Research on Global Grain Trade Network Pattern and Its Driving Factors

Jian Duan,Changle Nie,Dan Yan,Yingying Wang,Weiwei Xiong

doi:10.3390/su14010245

Jian Duan, Changle Nie + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010245

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Abstract

Trading systems are essential in promoting global food security. With the growing proportion of global food consumption obtained through international trade, the global food trade pattern has become increasingly complex over recent years. This study constructed a weighted global grain network using the trade data of 196 countries in 2000 and 2018 to explore the structure and evolution based on the complex network theory. We established that the global grain network was scale-free. There was significant heterogeneity among nodes, and the heterogeneity of the out-degree was greater than that of the in-degree. The global grain network has a significant core-periphery structure, with the United States, Japan, Mexico, Egypt, South Korea, and Colombia as the core countries. Thereafter, by applying the quadratic assignment procedure model to explore the driving factors of the global grain network, we established that geographical distance had a positive impact on the food trade patterns in 2000 and 2018. This differs from the classical gravity model theory. Furthermore, grain trade had significant “boundary effects”; economic gaps, resource endowment, and regional free trade agreements had a positive impact on the evolution of the grain trade network, whereas cultural similarity and political differences had a negative impact on the grain trade network pattern.

Highlights

Giuseppina Migliore, Factors such as rapid global population growth, climate change, frequent occurrence of large-scale natural disasters, and economic recession have caused significant uncertainties in the balance of food supply and demand; food security is currently facing global risks and challenges and will continue to do so for a long time [1,2,3]
Freight cost was pow quadratic assignment procedure (QAP) significantly regressionreduced analysis results indicate that the resources difference, and the impact of geographical distance onendowment grain trade was reduced. the d ference of geographical approaches, economic development, the free trade agreeme and the national comprehensive management ability between 2000 and 2018 had a sign icantly positive impact on the global grain network evolution, whereas social and cultu similarity had a significantly negative impact on the global grain network evolutio
This study constructed a weighted global grain network based on complex network theory using data from 2000 and 2018

Summary

Introduction

Giuseppina Migliore, Factors such as rapid global population growth, climate change, frequent occurrence of large-scale natural disasters, and economic recession have caused significant uncertainties in the balance of food supply and demand; food security is currently facing global risks and challenges and will continue to do so for a long time [1,2,3]. The international grain trade has become an important way to adjust the regional imbalance in grain supply and demand [4,5]. The trading system is essential in promoting global food security by making the international food system more efficient and responsive to sudden shocks that might threaten food security [6,7]. It provides a buffer against local variability of food resources because regions can import when they have a deficit and export when they have a surplus [8]. Global trade can expose countries to external supply shocks and degrade the environment [7]

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