Feed me! China, agriculture, ecologically unequal exchange, and forest loss in a cross-national perspective

The theory and empirical research on ecologically unequal exchange finds that core nations “externalize” their environmental impacts onto semi-peripheral and peripheral nations. However, semi-peripheral nations like China have been investing abroad to ensure its food security, central to its industrialization. We extend previous research on ecologically unequal exchange by arguing that China's demand for specific agricultural commodities—soybeans, cattle, and palm oil—contribute to forest loss in peripheral nations that export to it. To test this hypothesis, we analyze a sample of 82 peripheral nations with ordinary least squares regression and determine that exports of soybeans, cattle, and palm oil peripheral nations to China are related to increased forest loss in peripheral nations that export to China. Toward this end, China appears to be engaging in ecologically unequal exchange to ensure access to adequate food supply to satisfy the needs of its growing population during a period of rapid industrialization. We conclude with some theoretical, methodological, and policy recommendations that follow from the results.