Globalization

Globalization has had a transformative effect on agriculture and food. Globalization is not an inexorable process. It was disrupted by the global financial crisis and by the Covid-19 pandemic and the impetus for agricultural trade liberalization has all but disappeared as economic and political contexts have changed. Nevertheless, global supply chains remain important in the delivery of food from farm to fork. This had led to the emergence of effective private regulatory arrangements such as GlobalGAP. International governance mechanisms remain relatively weak, particularly in relation to phenomena such as financialization which have had an increased impact on agriculture and food. A fundamental challenge presented by economic globalization is that it has not been matched by the development of appropriate political structures, something highlighted by the case of the agricultural trading companies. This raises the question of whether any effective action to regulate the consequences of globalization can be taken by national governments or indeed by the EU.