MOSCOW – The agriculture sector represents a fundamental pillar in Egypt’s national economy by contributing about 15% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), absorbing more than 25% of country’s workforce, and maximizing foreign cash reserves through increasing agricultural exports, Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala el Saeed said.
Egypt needs innovative solutions to promote its food security, especially in light of consecutive global crises and challenges, starting from the COVID-19 pandemic, passing through geopolitical tensions, and worsening climate change risks, the minister added in her speech to a session entitled “The Role of BRICS in Ensuring Global Food Security,” within the 27th edition of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum held in Russia from June 5 to 8.
Despite the fact that global hunger, measured by the prevalence of malnutrition, remained relatively unchanged from 2021 to 2022, it still remains much higher than pre-pandemic levels, affecting about 9.2% of the world’s population compared to 7.9% in 2019, Saeed said.
She highlighted the vulnerability of agricultural food systems to market fluctuations, as they rely on supply and demand dynamics for staple commodities, which can shift based on shocks and disturbances arising from conflict, climate variability, shipping issues, and economic contraction.
The minister emphasized the role of renewable energy in supporting efforts to reduce food losses while decreasing greenhouse gas emissions.
She noted, according to MENA, that BRICS countries are among the major grain producers, representing 42% of global grain production and 40% of global consumption, highlighting the importance of digital agriculture, agricultural research, climate-adaptive agriculture, best agricultural practices, and new investments in areas such as transportation infrastructure to improve export logistics services.
Regarding energy, she emphasized the need for a new phase of expansion, with a focus on renewable sources, through partnerships among group members.
“Egypt is expected to become a hub for renewable energy, especially green hydrogen, while countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE anticipate at least 44% of their energy mix coming from renewable sources by 2050,” Saeed said.
She emphasized the importance of cooperation among BRICS countries in facing challenges and ensuring global food security through knowledge exchange, technology transfer, and joint research initiatives.
Saeed highlighted the potential of BRICS cooperation in addressing global food security challenges, especially through joint research efforts.
She stressed that BRICS Plus group has the potential to establish an alternative regional financial structure by the creation of a new development bank as a mechanism for cooperation among banks within the BRICS group and various national development banks to facilitate payments in local currencies within the bloc, in addition to BRICS Pay, a multicurrency digital payment system enabling currency exchange between local currencies.
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