Publication:
Trade Policy and Food Security : Improving Access to Food in Developing Countries in the Wake of High World Prices

dc.contributor.author Gillson, Ian
dc.contributor.author Fouad, Amir
dc.contributor.editor Gillson, Ian
dc.contributor.editor Fouad, Amir
dc.date.accessioned 2014-11-18T17:15:54Z
dc.date.available 2014-11-18T17:15:54Z
dc.date.issued 2015
dc.description.abstract Based on forecasts of global population growth, food security will remain an important economic development issue over the next several decades. In addition, real food prices have risen in recent years after decades of decline, bringing the issue of food security even further into the public spotlight. However, there is no global food shortage: the problem is one of moving food, often across borders, from surplus production areas to deficit ones at prices that low-income consumers in developing countries can afford. Trade can be an excellent buffer for domestic fluctuations in food supply. World output of a given food commodity is far less variable than output in individual countries so increased trade integration holds considerable potential to stabilize food prices, boost returns to farmers and reduce the prices faced by consumers. Trade liberalization protects national food markets against domestic shocks by allowing more food to be imported in times of shortage and exported in periods of plenty. Historically, however, most countries have chosen to take the opposite approach by restricting imports of food and discouraging exports to keep domestic markets isolated from international shocks. Food commodity markets, therefore, remain highly distorted despite the wave of liberalization that has swept world trade since the 1980s. In addition to examining the determinants of recent food price spikes, Trade Policy and Food Security explores the impact of food prices on economic welfare, and how the effect of price changes on food security and economic welfare in developing countries can be mitigated through appropriate national policies at the border. It highlights the importance of both the extension and continued application of existing WTO disciplines on trade-distorting agricultural trade policies as a key resolution to the collective action problem witnessed during the recent food price spikes, whereby unilateral border policies--especially export controls--simply exacerbated the initial price increases. en
dc.identifier http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/01/20391010/trade-policy-food-security-improving-access-food-developing-countries-wake-high-world-prices
dc.identifier.isbn 978-1-4648-0305-5
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10986/20537
dc.language English
dc.language.iso en_US
dc.publisher Washington, DC: World Bank
dc.relation.ispartofseries Directions in Development--Trade
dc.rights CC BY 3.0 IGO
dc.rights.uri http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/
dc.subject World Trade Organization
dc.subject WTO
dc.subject biofuel
dc.subject commodities
dc.subject food prices
dc.subject food security
dc.subject maize
dc.subject non-tariff measures
dc.subject preferential trade agreements
dc.subject rice
dc.subject trade
dc.title Trade Policy and Food Security : Improving Access to Food in Developing Countries in the Wake of High World Prices en
dspace.entity.type Publication
okr.date.disclosure 2014-11-17
okr.doctype Publications & Research :: Publication
okr.docurl http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/01/20391010/trade-policy-food-security-improving-access-food-developing-countries-wake-high-world-prices
okr.globalpractice Trade and Competitiveness
okr.globalpractice Agriculture
okr.identifier.doi 10.1596/978-1-4648-0305-5
okr.identifier.externaldocumentum 090224b084340ca8_2_0
okr.identifier.internaldocumentum 20391010
okr.identifier.report 92647
okr.language.supported en
okr.pdfurl http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2014/11/17/000470435_20141117144308/Rendered/PDF/926470PUB0978100Box385381B00PUBLIC0.pdf en
okr.sector Agriculture, fishing, and forestry :: Crops
okr.topic Agriculture :: Food Markets
okr.topic Agriculture :: Food Security
okr.topic Agriculture :: Commodity Risk Management
okr.topic International Economics and Trade :: International Trade and Trade Rules
okr.topic International Economics and Trade :: Trade Liberalization
okr.topic International Economics and Trade :: Trade and Agriculture
okr.topic International Economics and Trade :: World Trade Organization
okr.topic Poverty Reduction
okr.unit Trade and Competitiveness GP - IBRD (GTCDR)
relation.isSeriesOfPublication 706db16a-e556-46f0-8283-1b4a4b88645c
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
Thumbnail Image
Name:
English PDF
Size:
5.81 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
English Text
Size:
1.18 MB
Format:
Plain Text
Description:
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.71 KB
Format:
Plain Text
Description: