An analysis of the relationship between income and proteins consumption

2.2. Globalisation and trade liberalisation
Closely related to food prices changes is the trade liberalisation. In fact, food prices fall
as a result of trade liberalisation, because it can affect the availability of goods by
removal of barriers to foreign investment in food distribution, such as happened for
multinational fast food chains in the middle-income countries (Kearney, 2010). 
Central to the framework described by Hawkes (2010) is the idea that trade
liberalisation reduces barriers to imports and exports, foreign direct investment and
trade services, and in doing so it infuences diets. In addition, trade liberalisation affects
the whole foods supply chain by infuencing the incentives farmers and agribusinesses
get to produce. Besides, diets are affected by the environment in which consumers make
food choices, conceptualised as food availability, price, and marketing of food. The
result is that over the past 20-30 years, trade liberalisation has led to a more liberal,
global market place for food items. The agriculture sector has however its peculiarities,
because it is characterised by “inelastic demand and slow supply responses, a tendency
for oligopolistic power between producers and consumers, and the immovability of key
factors of production, including arable land and access to freshwater” (Hawkes, 2010, p.
30). 
Hawkes (2010) then provides evidence on how trade liberalisation has facilitate
and infuence the trend of consumption of three foods that are linked to nutrition
transition: vegetable oil, meats and highly processed foods. The nutrition transition in
developing nation usually begins with increases in domestic production and imports of
oilseeds and vegetable oils (Drewenoski et al., 1997). Nevertheless, the nutrition
transition is more often associated to increase consumption of animal products, that
generates a “livestock revolution” (Delgado, 2003). As regard the processed foods, there
are evidence that all over the world people are consuming fewer traditional staples and
more energy-dense foods, high in sugar, fat and refned carbohydrates. With the
globalisation of food systems, availability of processed foods has risen in developing
countries after foreign investments by multinational food companies, such as Coca Cola
or McDonald's, have transformed the traditional diets, offering cheap and abundant
calorie-rich foods (Kerney, 2010). Hawkes (2010) demonstrates that three dynamics
have been critical to this process: frstly, trade liberalisation has facilitate food market
growth in developing countries, as a result of shifts of food production, exports and
investments toward this area of the world; secondly, trade liberalisation has introduced
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