Magazine: Is global food trade really free?

According to a report published by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), changes have to be made in order to improve food supply in underdeveloped countries, at the same time also developing their economies. The international market underwent great changes in the last decade, for instance food trade tripled. At the same time the weight of various regions changed: today South America is more important a source of food products than North America.

The number of regional trade agreements increased, with a concentration process in the field of export taking place e.g. sugar from Brazil, cereal grains from the USA. In many developing countries the proliferation of supermarkets often break traditional practices, e.g. a good example of this is banana, as back in 2002 the three biggest multinational banana traders had a 70-percent market share, but today they are only at 37 percent.

FAO’s report tries reconciling the dispute between the supporters of free trade (people who reckon the key to feeding the Earth’s population is trading without restrictions) and those who would like to see more safety measures because of the recent fluctuations in food prices. The report stresses the importance of states supporting all four dimensions of food security: availability, access, use and stability.

FAO opines that the biggest challenge ahead of politicians is to shape global trade in a way that it works for ending famine and ensuring food supply and not against these goals. Some countries protect their food producers in a certain period but prefer free trade in others. What is more, in everyday practice the line between free and protected markets is blurred, depending on how trade rules are turned into practice.