Agribusiness, Economics & Land Use in Suriname
The Republic of Suriname gained independence from the Netherlands in 1975. Today, with a total of 163.820 square kilometers, Suriname is slightly larger than the state of Georgia and the smallest country on the South American continent. Located along South America’s northeastern coastline, the country is dominated by rolling hills and a coastal plain scattered with swamps along its 386 kilometers of coastline. Likewise, Suriname has a predominantly tropical climate that is also dictated by the Atlantic Ocean’s trade winds. Currently, the country has a total population of almost 600.000 citizens, with an average age of thirty years. Furthermore, about 66% of Suriname’s population lives in an urban setting, notably the city of Paramaribo with some 239.000 inhabitants.
Agribusiness, Economics & Land Use in Suriname
The country’s national annual gross domestic product (GDP) is US$8.5 billion (PPP), but the national economy has suffered from a period of contraction in recent years. The Surinamese economy is divided into 12% agriculture, 31% manufacturing, and 57% services. Meanwhile, the national labor force is divided into 11% working in the agriculture industry, 20% working in the industrial sector, and 69% working in services. Similarly, the national agriculture industry utilizes about 1% of the national territory, while another 94% is forested. In terms of natural resources, Suriname has timber, hydropower capacities, fish, kaolin, bauxite, gold, nickel, copper, platinum, and iron ore. Within manufacturing, the national industry is focused on mining, oil, lumber, food processing, and fishing. Simultaneously, the country’s agricultural industry has as main products rice, bananas, shrimp, yellow-fin tuna, and vegetables.
In terms of trade, Suriname is the world’s 135th largest export economy. During 2016, the country imported US$1.3 billion worth of goods and exported US$1.6 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of US$284 million. Furthermore, that same year, Suriname’s main export, representing 64% or US$1 billion of the country’s total, was gold. On the other hand, the country’s main import, representing 15% or US$192 million of all international purchases, was refined petroleum. Meanwhile, Suriname’s main trading partners are the United States, Switzerland, the European Union, China, the United Arab Emirates, and Trinidad & Tobago.
In recent years, the average per capita protein intake of animal origin amongst the Surinamese population has been 28 grams daily. Simultaneously, land distribution and output in the country have evolved throughout the last half century. Back in 1961, permanent pastures and meadows in Suriname covered 6.000 hectares, while arable land covered 28.000 hectares and permanent crops covered 7.000 hectares. More recently, by 2015, permanent pastures and meadows had increased to cover 17.200 hectares, while arable land represented 65.000 hectares and permanent crops accounted for 6.000 hectares.
Likewise, the domestic cereals market in Suriname has evolved during the last half century. In 1961, the country devoted approximately 26.340 hectares of land to the production of cereals and produced 72.787 metric tons annually. By 2016, Suriname devoted 62.749 hectares of land to cereals production and yielded some 278.166 metric tons.