Globalization and trade

By all accounts, the world has never been more globalized since World War II. Improvements in transportation, logistics, telecommunications and global production systems attest to increasing worldwide economic integration. Furthermore, world food systems have never been as integrated and developed as they are at present (Prakash, 2011) with production specialization, technological advances and the wide dissemination of knowledge. However, doubts exist as to whether agriculture has the potential to feed the world when the population goes beyond 9 billion unless significant improvements are made in production efficiency and food habits change. In 2012, the FAO estimated that 852 million people were undernourished, which is equivalent to 14.9% of the world’s population (FAO, 2013b). To this end, the National Intelligence Council of the US has identified the nexus of food, water and energy as one of its four ‘megatrends’, which are likely to transcend all future scenarios, demonstrating that a growing global population will place more demand on these inextricably linked resources (NIC, 2012). Globalization is an ambiguous concept without a widely accepted scientific definition. It involves trade relationships and the movement of capital, ideas and even people. It also encompasses the sharing and expansion of risks (such as epidemics or terrorist attacks) and global environmental threats. Agricultural trade has been accelerated by the rapid decline in the costs of cross-border trade of farm produce and other products, driven also by reduction in transportation costs, the information and communication technology (ICT) revolution and major reductions in governmental distortions. As a result, it has altered global agricultural production, consumption and hence trade patterns (Anderson, 2010), not least in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region.