Trade winds: is free trade in food bad news for rural areas during rapid urbanisation?

IIED Briefing
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17337IIED.pdf
Language:
English
Published: May 2016
Area(s):
IIED Briefing Papers
Product code:17337IIED

City dwellers are driving more than half of the demand for food in Africa and 60–70 per cent in Asia. Trade meets that demand — urban consumers are linked to farmers and processors by supply networks that can span great distances. Whether rural areas are winning or losing from increased trade, however, remains uncertain. Urban areas can draw in imports rather than domestic suppliers because of proximity to ports, shifts in consumption, poor competitiveness or poor infrastructure. A working paper explores how urbanisation is transforming trade between rural and urban areas. It looks at the relative merits of trade and agriculture policy instruments, and unpacks some of the implications for policymakers.

Cite this publication

Vorley, B. and Lançon, F. (2016). Trade winds: is free trade in food bad news for rural areas during rapid urbanisation?. .
Available at https://www.iied.org/17337iied