Globalisation

Globalisation is the increasing generalised expansion and integration of world-wide economic activity through international trade of goods, services, technology, capital (international investment), labour, migration, information and ideas.

Globalisation trends include:

• The increased role of large multi-national corporations in the world economy.
• Greater intervention in domestic policies and affairs by such organisations as the World Bank and IMF (International Monetary Fund, WTO (World Trade Organisation).

Forms of Globalisation include:

• Industrial – the world-wide expansion of large companies through trade but also off-shore production.
• Financial - world-wide financial markets enable the corporate, national and sub-national borrower access to capital.
• Political – expanding the political interests of nations to areas outside of their immediate political region.
• Informational – increasing the flow of information between remote nations.
• Cultural – promotion of growing contacts between different cultures.

Example: Globalisation and Horticulture
Some impacts of globalisation in horticulture should include:

• Reduced costs for information exchange and shipment of goods.
• Improved quality of produce; perishables spend less time in transport; improved technology in storage.
• Total market size has increased enabling the scale of economies to produce many new products.
• Specialisation – greater access to large and diverse markets.
• Countries with a low income can now trade on the world market; information exchange and better access to capital should enable these nations to improve output to an extent where it exceeds domestic demand.
• Improvement in food security for low income populations; external investment can offer greater employment and employment security which in turn improves food security.