WILLAGRI
Global trade in agriculture and food products increased fivefold from 2020 to 2022, from $400 billion to $1.9 trillion. Expressed in energy value, it has increased from 930 kcal per person per day in 2000 to 1,640 in 2021. This exponential growth is not without serious problems for the planet. These include the depletion of the world’s natural resources and the widening of inequalities to the detriment of poor countries whose agriculture is not competitive. The 2024 edition of The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets (SOCO) examines the complex effects of this strong growth in international food trade on nutrition and trade policies.
As countries develop, agriculture’s share of GDP declines. In recent decades, the average GDP per capita has increased from $5,517 in 2000 to $12,688 in 2022, while the share of agricultural employment has increased, in the same period, from 40 to 26%.
This development is accompanied by greater urbanization, increasing integration into global markets and changes in dietary habits. One of the most spectacular effects of this nutritional transition is the shift in developing countries from undernutrition to obesity. The prevalence of undernourishment fell from 12.7% to 9.2% between 2020 and 2022. The prevalence of global obesity increased from 8.7% in 2020 to 15.8% in 2022.
35% increase in the amount of feed energy
The increase in income is the major cause of changes in eating habits. The poorest consume more high-calorie foods with low nutritional value and the wealthiest buy more fresh meat and vegetables. The diversification of eating habits is accompanied by the rise in the consumption of ultra-processed products, which causes obesity among other things.
“From 1961 to 2021, the average amount of dietary energy available for global human consumption increased by nearly 35 percent, from 2,200 to 2,980 calories per person per day. Globally, during the same period, the share of staple foods in dietary energy availability increased from 57.4 percent to 48.4 percent, while the share of foods of animal origin increased from 12.2 percent to 15.1 percent and that of fats and oils increased from 8.4 percent to 12.7 percent. The report reads.
The share of staple foods in global trade decreased from 48% to 42% between 2000 and 2021. Conversely, the proportion of fat has increased. Finally, the share of animal products and fruit and vegetables remained stable.
Doubling of the number of food products available
Measuring the number of foods produced and the number consumed in each country sheds light on the impact of international trade on the diversity of products available from one country to another. For example, in 2020, China produced 320 different products while some micro-countries only produced 15!
In 2020, countries produced an average of 120 products while the number of products available for human consumption worldwide was 225. World trade has resulted in an average doubling of the products available in each country, while the number of foods produced has changed little.
In general, trade liberalization and tariff reductions improve and increase the diversity of products available. This liberalization does not have a significant effect on the prices of energy-dense and nutritionally low products.
Trade liberalization increases the availability of ultra-processed products and contributes to the high global prevalence of obesity. Indeed, a 1% increase in income in a given country translates into an increase in import demand of 1.2% for processed products and 1.1% for ultra-processed products.
For international trade to improve nutrition, it is essential that negotiations and agreements between countries take place in a transparent manner. In particular, they must ensure coherence between business objectives and the requirements of healthy and diversified nutrition.
SOURCE : FAO. 2024. Summary of The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets 2024.
International trade and nutrition: more coherence between policies for healthy diets. Rome.
https://doi.org/10.4060/cd3094fr