Visualizing economic drivers of virtual land trade: A case study of global cereals trade

Abstract

Exploring virtual land trade (VLT) embodied in the global agricultural trade enables us to uncover potential risks to economy, environment, and food security within the trade structure. Using the bilateral trade data for the periods of 1988–1990, 1998–2000, 2008–2010, and 2018–2020, we created halfcircle diagrams depicting how virtual land of cereals is traded between countries of different income levels. The diagrams show that the global trend of virtual land in cereal products was being exported from high-income to low-income countries. Initially, a few wealthy countries dominated exports, and in later periods, middle-income countries joined major exporters. There has been a significant increase in the number of countries participating in VLT. Halfcircle diagrams are a useful tool for visualizing overall trends of VLT in relation to a potential driver.