Agricultural and fisheries production in Latin America and the Caribbean will increase by 17% in the next 10 years, making the region an important global supplier of various staple foods, said the OECD and FAO on Tuesday.
More than half of the growth is expected to occur in crop production, followed by the livestock sector and further back by the expansion of the fishing sector, according to a joint report between the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
“The region is expected to remain a leading global supplier of various food commodities, accounting for between 56-59% of the world soybean and sugar trade and 30% of the world meat trade by 2027,” according to the study.
Agricultural land use in the region will expand to about 11.0 million hectares, and about half will be for crop production. Soybean will represent the great majority (62%) of the expansion of the cultivated area in the region.
But the report emphasizes that global growth is expected to be weaker in demand for basic food products, which should reflect that the prices of these products will remain low in the next decade.
According to the institutions, Paraguay will expand its soybean growing area, while Brazil will increase the multiple cultivation (in the same terrain) of soybeans and corn in face of the growing regional demand for protein meal as well as globally.
Brazil and Argentina on a large scale. The report highlighted that Brazil will play a key role as a global food supplier, along with the Russian Federation, India, China, Western Europe, and the United States.
FAO and OECD also mentioned that “current trade policies in Argentina, such as the elimination of export taxes on corn and wheat, should encourage export-oriented production of these products.”
By sub-sector, meat production in the region will expand 19%, to meet the strong growth of global and regional demand, while the dairy sector will grow in importance focused on the internal consumption of the block.
In addition, the region will continue to be the world’s largest sugar consumer per capita in the next decade, which suggests that the high rates of obesity that affect the population will continue.
Likewise, a significant expansion of aquaculture production is expected in Brazil and Chile, with a total production growth of 43 percent, so that the region will remain the second largest producer of aquaculture in the world after Asia.
Facebook Comments