuously improved. In 2018, the gross agricultural production of the BRICS countries accounted for more than 50% of the world’s total. Further strengthening the developing cooperation of the BRICS countries is of great significance for ensuring global food security. Based on the data from FAOSTAT and UN Comtrade Database, this study builds a food self-sufficiency rate and food security cooperation potential index to quantitatively analyze the food security status, cooperation effectiveness, and future trends of the BRICS countries. The study finds that the overall food security of the BRICS countries is generally showing a trend of volatility and growth, with high rates for cereals and relatively low rates for fresh products. In the future, BRICS food security cooperation should be based on their own resource endowment and socioeconomic characteristics. The BRICS countries need to constantly improve the awareness of joint cooperation and action in the future, focusing on scientific and technological cooperation, information sharing, complementary advantages in trade, and improving the global competitiveness of products. With the help of agricultural science and technology, Brazil is growing as a strong export country of food products. Russia needs to increase the introduction of agricultural science and technology and foreign capital to give full play to its resource advantages. India can improve its food self-sufficiency faster by the construction of a BRICS Agricultural Research Platform. China makes full use of BRICS resources, actively promotes agricultural enterprises to go global, and constantly optimizes the food supply structure. South Africa maintains the advantages of fruit and vegetable industry and increases the introduction and promotion of agricultural science and technology to improve the domestic food production capacity.

What Motivates Consumer Food Safety Perceptions and Beliefs? A Scoping Review in BRICS Countries

“…In general, sex influences vary according to hazard, food, or associated issues. For example, females have a higher of risk concerning GMOs and seafood [25,26,29] (China; Brazil); however, when the consequences of FBD are associated with financial issues, the perception of risk is higher in males [8] (Brazil). The same occurred when reliance on information sources on food safety was considered.…”

“…Females were more confident than males when this information came from government sources [31] (China), although they were more susceptible to misinformation [27] (China). Females also reported safer practices [24] (South Africa), proven through the predisposition of males to risk practices of de-freezing and handwashing [26] (Brazil). Furthermore, it was observed that gender affects the perception of the food safety of street foods [36] (South Africa); in contrast, gender did not correlate with the sources of risk information used to establish perception of food safety [37] (China).…”

“…To date, however, there has been no empirical study or research that has shed light on these factors with a focus on middle-income countries or emerging economies such as the BRICS countries. A few studies on food security initiatives have been conducted, discussing food trade and strategies to fight hunger in BRICS [24][25][26]. Food safety is an integral part of food security [27].…”

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“…The studies of A.K. Rose [2000] and D. Gbetnkom and D. Avom [2005] show that the theoretical justifications for this formulation impose a very rigid restriction that φ ni is a constant.…”

“…Referring to food security, Y. Ren, Z. Li, Y. Wang and T. Zhang [2020] highlighted the importance of cooperation among the BRICS countries to manage fluctuations in the agricultural sector. Here, we mention scientific and technical cooperation, information exchange and trade policy coordination to increase commercial competitiveness.…”