BRICS agriculture ministers open Indore talks on food security and smallholder welfare
Agriculture ministers from BRICS countries opened a two-day meeting in Indore with food security, smallholder farmers and the role of women and youth at the center of the agenda.
Agriculture ministers from BRICS countries began a two-day meeting in Indore under India's presidency, with food security and the welfare of smallholder farmers at the top of the agenda. Officials said the gathering is focused on strengthening agricultural cooperation among member nations and addressing common challenges facing the farm sector.
India's Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan led the ministerial dialogue on the theme Smallholder Farmers, Women and Youth: Securing the Future of Food. He said the meeting is intended to deliver meaningful outcomes under India's BRICS chairmanship and to produce a joint declaration at the end of the talks on Saturday.
Chouhan said women have traditionally played a major role in agriculture in India and many other countries and that ministers would discuss ways to deepen that participation. He also argued that bringing more young people into agriculture through technology and innovation could raise food production, strengthen global food security and help provide more nutritious food.
Small farmers are another central issue in the discussion. Chouhan said 86 percent of farmers in India are smallholders and that around 70 percent of farmers across BRICS countries have less than two hectares of land. That makes income resilience, productivity and support systems for smaller farms a shared policy concern across the bloc.
The ministerial session followed a three-day meeting of officials under the BRICS Agriculture Working Group, which concluded in Indore on Thursday. The five-day process is expected to culminate in an Indore Declaration on Saturday. BRICS now includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia, giving the talks broad weight for agricultural coordination and food policy.