CONCENTRATION IS A KEY DIRECTION OF STRUCTURAL CHANGES IN THE GLOBAL AGRICULTURAL SECTOR

Issue № 4, 2024, article № 11, pages 129-137

Section: International relations and world agricultural experience

Language: Russian

Original language title: КОНЦЕНТРАЦИЯ – КЛЮЧЕВОЕ НАПРАВЛЕНИЕ СТРУКТУРНЫХ ИЗМЕНЕНИЙ В МИРОВОМ АГРАРНОМ СЕКТОРЕ

Keywords: STRUCTURAL CHANGES, GLOBAL AGRICULTURAL SECTOR, CONCENTRATION OF PRODUCTION AND TRADE, DEVELOPED AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL CONCENTRATION, ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

Abstract: The growth of the world's population and the need to provide it with food have largely led to structural changes in the global agricultural sector as it develops. One of the main directions of its transformation is concentration, including resources, production, and trade. It creates certain economic advantages, including an increase in production volumes at lower costs – economies of scale, the introduction of innovative technologies and, consequently, an increase in the quality and competitiveness of manufactured goods, an increase in labor productivity and, ultimately, a reduction in the cost of manufactured products due to these factors. Concentration-based transformation is more typical for developed countries, especially in the international food trade, where several major companies and corporations prevail, both in wholesale and retail markets. Along with the advantages, concentration processes also lead to some negative consequences, in particular, to the displacement of a certain proportion of small farms from the industry, reduced competition, increased likelihood of monopolization of food markets and strengthening the "market power" of a limited number of companies. Large multinational companies often limit the development of local agricultural production and the sustainable functioning of local food markets.

Authors: Paptsov Andrei Gennadevich, SHelamova Nadezhda Afanasevna