Agricultural Exports,Food Production,and Food Security in Latin America1

Abstract This study assesses the impact of agricultural, export-oriented policies on food consumption through a time-series, cross-sectional regression model. The results of this study lead to three basic conclusions. First, there is a significant negative relationship between agricultural export promotion and food consumption. Economic growth and increasing agricultural exports earnings do not necessarily increase food security. Second, protein consumption per capita constitutes a more sensitive indicator of changes in food consumption and a proxy for the distributional dimension of the food consumption problem. Third, alternative policies should incorporate agricultural export into a broader agroindustrial development strategy aimed at achieving food security both by increasing income and by food production.