A Comparative Analysis of Agricultural Systems and Risk Based on Self-Sufficiency in France, Argentina, and the United Kingdom

Abstract

Risk in global agricultural systems is a topic of growing concern, as the agricultural system has undergone significant changes in globalization and industrialization over the past few decades. While there is research on specific aspects of agricultural risk, few studies have considered multiple aspects of agricultural risk in conversation with each other. This study takes a more holistic view by considering environmental risk, interconnectivity risk, health risk, demographic risk, and conflict and disease risk together. The study compares these aspects of risk across three case studies with varying levels of dependency on the global agricultural system. Argentina is the food exporter case study, the United Kingdom is the food importer case study, and France is the self-sufficiency case study. This study found that Argentina had the highest levels of risk in nearly all categories of risk as the food exporter, while France had the lowest levels of risk in nearly all categories of risk as the self-sufficient country. These results indicate that food exporters experience the most risk in their agricultural systems, despite public narratives commonly seeing food importers as experiencing the most risk. This may indicate where systemic vulnerabilities enter agricultural systems, and where structural or systemic change may be needed.