Economic fallout and food supply chain disruptions require attention from policy-makers
Standards have played an important role in food trade for a very long time. Their rapid growth in recent years has triggered vigorous debates on their impacts on international trade and development, with many arguing that standards are "non-tariff barriers" to trade and that standards are marginalizing the poor. I present conceptual frameworks and review empirical evidence on the equity and efficiency effects and the political economy of standards. Models which incorporate essential aspects of standards yield complex theoretical results and nuanced conclusions. Careful empirical analyses support such nuanced arguments and find complex effects. For trade, standards can create welfare gains but also involve rent redistribution which induces lobbying by interest groups to set the standards at their preferred level. This makes it difficult to distinguish socially desirable standards from those resulting from political rent-seeking. For development, it is crucial to explicitly account for (a) the endogeneity of the institutional organization of value chains and (b) both smallholder contracting and employment creation on large scale farms when considering the impact of standards on development and poverty.
We analyse the evolution of beer consumption between countries and over time. Historically, there have been major changes in beer consumption in the world. In recent times, per capita consumption has decreased in traditional beer drinking countries while it increased strongly in emerging economies. Recently, China has overtaken the US as the largest beer economy. A quantitative empirical analysis studies the relationships among economic growth, globalisation and beer consumption. The relationship between income and beer consumption has an inverse Ushape. Beer consumption initially increases with rising incomes; but at higher levels of income beer consumption falls. Increased globalisation has contributed to a convergence in alcohol consumption patterns across countries. In countries that were originally beer drinking countries, the share of beer in total alcohol consumption reduced, while this is not the case in countries which traditionally drank mostly wine or spirits.
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Summary Covid‐19 has major implications for global food security. The virus itself and the policy reactions have triggered a massive recession and major disruptions in food value chains. The combination of both has been dramatic for the food and nutrition security of billions of poor people around the world. The impacts are heterogeneous, depending on the nature of the commodity, the resource‐intensity of the food systems, and the level of economic development. Covid‐19 affects the food security and nutrition of poor people more strongly than that of richer people. Women, children and migrants are particularly affected. It is important to balance movement control and other social distancing measures with policy initiatives to improve the food and nutrition security and livelihoods of vulnerable groups. A crucial issue moving forward is to make food supply chains, and food systems generally, more resilient for the future. While many food systems have been significantly disrupted, others have been more resilient, with food supplies relatively unaffected. Innovations are helping to overcome obstacles and make food supply chains more resilient for the future. Overall, the insights and lessons from Covid‐19 should help to design better policies and build more resilient and inclusive food systems for the future.
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