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Changing consumption patterns and international trade  Over the
course of the past 40 years, the net flow of agricultural
commodities between developed and developing countries has
reversed direction. In the early 1960s, developing countries had
an overall agricultural trade surplus of almost US$7 billion per
year. By the end of the 1980s, however, this surplus had
disappeared. During most of the 1990s and early 2000s,
developing countries were net importers of agricultural
products. FAO has projected that this agricultural trade deficit
is likely to widen markedly.  The change has been even more
pronounced for the LDCs, which over the same period have changed
from being net exporters to significant net importers of
agricultural commodities. By the end of the 1990s, imports by
the LDCs were more than double their exports.  Food imports grow
rapidly  Global trade in foodstuffs has grown rapidly and
changed radically over recent decades. Between 1970 a