Major Concerns About Globalization
Increased trade deficits
The main beneficial effect for agriculture in globalization is that it allows for the easy export and import of food products from nearly anywhere around the world. One view of globalization is that it creates many opportunities for a country such as Canada to grow and to develop further from this type of trade, but it is not always the case.Québec, for example, is a part of the globalization process. But the province buys more products from abroad than it exports, resulting in a trade deficit (the situation is in other areas of Canada). From 1982 to 1994, Québec imported 67% more agri-food products than before, but its exports only rose by 13%. Consequently, Québec's agri-food deficit was of $130 million in 1982 and $842 million in 1994, a substantial deficit even though agri-food exports continue to rise. This might, at some point, represent a threat to food security for the province's population there is a greater dependency on other countries for agri-food supplies.
Unequal distribution of wealth
Globalization has facilitated a greater concentration of wealth in fewer hands while many more people are being impoverished. Globally, a total of 358 people own as much wealth as 2.5 billion people own all together. (UNDP Human Development Report 1996). The most affluent 20 percent of countries use up 70 percent of the world's energy, 75 percent of processed metals and 85 percent of the world's timber (UNDP report, 1994).
Growing monopolies
Today, about 200 corporations control over one quarter of the world's economic activity. Most of them are larger than many national economies. Agricultural commerce is dominated by a handful of corporations in this fashion as well. For example, in 1996, the world's top 10 agri-chemical corporations accounted for 82% of global agri-chemical sales, and the top 10 seed corporations control approximately 40% of the commercial seed market.
Tax responsibility
For tax purposes, it is now difficult to determine where the home base of an international corporation is. Hence, corporations can avoid taxes through a variety of means such as assigning their income to low tax countries and their expenses to high tax countries. For many developing nations corporate tax revenues are one of the major sources of state income as the incomes of the general population are often inadequate to support the level of taxes necessary for infrastructure development (roads, schools, electricity lines, etc.)
Privatization
Globalization and the various trade agreements accompanying it push countries to privatize public resources. Around the world, the ownership of resources such as electricity, public transport, forest reserves and resorts have shifted hands dramatically. As a result, medicare systems and hospitals become 'user pay' and only accessible to those who can afford to pay; many research institutions are dependent on private funding, re-directing their focus from subjects of common good to areas of commercial value; public transport only exists where there is an adequate base of customers, reducing or eliminating service to peripheral regions.
De-regulation
Trade agreements require governments to remove many legislative or administrative regulations which might restrain free trade. This means that many barriers to freer trade are removed no matter their potential environmental, social or developmental effect. For example, even though Canada has for many years banned the production and use of the insecticide DDT within the country due to its negative environmental impact, food produced in countries where the chemical is still legal cannot be prevented from entering.
Environmental issues
Globalization hastens the process of industrialization in many countries. But industrialization can be a threat to natural resources if not managed properly, and arable and forest covered lands are most susceptible. For example, the best farm land is often situated in valleys and along waterways, which are also locations best suited for industries due to available water, easier transportation and space for housing. As major world exporters, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have given up a total of 40 percent of their cultivable grain lands to build thousands of factories, housing estates and highways.
The competitive pressures of world trade has pushed farmers to increase production while lowering costs of production, something that has been accomplished in large part by using greater amounts of fertilizers, pesticides and other types of technology such as irrigation. The incapacity of countries due to globalization to control prices so that farmers can earn a decent and stable living has a direct effect on the ability to implement sustainable agricultural practices.
What is Globalization | Impacts Of Globalization On Agriculture