Drawbacks of Globalization on Agricultural Industries in South America under Neoliberalism and Plausible Solutions

Abstract

After globalization gradually became a worldwide trend, world trade became more frequent, leading to closer relations among the world actors. However, in the context of the increase in trade volume, many states, especially South American states, suffer from the side-effects of rapidly decreasing natural resources. This paper examines the impact of World Trade, primarily aimed at agricultural industries, on the natural resources of South American states under the Neoliberalism framework by collecting data on agricultural exports and cultivated land and forests in South America in recent years. In recent years, the world's total population has continued to grow at a positive rate, and the trade-off between the resources needed to meet the needs of such a large population and curbing further environmental degradation has become increasingly urgent. This research will help people to understand this issue better. Deforestation creates challenges for Indigenous People in this region, and the increase of arable land area noticeably brings more pesticides to stay competitive within the market. This research found that under the influence of globalization, South American states, as marginal countries, export a large number of commodities of agricultural products and continue to increase their arable land area year by year, and a positive correlation exists between the increase in arable land area and the decreased forest coverage in South America. Thus, this paper suggests that Neoliberalism negatively impacts natural resources in developing states and deserves attention from all actors internationally, and these drawbacks may further create unsustainable outcomes.