Influences of economics and marketing on relationships in the global Essay

Influences of economics and marketing on relationships in the global food supply chain - Essay Example Exporting countries benefit from increased revenues from trading of surplus items, importing nations gain access to vital food reserves (Arda et al., 2005). Growing industrialization and profit making objectives have made a deep impact on the way food is being produced and supplied to the consumers today (Deep and Dani, 2009). The food supply chain is deeply impacted by rising prices, inflationary trends, and growing demands of increasing population have increased food prices. This has also led to multi-tiered supply chains that increase the complexity of the whole logistics process (Sowinski, 2012). The food supply chain begins with the farmer producing the supplies and the food items produced are sold by the farmers either directly to the food processor or indirectly through cooperative groups. The processed food is then sold to distributors to be distributed to various retailers and marketers and from there the food is finally sold to the consumers (FAO, 2004). The role of the far mers in the food supply chain is hence limited to the food processors and cooperative groups that are responsible for selling the farm produce to various distributing agencies, factories or processing units. This pattern limits the transparency of the whole system and farmers do not benefit much from the complex supply chains (Fearne et al., 2000). The globalization of economies has increased consumerism trends within the nations and this has led to a dramatic growth in consumption of food and related items. In context of the food supply chain this also reflects a shift in food movement from local and regional levels to global levels (Dicken, 2011). This has added to the complexity of the food supply...Global food security and governance have become increasingly complex in the past few decades owing to a gradual shift from local to global food supplies. â€Å"The capacity of single households to ensure an adequate supply of food for its members is affected by developments from loca l to global. Increasingly even nation states are losing control over the factors that determine the food security of their populations†. Conclusion In spite of the fact that an abundant quantity of food is being produced on the planet, millions are starving. The primary reason behind this is the corporate control over the food supply. The supply, distribution and manufacturing of food products have been controlled by the corporate system. The process of globalization has contributed to the advancement of biotechnology and agribusiness, which from the business’ perspective is profitable. Most of the capital invested on the production of food and food products goes to non-farmers. With the virtue of global economy, the corporations and supermarkets are churning a huge amount of money, which contributes to the imbalance of power between the farmers, consumers and food corporations.