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Empirical approach to arable land and livestock using co-integration and causality techniques with panel data

Abstract:

The availability of food and the right to food is linked to the concept of food security, poverty and development of nations; and, therefore, to a focus on agricultural production and availability of land suitable for cultivation. In this context, the main objective of this research is to evaluate the effect of livestock production on the availability of arable land in Latin American and Caribbean countries, between 1961-2017, using cointegration and causality techniques to propose policies that contribute to a smaller decrease in arable land. For the development of the research, control variables were added: population growth, average temperature variation and fertilizer use. Statistical information was collected from the World Bank (2020) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2020) databases. The main results show a statistically positive relationship and the existence of a long-run equilibrium relationship between the variables used in the model. The results indicate that a 1% increase in head of cattle is related to an increase of 0.04 hectares in arable land. On the other hand, it was found that the main causes of variations in arable land are livestock and fertilizer use. Policy implications suggest some measures to ensure the availability of arable land considering the role of livestock and fertilizer use.