A method for estimating global trade in value added within agriculture and food value chains

Abstract

Global Value Chains (GVCs) have transformed production across a broad range of goods and services worldwide. Although the development of GVCs has occurred in agro-food sectors alongside other sectors, less is known about the trade that occurs within agro-food GVCs due to limited information on flows of trade in value added. This study develops an approach to calculate disaggregated indicators of GVC participation in agro-food sectors in both developed and developing countries. Specifically, the approach exploits the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) database to construct an inter-country input-output (ICIO) table for the year 2011. The resulting ICIO is used to compute indicators of GVC participation based on the concept of vertical specialisation – forward and backward participation – across 20 agro-food sectors in 70 countries and/or regions. Estimates of domestic value added in exports and final demand or agro-food products, including the contribution of all industries, are also presented.