Does Globalization Enhance Food Security: Empirical Evidence for Latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract

Despite significant progress in reducing poverty since the 1990s, many countries still face a significant problem in achieving food security. Nearly 10% of the world’s population faced hunger in 2022, and this figure has unfortunately been accelerated because of global developments, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. This study attempts to investigate the impact of globalization on food security in 27 Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) countries by using annual data covering the 2001-2021 period. The Driscoll & Kraay standard error and panel corrected standard error (PCSE) estimators show that globalization, arable land, population, economic growth, and institutional quality enhance food security, but inflation worsens it.

JEL Codes: F15, F62, Q18
Keywords: Food security, Food insecurity, Globalization, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), Driscoll & Kraay, PCSE