The importance of the agricultural sector in Latin America

Updated on

Agricultural sector in Latin America will be key to the feeding of ten thousand million people in the year 2050

In a new Global Platform video, Deloitte partners analyze the state of agriculture in Latin America and urge to change the current system to meet future demand while respecting the environment

Mexico City, December 2019: “The current agricultural scheme must be changed in order to feed ten billion people in 2050”, says Salvador Sánchez, Leading Partner of Mexico-Central America Marketplace Agribusiness, in the last video presented by the international market research and advisory firm, Oxford Business Group (OBG).

Sanchez refers to a system that in the future will not be viable: “We cannot continue to cultivate and expand the cultivation areas as we are doing” and appeals to governments, companies and society “to become aware of how we feed and of the quantities we consume. ”

In this second OBG video with the firm, Deloitte also highlights the importance of the agricultural sector in the region. Juan José López Forastier, Lead Partner of the Agribusiness Industry of Deloitte S-Latam underlines “the significant weight of agriculture in Latin America” and recalls that in Mexico the sector represents 6% of GDP; in Argentina 16% and in Colombia between 10 and 11% of GDP.

In addition, “the privileged location in two hemispheres, the proximity to consumer markets such as the United States and Canada, crop efficiency and large water reserves make Latin America a market with outstanding competitive advantages,” explains Sánchez, who It also highlights the importance of exploring new trade agreements to boost exports of agricultural products.

Agricultural sector: Infrastructure and technology

The development of infrastructure and technology will be key for the agricultural sector in Latin America, according to López, who refers to the development of a model that “allows the producer to have adequate infrastructure to have accessible food and information on how food is produced.”

In this sense, López Forastier sees in technological advances an important niche for the development of agriculture: “in order to show, maintain and have the traceability of agricultural production, it will be necessary to be able to work a lot on the information,” he says. .

“Climate change has clearly had consequences in Latin American agriculture”, and in this sense it highlights the examples of the 2018 drought in Argentina, which impacted 5 points in the fall of GDP, in addition to the deforestation of Brazil, which seriously affected the production of soybeans. “All this needs an awareness of the governments and the population”, López Forastier alerts and urges governments to implement “the necessary policies to respect the environment”

Marc-André de Blois, Director of Public Relations and Video Content of OBG, said that the new video that OBG has presented on its Global Platform digital channel “offers a remarkable analysis of agriculture, which currently represents one of the sectors of Latin America most important for foreign investment.”

The full Global Platform video is now available online at https://oxfordbusinessgroup.com/video/salvador-sanchez-deloitte-mexico-juan-jose-lopez-forastier-deloitte-argentina

Salvador Sánchez, Juan José López Forastier, and Marc-Andre de Blois are available for interviews with the media that request it.

Click here to subscribe to the latest content from Oxford Business Group: http://www.oxfordbusinessgroup.com/country-reports

Q3 2019 hedge fund letters, conferences and more

Leave a Comment