Search

This study is the first to develop food supply and demand projections over the 21st century for Uzbekistan by considering the combined effects of climate change and soil salinization. The study results suggest that rising summer temperatures and soil salinity will considerably reduce wheat production. Projections indicate that a large wheat supply–demand gap will emerge in the midterm, particularly under the SSP3-RCP7.0 scenario. For the two more pessimistic scenarios, supply losses of about 24–29% are expected by the end of the century. Supply–demand gaps of up to 2.7 million tons of wheat would pose serious challenges to national food security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Any calls to move towards a centrally planned economy or autarky are strongly advised against, as this would only be to the detriment of food security in the Global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The causes of food price spikes are complex, and their impact on different countries varies depending on production levels and the varied policies in place. Countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus (CAC) region have implemented a wide range of reforms that vary in form and speed. The existing scientific literature reports about the consequences of price spikes in CAC; however, to date, a comparison of impact between those countries has not been made in terms of the entire supply chain perspective. Therefore, this study investigates the impact of the price spikes on the entire wheat supply chain for the first time in CAC and discusses the role of policies. Another contribution of this study is an evidence-based analysis of the role of policy reformation in maintaining food security under price shocks. Our results indicate a very limited effect of price interventions and trade restrictions on dampening wheat prices in all countries. We find that only trade diversification policy had a positive effect on reducing the level of price spikes, and thus it might be a suitable policy measure for maintaining food security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provides pioneering empirical evidence on board gender diversity and firm performance relationship for the case of large-scale agri-food companies in Russia. While Russia plays an important role in the global food security, its domestic agri-food production is heavily dependent on large scale producers. Our findings suggest a strong positive link between the percentage of female directors in boardrooms and firm performance. Moreover, in line with critical mass theory, boards with three or more female directors have greater impact on firm performance compared to boards with two or less female directors. Further analysis shows that the presence of female directors in the company has a positive impact on firm performance, mainly due to their executive, rather than monitoring effects. The paper shed light on gender diversity of Russian corporate boardrooms and provides empirical recommendations for policy makers as well as corporate executives in Russia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Russia emerged as an important wheat exporter in recent years raising the question of how this will affect international wheat markets. In particular developing countries - the main destination of Russian wheat exports - could be harmed by aggressive pricing behaviour. This article analyses the exertion of price discrimination by Russian wheat exporting firms based on Krugman's pricing-to-market hypothesis. We apply Knetter's panel model to a firm-level dataset and find evidence for price-discriminating behaviour by Russian firms in 25 out of 61 destination countries over the period 2002-2011. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Studies investigating the effects of wheat export controls on the domestic market in the exporting country itself are scarce. This paper analyses the domestic market impact of wheat export controls in Russia and Ukraine during the 2007/2008 global food crisis within a spatial price transmission approach. Using a Markov-switching vector error-correction model, we contrast our estimation for Russia and Ukraine with Germany and the USA, two countries that did not intervene in their wheat export markets. An explicit “crisis” regime during times of export controls is exclusively identified for Russia and Ukraine. We find that export restrictions temporarily reduced the degree of integration of Russian and Ukrainian domestic markets in world wheat markets, which pushed the growers prices below their long-run equilibrium level. Further, domestic markets were disconnected from their equilibrium and market instability increased. These effects were even more pronounced and long lasting in Ukraine (export quota) than in Russia (export tax). The negative market effects discouraged private investors, thereby preventing Russia and Ukraine from maximizing their grain potential and contributing to global food security. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]