The Rise of Asia-Pacific Agribusiness in the Global South—The Corporate Food Regime Under the Third Regionalism

Abstract

Food regime theory asserts that the Global North has controlled food production chains since the 1800s, establishing a corporate food regime in the late 1980s. Through liberalization, Northern food corporations became powerful, leading the contemporary food regime and even replacing states. However, Global South corporations in the Asia-Pacific have grown to become important players in corporate food regimes. Through a literature review, content analysis, and interviews, this study leverages Third Regionalism as the theoretical approach to supplement the food regime theory, and explains how Third Regionalism featured free trade agreements established by Asia-Pacific countries, and how it supported the rapid rise of Southern food corporations. Regionalism helped Asia-Pacific Southern corporations become important figures in the contemporary corporate food regime, reinforcing the Global South’s food security and the livelihood sovereignty aspect of food sovereignty. The stances of Global South food sovereignty groups toward genetically modified crops are shifting and worthy of continued consideration.