Microstructural Characteristics of the Weighted and Directed International Crop Trade Networks

With increasing global demand for food, international food trade is playing a critical role in balancing the food supply and demand across different regions. Here, using trade datasets of four crops that provide more than 50% of the calories consumed globally, we constructed four international crop trade networks (iCTNs). We observed the increasing globalization in the international crop trade and different trade patterns in different iCTNs. The distributions of node degrees deviate from power laws, and the distributions of link weights follow power laws. We also found that the in-degree is positively correlated with the out-degree, but negatively correlated with the clustering coefficient. This indicates that the numbers of trade partners affect the tendency of economies to form clusters. In addition, each iCTN exhibits a unique topology which is different from the whole food network studied by many researchers. Our analysis on the microstructural characteristics of different iCTNs provides highly valuable insights into distinctive features of specific crop trades and has potential implications for model construction and food security.

Automated summary

The study constructed four international crop trade networks using trade datasets of major crops, revealing increasing globalization in international crop trade and different trade patterns in different networks. The analysis showed that node degrees do not follow power laws, while link weights do. It also found a positive correlation between in-degree and out-degree, and a negative correlation between in-degree and clustering coefficient. Each network exhibited a unique topology different from the whole food network, providing valuable insights into specific crop trades.