Global Trends in Agriculture and Agribusiness

The economical, political and market related parameters for the agricultural sector are in process of a heavy change these years. Common trends are seen across bor- ders and across continents. The agricultural policy is liberalised, and importance is increasingly attached to environment, food security and rural development. At the same time is happening a change of system with regards to the agricultural policy, which is changed from being focused on the sector to being focused on the farmers. Both the liberalisation as well as the globalisation will mark the agricultural sector in future. The liberalisation will cause a more well acting world market and the trade will increase. The globalisation will cause a rise in the international trade and the specialisation, but also the foreign investments will become more important in future. There is also a global trend towards a gradual industrialisation of the agricultural sector. The farms are getting bigger, more specialised and concentrated, the productivity is strongly increasing, whereas the terms of trade is continuously decreasing. The demand is only slightly developing. The global trend is, that the growth is slight, but that areas as convenience, dining out, functional foods, health and food security are areas or parameters with relatively large growth. The agro-industry also develops according to the global trends. The companies are getting bigger, more concentrated and transnational. At the same time global alliances become more and more prevalent. The retail sector - which is often an important target group for the agriculture and the agro-industry - also develops considerably these years. The structural development is strong, the concentration is increasing, and the retail sector is gaining more market influence and power through increased integration, private labels, etc.