IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/lauspo/v92y2020ics0264837719309482.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Trends in global virtual land trade in relation to agricultural products

Author

Listed:
  • Qiang, Wenli
  • Niu, Shuwen
  • Liu, Aimin
  • Kastner, Thomas
  • Bie, Qiang
  • Wang, Xiang
  • Cheng, Shengkui

Abstract

Trade volume of agricultural products can be used to quantify the virtual land transfers between countries. This study assessed the virtual land trade (VLT) associated with the global trade of agricultural products using specific crop yield of exporting countries and gave insights in characteristics of different products and different countries. In addition, the features of trade connections were also displayed by network analysis. The results showed that the total virtual land within global agricultural trade increased from 128 million hectare (ha) in 1986 to 350 million ha in 2016, the average annual growth rate was 5.73 %. Increases in trade of oil crops contributed the largest share to this. The proportion of exported land area in total harvested land area increased for almost all categories of agricultural products. Countries engaged in global agricultural trade could be divided into three groups, net exporters, net importers and countries with balanced VLT. The net importers could be further divided into the countries with absolutely scarce land resources and the countries with relative scarce resources. All net virtual land exporters are the countries with more land resources per capita, such as the United States, Brazil and Argentina. Income growth and changes in diet structure are main factors driving increases in VLT. The VLT network became more complex over the study period, with the number of import and export nodes increasing continuously, and the cumulative distributions of export and import node strength following power law distributions. The major links and players within national, geographic, and economic groups also changed significantly over the study period. VLT has a deep impact on society, economy and environment, appropriate policies should be taken to make these interlinkages more sustainable for both importers and exporters.

Suggested Citation

  • Qiang, Wenli & Niu, Shuwen & Liu, Aimin & Kastner, Thomas & Bie, Qiang & Wang, Xiang & Cheng, Shengkui, 2020. "Trends in global virtual land trade in relation to agricultural products," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:92:y:2020:i:c:s0264837719309482
    DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2019.104439
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264837719309482
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.landusepol.2019.104439?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. David Tilman & Michael Clark, 2014. "Global diets link environmental sustainability and human health," Nature, Nature, vol. 515(7528), pages 518-522, November.
    2. Kastner, Thomas & Kastner, Michael & Nonhebel, Sanderine, 2011. "Tracing distant environmental impacts of agricultural products from a consumer perspective," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(6), pages 1032-1040, April.
    3. Sartori, Martina & Schiavo, Stefano, 2015. "Connected we stand: A network perspective on trade and global food security," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 114-127.
    4. Ali Kharrazi & Elena Rovenskaya & Brian D Fath, 2017. "Network structure impacts global commodity trade growth and resilience," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(2), pages 1-13, February.
    5. Xiaolin Chen & Xiaojie Liu & Litao Liu & Yali Zhang & Jinhua Guo & Jing Huang & Meijun Zhou & Yang Zhao & Liang Wu & Lun Yang & Fei Lun, 2018. "Domestic Wheat Trade and Its Associated Virtual Cropland Flow in China, 2010–2015," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-15, May.
    6. William F. Laurance & Gopalasamy Reuben Clements & Sean Sloan & Christine S. O’Connell & Nathan D. Mueller & Miriam Goosem & Oscar Venter & David P. Edwards & Ben Phalan & Andrew Balmford & Rodney Van, 2014. "A global strategy for road building," Nature, Nature, vol. 513(7517), pages 229-232, September.
    7. Chen, B. & Li, J.S. & Wu, X.F. & Han, M.Y. & Zeng, L. & Li, Z. & Chen, G.Q., 2018. "Global energy flows embodied in international trade: A combination of environmentally extended input–output analysis and complex network analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 98-107.
    8. Miina Porkka & Matti Kummu & Stefan Siebert & Olli Varis, 2013. "From Food Insufficiency towards Trade Dependency: A Historical Analysis of Global Food Availability," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(12), pages 1-12, December.
    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. Xiaomei Fan & Hongguang Liu & Mengmeng Wang, 2022. "Study on the Agricultural Land Transfer Embodied in Inter-Provincial Trade in China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-15, April.
    2. Mateusz Tomal & Agata Gumieniak, 2020. "Agricultural Land Price Convergence: Evidence from Polish Provinces," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-20, May.
    3. Kunpeng Wang & Wenjun Wu & Awais Jabbar & Zinabu Wolde & Minghao Ou, 2021. "Dynamic Evolution and Spatial Convergence of the Virtual Cultivated Land Flow Intensity in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-17, July.
    4. Arendarczyk, Bart & Alexander, Peter & Brown, Calum & Rounsevell, Mark, 2023. "The impact of UK food and bioenergy imports on global land use under future socioeconomic scenarios (UK-SSPs)," 97th Annual Conference, March 27-29, 2023, Warwick University, Coventry, UK 334509, Agricultural Economics Society - AES.
    5. Yuee Li & Jingdong Li, 2021. "How Does China’s Economic Policy Uncertainty Affect the Sustainability of Its Net Grain Imports?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-21, June.
    6. Qiang Bie & Ying Shi & Xinzhang Li & Yueju Wang, 2022. "Contrastive Analysis and Accuracy Assessment of Three Global 30 m Land Cover Maps Circa 2020 in Arid Land," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-17, December.
    7. Su, Dan & Cao, Yu & Wang, Jiayi & Fang, Xiaoqian & Wu, Qing, 2023. "Toward constructing an eco-account of cultivated land by quantifying the resources flow and eco-asset transfer in China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    8. Liu, Xiaoxuan & Yu, Le & Cai, Wenjia & Ding, Qun & Hu, Weixun & Peng, Dailiang & Li, Wei & Zhou, Zheng & Huang, Xiaomeng & Yu, Chaoqing & Gong, Peng, 2021. "The land footprint of the global food trade: Perspectives from a case study of soybeans," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    9. Ji, Xi & Su, Pinyi & Liu, Yifang & Wu, Guowei & Wu, Xudong, 2023. "Mutual complementarity of arable land use in the Sino-Africa trade: Evidence from the global supply chain," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(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. Traverso, Silvio & Schiavo, Stefano, 2020. "Fair trade or trade fair? International food trade and cross-border macronutrient flows," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    2. Adrian Foong & Prajal Pradhan & Oliver Frör & Jürgen P. Kropp, 2022. "Adjusting agricultural emissions for trade matters for climate change mitigation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    3. Marie-Cécile Dupas & José Halloy & Petros Chatzimpiros, 2019. "Time dynamics and invariant subnetwork structures in the world cereals trade network," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(5), pages 1-21, May.
    4. Rodolfo Metulini & Stefania Tamea & Francesco Laio & Massimo Riccaboni, 2016. "The Water Suitcase of Migrants: Assessing Virtual Water Fluxes Associated to Human Migration," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(4), pages 1-13, April.
    5. Alexander, Peter & Brown, Calum & Arneth, Almut & Finnigan, John & Moran, Dominic & Rounsevell, Mark D.A., 2017. "Losses, inefficiencies and waste in the global food system," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 190-200.
    6. Shade T. Shutters & Keith Waters & Rachata Muneepeerakul, 2022. "Triad Analysis of Global Energy Trade Networks and Implications for Energy Trade Stability," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-15, May.
    7. Sergio René Araujo‐Enciso & Thomas Fellmann, 2020. "Yield Variability and Harvest Failures in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan and Their Possible Impact on Food Security in the Middle East and North Africa," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 71(2), pages 493-516, June.
    8. Xiuzhi Chen & Yue Hou & Thomas Kastner & Liu Liu & Yuqian Zhang & Tuo Yin & Mo Li & Arunima Malik & Mengyu Li & Kelly R. Thorp & Siqi Han & Yaoze Liu & Tahir Muhammad & Jianguo Liu & Yunkai Li, 2023. "Physical and virtual nutrient flows in global telecoupled agricultural trade networks," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    9. Irene Blanco-Gutiérrez & Consuelo Varela-Ortega & Rhys Manners, 2020. "Evaluating Animal-Based Foods and Plant-Based Alternatives Using Multi-Criteria and SWOT Analyses," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-26, October.
    10. Ke Zhang & Xingwei Wang, 2021. "Pollution Haven Hypothesis of Global CO 2 , SO 2 , NO x —Evidence from 43 Economies and 56 Sectors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(12), pages 1-27, June.
    11. Li, Yilin & Chen, Bin & Li, Chaohui & Li, Zhi & Chen, Guoqian, 2020. "Energy perspective of Sino-US trade imbalance in global supply chains," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    12. Birgit Kopainsky & Anita Frehner & Adrian Müller, 2020. "Sustainable and healthy diets: Synergies and trade‐offs in Switzerland," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(6), pages 908-927, November.
    13. Colton Brehm & Astrid Layton, 2021. "Nestedness of eco‐industrial networks: Exploring linkage distribution to promote sustainable industrial growth," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 25(1), pages 205-218, February.
    14. Gerald Nelson & Jessica Bogard & Keith Lividini & Joanne Arsenault & Malcolm Riley & Timothy B. Sulser & Daniel Mason-D’Croz & Brendan Power & David Gustafson & Mario Herrero & Keith Wiebe & Karen Coo, 2018. "Income growth and climate change effects on global nutrition security to mid-century," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 1(12), pages 773-781, December.
    15. Cai, Xiaomei & Liu, Chan & Zheng, Shuxian & Hu, Han & Tan, Zhanglu, 2023. "Analysis on the evolution characteristics of barite international trade pattern based on complex networks," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    16. Bruckner, Martin & Giljum, Stefan & Fischer, Günther & Tramberend, Sylvia & Börner, Jan, 2018. "The global cropland footprint of the non-food bioeconomy," Discussion Papers 271062, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
    17. Dániel Fróna & János Szenderák & Mónika Harangi-Rákos, 2019. "The Challenge of Feeding the World," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-18, October.
    18. Jindřich Špička & Zdeňka Náglová, 2022. "Consumer segmentation in the meat market - The case study of Czech Republic," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 68(2), pages 68-77.
    19. Théodore Nikiema & Eugène C. Ezin & Sylvain Kpenavoun Chogou, 2023. "Bibliometric Analysis of the State of Research on Agroecology Adoption and Methods Used for Its Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-18, November.
    20. Melanie Speck & Katrin Bienge & Lynn Wagner & Tobias Engelmann & Sebastian Schuster & Petra Teitscheid & Nina Langen, 2020. "Creating Sustainable Meals Supported by the NAHGAST Online Tool—Approach and Effects on GHG Emissions and Use of Natural Resources," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-13, February.

    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:lauspo:v:92:y:2020:i:c:s0264837719309482. 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: Joice Jiang (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/land-use-policy .

    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.