Globalization of Food and Agriculture and the Poor

Joachim von Braun and Eugenio Díaz-Bonilla

IFPRI Issue Brief No. 52. September 2008

The world agrifood system is becoming increasingly globalized. As the majority of the world moves into cities, and as rural inhabitants who are connected to infrastructure adopt more urbanized lifestyles, food consumption is becoming both more varied and more similar around the world. The food processing and retail industries have become global players, and farmers are increasingly specializing their production, leading to changes in inputs such as water, seeds, feeds, and technical equipment and, ultimately, to new organizational arrangements in the food system.

Available for download at http://www.ifpri.org/pubs/ib/ib52.pdf