Land Resources, Green Energy, and Food Production: Perspective of Middle-Income Economies

Abstract

In the era of COP27, both the industrialized and developing economies aim to tackle climate-changing issues. Yet, the complex nexus of land resources, green energy, and food production remains a hot topic for policymakers and scholars. There is a significant literature gap since the existing literature lacks empirical evidence concerning the stated nexus. To bridge the gap, the present study analyzes the influence of land resources (forest, natural gas, and mineral resources) and green energy on the food production of the aggregate middle-income economies during 1985–2022. This study highlights the persistent structural breaks in stationarity testing. Still, the equilibrium relationship persists during the study period. Employing the least square with structural breaks approach, this study found that economic growth has a heterogeneous influence on food production, which is negative in the pre-structural break period and positive in the post-structural break period. Besides, forest resources are the significant drivers of the region's food production. However, mineral and natural gas resources are significantly reducing the food production of middle-income economies. Green energy has no significant role in the food production of the selected region. A series of robustness and causality tests verify the robustness of the results. Based on the results, this study recommends the effective management of land resources and further investment in green energy projects and research and development.