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231. How Signifying Practices Constitute Food (In)security—The Case of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea

Author:
David Shim
Publication Date:
02-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
This paper argues that the question of food (in)security in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is not necessarily indicative of the country's actual nutritional conditions but is rather constituted through meaning‐making behavior—signifying practices—predominantly on the part of humanitarian aid institutions working there. The argument is not intended to gloss over the food and nutritional situation in North Korea or to suggest that famine, starvation, or malnutrition do not exist. The paper nevertheless argues that humanitarian institutions are not external to or separate from the reality they observe, monitor, and measure, but are rather constitutive of the categories which produce that reality— in this case food (in)security in North Korea. The undertaking of nutrition surveys, food security assessments, and food‐aid monitoring as well as the issuing of consensus statements are examples of aid practices that signify North Korea in terms of vulnerability, emergency, and food insecurity. The paper's central argument is that it is through precisely these observations, assessments, and representations that food (in)security in North Korea comes into being.
Topic:
Agriculture, Human Welfare, and Food
Political Geography:
Israel and North Korea

232. Trade and growth – again

Author:
Per Botolf Maurseth
Publication Date:
02-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
A stylised fact from the large and growing literature on relationships between trade and growth is that liberal trade policies may stimulate growth. However, there is no academic consensus that liberal trade policies are either necessary or sufficient ingredients in growth promoting policies. In this paper, the relationships between trade policy and growth are investigated. The paper adds some new findings. My measure of trade policy is not only applied average tariff rates which have been used by others, but such tariff rates for agriculture and manufacturing separately. The results indicate opposite results of the two: Protection of manufacturing correlates negatively with growth, while tariffs on agriculture imports seem to have a weaker though positive correlation. These results are robust in the sense that they remain significant with the same sign independently of different specifications and inclusions of various control variables.
Topic:
Agriculture, Economics, Industrial Policy, and International Trade and Finance

233. Buyer Power in U.S. Hog Markets: A Critical Review of the Literature

Author:
Timothy A. Wise and Sarah E. Trist
Publication Date:
08-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University
Abstract:
The U.S. Departments of Justice and Agriculture have focused attention recently on rising levels of corporate concentration in agricultural markets and the challenges that may pose to U.S. anti-trust enforcement and agricultural policies. Both agencies have raised particular concerns about dominant firms' exercise of buyer power over farmers, especially in livestock markets controlled by a shrinking number of large multinational meat packers. U.S. hog markets have undergone rapid concentration in the last 25 years, with the top four packers now controlling two-thirds of the market and Smithfield Foods, the industry leader, commanding 31 percent.
Topic:
Agriculture and Markets
Political Geography:
United States

234. Whither Commodity-Based Trade?

Author:
Karl M. Rich and Brian D. Perry
Publication Date:
07-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
Market access for livestock products from Africa has traditionally been limited by the presence of certain infectious diseases that pose risks to animal and human health. However, an increasingly discussed option for increasing market access for African meat exports is the concept of commodity-based trade (CBT) that focuses on the health and safety attributes of the product rather than the disease status of the country of origin. While this concept is gaining traction in international policy circles, there have been few analyses on the potential economic impacts and unintended consequences of such an approach. This paper examines the principles behind a dramatic shift in approach to trading opportunities that CBT might bring, exploring both technical and economic considerations.
Topic:
Agriculture, International Trade and Finance, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Africa

235. Mining Water for the Revolution: Marte R. Gómez and the Business of Agrarian Reform in "La Laguna," Mexico, 1920s to 1960s

Author:
Mikael Wolfe
Publication Date:
07-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
In this paper I examine the little explored historical relationship between advances in “ecotechnical” knowledge of Mexico's scarce and fragile water resources and the state developmental imperatives of agrarian reform from the 1920s to the 1960s. In particular, I focus on how this relationship played out in the Comarca Lagunera of north-central Mexico, which was the emblematic region of Cardenista agrarian reform in the 1930s. Drawing on primary documentation, technical journals, newspapers, and secondary sources, I argue that the key actor in this history, hydraulic engineer-agronomist and Secretary of Agriculture Marte R.Gómez, epitomized the contradictions among advances in scientific understanding of Mexico's hydrology, agricultural development, and business. I further contend that these contradictions were at the heart of Mexican agrarian reform and its long-term ecological as well as social and economic unsustainability.
Topic:
Agriculture, Economics, and Natural Resources
Political Geography:
Latin America and Mexico

236. Challenges of the Drylands

Author:
Jeffrey D. Sachs, Belay Begashaw, and Upmanu Lall
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Columbia University World Leaders Forum
Abstract:
A panel discussion moderated by Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs with East African Leaders, and Dr. Belay Begashaw from the Earth Institute's MDG Centre and Upmanu Lall, director of the Columbia Water Center, followed by a question and answer session with the audience.
Topic:
Agriculture, Climate Change, Economics, and Health
Political Geography:
Africa

237. Eurasian Bargaining, Agriculture, and the Doha Round

Author:
Sarita D. Jackson
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Caucasian Review of International Affairs
Institution:
The Caucasian Review of International Affairs
Abstract:
This article explores the participation of the Eurasian countries that have recently joined the World Trade Organization and are thus a part of the Recently Acceded Members (RAMs) coalition. The author argues that the active participation of these countries with small economies deserves attention in the WTO agricultural talks. Most studies focus on the leverage of the larger economies among the developing nations such as Brazil, China, India and South Africa. The article goes further to highlight that Eurasian countries have the ability to continue to push for flexibility provisions and can benefit from China's classification as a RAMs country. On the other hand, these same countries face the challenge of becoming more competitive in the international agricultural market. However, those challenges can be addressed through developing infrastructure, technology and skills to allow for smaller Eurasian WTO members to become efficient producers and competitive exporters.
Topic:
Agriculture
Political Geography:
China, Eurasia, India, South Africa, and Brazil

238. Ensuring Urban Food Security in ASEAN

Author:
Mely Caballero-Anthony, Paul Teng, Margarita Escaler, and Pau Khan Khup Hangzo
Publication Date:
08-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS)
Abstract:
This synthesis provides the main findings of the Food Security Expert Group Meeting which was convened by the RSIS Centre for Non-Traditional Security (NTS) Studies in Singapore on 4–5 August 2010. The Meeting brought together experts from multilateral and bilateral agencies, international and regional organisations, universities, agribusiness firms and relevant Singapore government agencies. The Meeting aimed to examine the context of urban food security relative to global food security and rural food security; explore the development of an ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Food Security Management Information System; assist in developing a research agenda on urban food security; and identify possible roles for Singapore in the global food system.
Topic:
Security, Agriculture, Development, and Food
Political Geography:
Singapore and Southeast Asia

239. The Road to Olive Farming: Challenges to developing the economy of olive oil in the West Bank

Author:
Lara El-Jazairi
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
For thousands of years, the olive tree has been an integral part of the Palestinian landscape: a symbol of Palestinian identity, culture and tradition. The majority of Palestinian farmers are at least partially dependent on olive cultivation. The current profitability of olive farming is evident in the increase in recent years of farmers who are planting new trees and tending to their orchards. In a good year, the olive oil sector contributes over $100 million income annually to some of the poorest communities. Olive cultivation also has strong social and political aspects, as the planting of olive orchards is often an attempt to prevent the confiscation of land by Israel or settlers and to protect Palestinian livelihoods.
Topic:
Agriculture, Development, Humanitarian Aid, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
Palestine and Arab Countries

240. Can Asia Learn from Brazil's Agricultural Success?

Author:
Paul Teng and Margarita Escaler
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS)
Abstract:
Over the last four decades, Brazil has transformed its agricultural sector to become the first tropical agricultural giant and the first to challenge the dominance of the world's major food exporters. This paper examines the secrets of Brazil's success and ponders whether Asia should try to emulate the Brazilian model to help achieve food security for its people and contribute to an increased level of selfsufficiency in the region.
Topic:
Agriculture, International Trade and Finance, and Food
Political Geography:
Asia, Brazil, and Latin America