What is The Relationship between Income Inequality, Free Trade, and Food Security? A Panel Causality Analysis for Middle- and Low-Income Countries

Year 2025, , 234 - 251, 28.03.2025

Derya Demir

https://doi.org/10.30784/epfad.1535893

Abstract

One of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals is to achieve zero hunger, in other words, the global fight against hunger. Today, the number of undernourished people in the world continues to increase. Poverty and income inequality are important factors that increase the risk of food insecurity, and food insecurity is much more serious in low-income countries than in middle-income and high-income countries. It can be said that the liberalization of trade worldwide after the 1990s and the increase in the import and export of agricultural products and other goods and services are also important factors affecting food supply insufficiency and therefore food security. This study aims to reveal the relationship between food security, income inequality, and trade openness in 19 selected countries with a high prevalence of undernourishment in the period 2001-2021. Whether there is a causal relationship between the variables in question was investigated with Dumitrescu-Hurlin’s (2012) causality analysis. The analysis results reveal that income inequality and trade openness are the causes of food security.

Keywords

Trade Openness, Income Inequality, Food Security, Undernourishment

Gelir Eşitsizliği, Serbest Ticaret ve Gıda Güvencesi Arasında Nasıl Bir İlişki Var? Orta ve Düşük Gelirli Ülkeler İçin Bir Panel Nedensellik Analizi

Abstract

Birleşmiş Milletler'in Sürdürülebilir Kalkınma hedeflerinden biri de sıfır açlığa ulaşmak, bir başka deyişle açlığa karşı küresel mücadeledir. Günümüzde dünyada yetersiz beslenen insanların sayısı artmaya devam etmektedir. Yoksulluk ve gelir eşitsizliği, gıda güvencesizliği riskini artıran önemli bir faktördür ve düşük gelirli ülkelerde orta gelirli ve yüksek gelirli ülkelere göre gıda güvencesizliği çok daha ciddi boyuttadır. 1990'lı yıllardan sonra dünya genelinde ticaretin serbestleşmesi ve tarım ürünleri ile diğer mal ve hizmetlerin ithalat ve ihracatının artmasının da gıda arzı yetersizliğini ve dolayısıyla gıda güvencesini etkileyen önemli faktörler arasında olduğu söylenebilir. Bu çalışmada 2001-2021 dönemi yetersiz beslenme yaygınlığının yüksek olduğu 19 seçilmiş ülkede gıda güvencesi, gelir eşitsizliği ve ticari dışa açıklık arasındaki ilişkininin nasıl olduğunu ortaya koymak amaçlanmıştır. Söz konusu değişkenler arasında nedensellik ilişkisi olup olmadığı Dumitrescu-Hurlin (2012) nedensellik analizi ile araştırılmıştır. Analiz sonuçları, gelir eşitsizliği ve ticari dışarı açıklığın gıda güvencesizliğinin sebebi olduğunu ortaya koymaktadır.

Keywords

Ticari Açıklık, Gelir Eşitsizliği, Gıda Güvencesi, Yetersiz Beslenme

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