Analysis of Agri-Food Trade Structures
To Promote Agri-Food Trade Networks
In the Islamic Countries
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Figure 23: Graphical Representation of the Intra-OIC Trade Network in Agri-Food Products,
Largest Flow Only, 2016
Source: Authors´.
For agricultural raw materials, there is again evidence of a strong intra-regional dimension of
intra-OIC trade in agricultural products (Figure 24): it is again largely predominant in this
sector. An important point of difference, however, is that the network for agricultural raw
materials is much more centralized than for agri-food products. Two countries, Turkey and
Saudi Arabia, act as largely independent hubs for two sub-networks covering the other regional
groups. This presentation is, of course, highly stylized, as it considers only each country’s largest
intra-OIC trade flow, but it is nonetheless informative in terms of highlighting the role of hub
economies in this sector. One reason for this point of distinction with respect to the agri-food
sector is that raw materials are typically inputs into the production of manufactured goods,
including processed foods, whereas agri-food products can be both inputs and final
consumption products. The presence of hub countries in this case is a significant feature of the
intra-OIC trade network in agricultural raw materials, and it suggests that on a policy level,
individual exporters benefit from their connections with these two hubs. As such, integration
efforts in a broad sense—extending to transport connectivity as well as policy measures in the
trade and agricultural spheres—need to take account of the hub and spoke structure of the trade
network in this case.