As US food aid retreats, can BRICS+ and biotechnology fill the world's food security gap?

Cullen S. Hendrix ()
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Cullen S. Hendrix: Peterson Institute for International Economics

No PB26-4, Policy Briefs from Peterson Institute for International Economics

Abstract: Cuts to agricultural development assistance and food aid by the United States and other advanced economies are creating a global vacuum just as climate change and conflict drive global hunger up. Many food-insecure developing economies with significant hunger lack the resources to self-finance agricultural research and development (R&D) and have had to depend increasingly on themselves--and one another--to meet rising food needs. Hendrix argues that the BRICS+ economies--Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, and Indonesia--are well positioned to fill the world's food security gap. Key Takeaways For BRICS+, the stakes are existential because hunger and climate vulnerability are clear domestic challenges, not distant risks. Investments in climate-resilient, regionally adapted crop research would provide self-insurance and also help stabilize neighboring fragile states, where food insecurity drives migration. The returns to investments will be greatest if they are accompanied by science-based regulatory reforms. Governments of economies wary of biotechnology should educate the public and reform regulations to reap the benefits of advanced agricultural technologies. BRICS+ have the scientific know-how, institutional capacity, and capital to underwrite a massive increase in public agricultural R&D funding. Doing so would be an opportunity to demonstrate that they are capable of providing global leadership.

Date: 2026-01
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