Brazil has a key role in the global food market, said the Director General of the WTO (World Trade Organization), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, during a visit to the Parliamentary Front of Agriculture, on Monday (18).

"I know that the world does not survive without Brazilian agriculture. We need to think about the future challenges, not only in Brazil, but from the world," ngozi said, reinforcing the productive and sustainable potential of the Brazilian agricultural sector. "I am excited about what Brazil has to say about the environmental area and productive technologies with decarbonization potential."

The speech comes at a time of global rise in food prices, caused by the crisis in global chains amid the pandemic and aggravated by the conflict in Eastern Europe, where there are major producers of commodities such as wheat, corn, gas and fertilizers. In this scenario, Ngozi says he fears an "unprecedented hunger crisis."

Brazil is the fourth largest global exporter of grains -- such as rice, barley, soybeans, corn and wheat--, behind the European Union, the United States and China, and the largest exporter of beef, with the largest cattle herd in the world, according to Embrapa's Secretariat of Intelligence and Strategic Relations (Sire).

Research by the entity also says that the country accounts for 50% of the soybean market and reached, in 2020, the rank of second exporter of corn.

The gross value of Brazilian agricultural production is expected to reach more than R$ 1.22 trillion in 2022, according to data from March published by the Ministry of Agriculture. Compared to the same period last year, the figure represents an increase of 2%.

Source: udop