De-Weaponising Food: Transnational Corridors for Global Food Security

The tendency to gain strategic leverage through economic statecraft among nations has made the weaponisation of relevant supply chains more common than ever before. Beyond the typical goods being leveraged—such as rare earths, semiconductors, and critical minerals—agricultural goods have not been spared as instruments. In the recent US-China trade impasse, China slapped retaliatory tariffs worth US$22 billion on US goods, including a large segment of agricultural goods. As a result, significant US agricultural exports to China, such as soybeans, pork, beef, seafood, cotton, chicken, and corn, were subjected to heavy levies. Moreover, it was observed that the targeted products were mainly sourced from Republican-leaning states, thus directly imposing political pressure on US President Donald Trump. It was only recently that talks between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping led the US to reduce overall tariffs on Chinese goods from 57 percent to 47 percent in exchange for Beijing continuing purchases of US soybeans and allowing the export flow of rare earths. A similar exchange was witnessed between the US and India earlier this year, where New Delhi decided to draw clear red lines for its domestic farm imperative.

Other geopolitical pressures leading to disruptions in food value chains have also been observed through the years. The Russia-Ukraine war led to price spikes, heightened risks in agricultural commodities, and affected global supplies of staples like wheat and sunflower oil, especially impacting import-dependent economies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Similarly, blockades in Red Sea shipping routes and the Suez Canal due to Yemen-based Houthi attacks caused instability in food commodity markets for consumers and producers. Furthermore, the upcoming European Union Deforestation Regulations, which impose restrictions on food products imported from deforested regions, could reshape trade dynamics to some extent.

With stable supply chains and cross-border market connectivity, farmers and agribusinesses start to invest in value-added crops and processing activities. For instance, the proposed India-UAE food corridor would not only enhance food security for Middle Eastern economies but also provide stable markets for Indian producers.

Given these frequent shocks in agricultural value chains, several countries have now started pursuing self-sufficiency and sovereignty in their food systems. For instance, Russia, through its ‘Food Security Doctrine’, has set self-sufficiency targets across several food products, whereas China’s ‘Food Security Law’ seeks to achieve ‘absolute self-sufficiency’ in staple grains. This turn towards inwardness, however, may amplify systemic risks across the global economy. Research indicates that trade liberalisation, in fact, increases food security as food products become more affordable, encouraging dietary diversity. It has also been observed that while food export restrictions may lower food prices in the short term, they lead to price uncertainty and market instability in long-term food production.

Furthermore, a study by UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) notes that a large share of cereals and vegetable oils, which are key to securing global nutrition, are still traded in high volumes, with 25 percent of global wheat, 14 percent of maize and 10 percent of rice production crossing borders every year. This underscores the central role of trade in securing food security for a large number of economies, specifically those that are import-reliant.

Figure 1: Food Insecurity vs Import Dependency Ratio

Source: UNCTAD

Connecting Regions to Ensure Stability and Resilience 

The growing geoeconomic flux calls for efficient mechanisms to improve access to agricultural inputs, lower costs, ensure food availability, stabilise prices, and provide producers with access to markets. This requires both physical connectivity as well as investment in agriculture. An increase in agricultural investment positively correlates to food security, poverty reduction, and production levels; however, investment levels in agriculture in developing economies have declined over the last few decades. There is still a sizeable gap in investment levels required to feed the world’s growing population and for downstream services such as processing, storage, and market facilities — investment in agriculture needs to be increased by 50 percent or US$83 billion per year by 2050. In addition to this, public goods such as irrigation, electrification, and roads also need to be improved for agribusiness development.

Dedicated food corridors also allow an uninterrupted flow of agricultural goods and value-added products by linking agricultural production zones, processing hubs, logistics chains, and markets across borders.

Spatial development initiatives (SDIs) such as monosectoral agrocorridors can transform agricultural value chains by attracting investment and creating agrobusiness opportunities across regions. Infrastructure development along the corridors can attract investment in food parks and cold-chain logistics. As supply chain bottlenecks are addressed, a conducive environment emerges for private investment to flow in. Additionally, with stable supply chains and cross-border market connectivity, farmers and agribusinesses start to invest in value-added crops and processing activities. For instance, the proposed India-UAE food corridor would not only enhance food security for Middle Eastern economies but also provide stable markets for Indian producers and create investment opportunities across the value chain. Several UAE-based companies, such as DP World and Emaar, are already investing in India to provide sophisticated warehousing and logistics solutions for agro products.

Dedicated food corridors also allow an uninterrupted flow of agricultural goods and value-added products by linking agricultural production zones, processing hubs, logistics chains, and markets across borders. Existing corridors include the Biera Agricultural Growth Corridor (BAGC) in Mozambique, the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of the United Republic of Tanzania (SAGCOT), connecting agricultural regions to the port of Dar es Salaam, and the Andean and Amazon corridor in Latin America. Some prominent corridors have been listed in the table below:

Table 1: Economic Corridors for Agricultural Commodities 

Source: FAO Report, EU

These dedicated food corridors have provided enormous benefits in terms of food security and connectivity. For instance, the Solidarity Lanes, which were established in 2022 during the Russia-Ukraine conflict, were created to keep the trade flows intact despite blockages of the Black Sea Ports. These corridors served as lifelines for the Ukrainian economy by allowing trade worth EUR 61 billion and 199 million tonnes of goods (mostly agricultural products such as grain and oilseeds) exported through the corridor. Similarly, the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) corridor in Asia created climate-friendly agro-based value chains between key agricultural production areas by improving last-mile connectivity through farm road networks, tertiary canals, cold chain facilities, and cross-border logistics hubs to reduce post-harvest losses.

Figure 2: EU Solidarity Lanes

Source: VOA News

Regional dedicated food corridors have the potential to provide coordinated logistics, regulatory harmonisation, and infrastructure to transform fragmented food supply chains into structured ecosystems. The corridors usually ease trade facilitation by enabling harmonised customs documentation, reducing costs and time spent at border posts, and promoting mutually recognised sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures.

At a time when basic lifelines are sparking diplomatic standoffs and are being used as bargaining chips, food corridors offer a mechanism to reclaim leverage and de-weaponise food. Diversification of trade routes, regional alignment, and transparency through these corridors can create safeguards against coercion. Food security, as a global public good, requires stabilisation and well-designed mechanisms to prevent the exploitation of statecraft in the interest of a few.

Shruti Jain is an Associate Fellow with the Centre for Development Studies at the Observer Research Foundation.

• Climate, Food and Environment
• India
• agricultural value chains
• agrocorridors
• de-weaponising food
• food supply chain resilience
• geoeconomic pressures
• global food security
• trade connectivity
• transnational food corridors

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