IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jfpoli/v127y2024ics0306919224001210.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Global food value chains and obesity in low- and middle-income countries

Author

Listed:
  • Hashad, Reem
  • Lim, Sunghun
  • Abay, Kibrom A.

Abstract

Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are experiencing disproportional increases in overweight or obesity rates. Parallel to this trend, many LMICs are witnessing significant growth in their participation in global food value chains (GFVCs). This paper aims to shed light on the public health implications of increasing participation in GFVCs. Leveraging macro- and micro-level data spanning 25 years, we study the relationship between countries’ participation in GFVCs and women’s overweight or obesity rates. We explore heterogeneous implications by disaggregating countries’ participation into backward and forward linkages in GFVCs, as well as across rural and urban areas. We find that temporal increases in countries’ participation in GFVCs are significantly associated with increasing overweight or obesity rates, primarily when countries participate in backward linkages and for urban populations. Participation in GFVCs involving forward linkages appears to have negligible implications, and the relationship between participation in GFVCs and obesity disappears for rural women. Furthermore, we find that an increase in countries’ participation in GFVCs is associated with an increase in consumption of energy-dense foods such as sugar, commonly linked with obesity. Our findings have important implications for informing public policies aimed at addressing the increasing obesity rates and associated economic and health burdens in LMICs.

Suggested Citation

  • Hashad, Reem & Lim, Sunghun & Abay, Kibrom A., 2024. "Global food value chains and obesity in low- and middle-income countries," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:127:y:2024:i:c:s0306919224001210
    DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102710
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306919224001210
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102710?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stefan Dercon & Douglas Gollin, 2014. "Agriculture in African Development: Theories and Strategies," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 6(1), pages 471-492, October.
    2. Lin, Tracy Kuo & Teymourian, Yasmin & Tursini, Maitri Shila, 2018. "The effect of sugar and processed food imports on the prevalence of overweight and obesity in 172 countries," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 101053, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Robert Koopman & Zhi Wang & Shang-Jin Wei, 2014. "Tracing Value-Added and Double Counting in Gross Exports," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(2), pages 459-494, February.
    4. Sunghun Lim, 2021. "Global Agricultural Value Chains and Structural Transformation," NBER Chapters, in: Risks in Agricultural Supply Chains, pages 29-57, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. David Atkin, 2013. "Trade, Tastes, and Nutrition in India," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(5), pages 1629-1663, August.
    6. Federico Belotti & Alessandro Borin & Michele Mancini, 2021. "icio: Economic analysis with intercountry input–output tables," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 21(3), pages 708-755, September.
    7. Montalbano, Pierluigi & Nenci, Silvia, 2022. "Does global value chain participation and positioning in the agriculture and food sectors affect economic performance? A global assessment," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    8. Sébastien Mary & Avraham Stoler, 2021. "Does agricultural trade liberalization increase obesity in developing countries?," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(3), pages 1326-1350, August.
    9. Stefan Dercon & Douglas Gollin, 2014. "Agriculture in African Development: A Review of Theories and Strategies," CSAE Working Paper Series 2014-22, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    10. Demmler, Kathrin M. & Ecker, Olivier & Qaim, Matin, 2018. "Supermarket Shopping and Nutritional Outcomes: A Panel Data Analysis for Urban Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 292-303.
    11. Giuntella, Osea & Rieger, Matthias & Rotunno, Lorenzo, 2020. "Weight gains from trade in foods: Evidence from Mexico," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    12. Popkin, Barry M., 1999. "Urbanization, Lifestyle Changes and the Nutrition Transition," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 27(11), pages 1905-1916, November.
    13. Alessandro Borin & Michele Mancini, 2019. "Measuring What Matters in Global Value Chains and Value-Added Trade," World Bank Publications - Reports 31533, The World Bank Group.
    14. Christopher B. Barrett & Thomas Reardon & Johan Swinnen & David Zilberman, 2022. "Agri-food Value Chain Revolutions in Low- and Middle-Income Countries," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 60(4), pages 1316-1377, December.
    15. Bruno Casella & Richard Bolwijn & Daniel Moran & Keiichiro Kanemoto, . "Improving the analysis of global value chains: the UNCTAD-Eora Database," UNCTAD Transnational Corporations Journal, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
    16. Reardon, Thomas & Barrett, Christopher B. & Berdegué, Julio A. & Swinnen, Johan F.M., 2009. "Agrifood Industry Transformation and Small Farmers in Developing Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(11), pages 1717-1727, November.
    17. Alsukait, Reem & Bleich, Sara & Wilde, Parke & Singh, Gitanjali & Folta, Sara, 2020. "Sugary drink excise tax policy process and implementation: Case study from Saudi Arabia," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    18. Borin,Alessandro & Mancini,Michele & Taglioni,Daria, 2021. "Economic Consequences of Trade and Global Value Chain Integration : A Measurement Perspective," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9785, The World Bank.
    19. Dalheimer, Bernhard & Lim, Sunghun & Bellemare, Marc, 2022. "Global Agricultural Value Chains and Food Prices," 2022: Transforming Global Value Chains, December 11-13, Clearwater Beach, FL 339441, International Agricultural Trade Research Consortium.
    20. Zhou, Yijing & Du, Shufa & Su, Chang & Zhang, Bing & Wang, Huijun & Popkin, Barry M., 2015. "The food retail revolution in China and its association with diet and health," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 92-100.
    21. Thomas Reardon & Ben Belton & Lenis Saweda O. Liverpool‐Tasie & Liang Lu & Chandra S. R. Nuthalapati & Oyinkan Tasie & David Zilberman, 2021. "E‐commerce's fast‐tracking diffusion and adaptation in developing countries," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(4), pages 1243-1259, December.
    22. repec:bla:devpol:v:26:y:2008:i:6:p:657-692 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. repec:bla:devpol:v:21:y:2003:i:5-6:p:581-597 is not listed on IDEAS
    24. Kim, Dongin & Steinbach, Sandro & Zurita, Carlos, 2024. "Deep trade agreements and agri-food global value chain integration," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    25. Xinshen Diao & Kenneth Harttgen & Margaret McMillan, 2017. "The Changing Structure of Africa’s Economies," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 31(2), pages 412-433.
    26. Otterbach, Steffen & Oskorouchi, Hamid Reza & Rogan, Michael & Qaim, Matin, 2021. "Using Google data to measure the role of Big Food and fast food in South Africa’s obesity epidemic," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    27. Monda, Keri L. & Gordon-Larsen, Penny & Stevens, June & Popkin, Barry M., 2007. "China's transition: The effect of rapid urbanization on adult occupational physical activity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(4), pages 858-870, February.
    28. Pao‐Li Chang & Phuong T. B. Nguyen, 2022. "Global value chains and the CPTPP," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(12), pages 3780-3832, December.
    29. repec:lic:licosd:41519 is not listed on IDEAS
    30. Hawkes, Corinna & Friel, Sharon & Lobstein, Tim & Lang, Tim, 2012. "Linking agricultural policies with obesity and noncommunicable diseases: A new perspective for a globalising world," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 343-353.
    31. Abay, Kibrom A. & Ibrahim, Hosam & Breisinger, Clemens, 2022. "Food policies and obesity in low- and middle-income countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    32. Bart Los & Marcel P. Timmer, 2020. "Measuring Bilateral Exports of Value Added: A Unified Framework," NBER Chapters, in: Challenges of Globalization in the Measurement of National Accounts, pages 389-421, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    33. Barlow, Pepita & McKee, Martin & Stuckler, David, 2018. "The impact of U.S. free trade agreements on calorie availability and obesity: a natural experiment in Canada," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 102667, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    34. Zhi Wang & Shang-Jin Wei & Xinding Yu & Kunfu Zhu, 2017. "Measures of Participation in Global Value Chains and Global Business Cycles," NBER Working Papers 23222, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    35. Tafreschi, Darjusch, 2015. "The income body weight gradients in the developing economy of China," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 16(C), pages 115-134.
    36. Lim, Sunghun, 2021. "Global Agricultural Value Chains and Structural Transformation," 2021: Trade and Environmental Policies: Synergies and Rivalries, December 12-14, San Diego, CA, Hybrid 339384, International Agricultural Trade Research Consortium.
    37. Egger, Garry & Swinburn, Boyd & Amirul Islam, F.M., 2012. "Economic growth and obesity: An interesting relationship with world-wide implications," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 147-153.
    38. Barry M. Popkin, 2019. "Rural areas drive increases in global obesity," Nature, Nature, vol. 569(7755), pages 200-201, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Awokuse, Titus & Lim, Sunghun & Santeramo, Fabio & Steinbach, Sandro, 2024. "Robust policy frameworks for strengthening the resilience and sustainability of agri-food global value chains," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tabe-Ojong, Martin Paul Jr. & Nana, Ibrahim & Zimmermann, Andrea & Jafari, Yaghoob, 2024. "Trends and evolution of global value chains in food and agriculture: Implications for food security and nutrition," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    2. Kim, Dongin & Steinbach, Sandro & Zurita, Carlos, 2024. "Deep trade agreements and agri-food global value chain integration," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    3. Abay, Kibrom A. & Ibrahim, Hosam & Breisinger, Clemens, 2022. "Food policies and obesity in low- and middle-income countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    4. Awokuse, Titus & Lim, Sunghun & Santeramo, Fabio & Steinbach, Sandro, 2024. "Robust policy frameworks for strengthening the resilience and sustainability of agri-food global value chains," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    5. Sunghun Lim, 2021. "Global Agricultural Value Chains and Structural Transformation," NBER Chapters, in: Risks in Agricultural Supply Chains, pages 29-57, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Wang, Rui & Lin, Faqin & Feng, Kuo, 2024. "Soybean overweight shock (SOS): The impact of trade liberalization in China on overweight prevalence," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    7. Montalbano, Pierluigi & Nenci, Silvia, 2022. "Does global value chain participation and positioning in the agriculture and food sectors affect economic performance? A global assessment," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    8. Zdráhal, Ivo, 2024. "The Revealed Comparative Advantage of Agri-Food Industries in Selected Countries in the Central and Eastern Europe: Gross-Versus Value-Added Trade Flows," AGRIS on-line Papers in Economics and Informatics, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Economics and Management, vol. 16(2), June.
    9. Nenci, Silvia & Fusacchia, Ilaria & Giunta, Anna & Montalbano, Pierluigi & Pietrobelli, Carlo, 2022. "Mapping global value chain participation and positioning in agriculture and food: stylised facts, empirical evidence and critical issues," Bio-based and Applied Economics Journal, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA), vol. 11(2), July.
    10. Ryan B. Edwards, 2024. "Spillovers from agricultural processing," Departmental Working Papers 2024-6, The Australian National University, Arndt-Corden Department of Economics.
    11. Ambler, Kate & de Brauw, Alan & Herskowitz, Sylvan & Pulido, Cristhian, 2023. "Viewpoint: Finance needs of the agricultural midstream," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    12. Edwards, Ryan Barclay, 2024. "Spillovers from agricultural processing," SocArXiv uvjef, Center for Open Science.
    13. Marta Marson & Donatella Saccone & Elena Vallino, 2024. "Does food import contribute to rising obesity in low‐ and middle‐income countries?," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 77(2), pages 371-410, May.
    14. Liu, Yanyan & Barrett, Christopher B. & Pham, Trinh & Violette, William, 2020. "The intertemporal evolution of agriculture and labor over a rapid structural transformation: Lessons from Vietnam," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    15. Debonne, Niels & van Vliet, Jasper & Ramkat, Rose & Snelder, Denyse & Verburg, Peter, 2021. "Farm scale as a driver of agricultural development in the Kenyan Rift Valley," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    16. Beck, Anne & Lim, Sunghun & Taglioni, Daria, 2024. "Understanding firm networks in global agricultural value chains," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    17. Liu, Zhen & Kornher, Lukas & Qaim, Matin, 2024. "Impacts of supermarkets on child nutrition in China," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    18. Joseph I. Uduji & Elda Nduka Okolo-Obasi & Simplice Anutechia Asongu, 2021. "Analysis of farmers’ food price volatility and Nigeria’s growth enhancement support scheme," African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(4), pages 463-478, June.
    19. Aremu, Olayinka & Fabry, Anna & Meemken, Eva-Marie, 2024. "Farm size and the quality and quantity of jobs—Insights from Nigeria," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    20. Miroudot, Sébastien & Ye, Ming, 2022. "Decomposing value added in gross exports from a country and bilateral perspective," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Global value chains; Food supply chains; Obesity; Overweight; BMI;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • Q17 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agriculture in International Trade
    • Q18 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Policy; Food Policy; Animal Welfare Policy

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:127:y:2024:i:c:s0306919224001210. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/foodpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.