An Overview Of The Impact Of Artificial Intelligence On Agricultural Trade And Food Security

The agricultural sector, employing a quarter of the global workforce, faces multifaceted challenges intensified by factors like climate change and geopolitical shifts. Artificial intelligence (AI) emerges as a transformative force, enhancing sustainability, productivity, market efficiency, and comparative advantage in global agricultural and food trade. This paper provides an overview of AI’s impact on agricultural trade patterns and food security, examining its positive effects on agricultural productivity and management efficiency, decision making through access to market intelligence, supply chain optimization and quality control, efficiency of trade flows, and quality control. The impact of agricultural innovations, such as gene-editing technology (e.g., the development of drought resistant plants), on food security and import needs of adopters are examined. While AI holds promise for improving global food security and increasing the efficiency of trade, challenges such as adoption barriers (including high cost of technology), widening the economic gap between poor and rich nations, and regulatory constraints are emerging. Regional overview shows Asia’s potential for productivity gains and Africa’s challenges to AI adoption. In this paper, AI’s role in trade negotiations as well as limitations to AI adoption, including adoption costs and intellectual property concerns, are discussed.