ABSTRACT

Typically, the analysis of changes in patterns of production, consumption and trade in agricultural commodities is based on statistics which are aggregated at the national level. While such formulations are useful in identifying trade flows between nation-states, they are less relevant in a period when over one-third of world trade occurs within the boundaries of individual firms ( Johnson and Turner 2003: 101). When analysing the global trade in poultry for example, what does it mean when it is stated that ‘Japan will source more of its poultry imports from China as opposed to Thailand’ (Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) 2003a), if the same company, operating in both China and Thailand, is the supplier in both instances? And how does an analysis of trade flows at the national level capture the realities of international coordination by supermarkets and fast food companies, which are able to operate in – and source products from – an array of production sites?