MODELING THE WORLD GRAIN-OILSEEDS-LIVESTOCK ECONOMY TO ASSESS WORLD FOOD PROSPECTS

Mathematical programming methods are used as a framework to evaluate world food prospects. Emphasis is on analyzing the world grain-oilseeds-livestock economy to capture the interaction of the predominantly cereal economies of the developing world and the livestock economies of the developed world as they compete for the world's agricultural resources. The mathematical model, called the Grain-Oilseeds-Livestock (GOL) model, incorporates general population and income growth rates, demand and supply price elasticities, input variables, and assumptions about basic underlying economic trends and policy constraints