Transition Would Boost Agribusiness in Venezuela
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela was a one of Latin America’s most stable and prosperous nations throughout the second half of the 20th century. However, over the last decade, the country has fallen victim to bad policymaking, hyperinflation, social tensions, and the crash of international petroleum prices. Even though the current sociopolitical situation in Venezuela is highly volatile and unstable, a political transition towards a moderate and free market government will inevitably take place in the short term. Once this political transition occurs, the country will begin a long political and economic reconstruction with great potential in the sectors of agriculture and natural resources. Venezuela has a total territory of well over 900.000 square kilometers, which is more than twice the size of California. Geographically, the country is very diverse encompassing everything from the Andes Mountains and the Amazon rainforest to a humid and tropical climate. Likewise, Venezuela has a long coastline of some 2.800 kilometers along the Caribbean. The country has a total population of approximately 31 million citizens, almost 90% of which live in an urban setting, notably the capital city of Caracas, which has about 3 million inhabitants.
Currently, Venezuela’s annual gross domestic product (GDP) is of approximately US$400 billion. Furthermore, its national economy has experienced significant contractions and negative growth of around -6.0% in recent years. The national economy is divided into 4% agriculture, 36% manufacturing, and 60% services. Similarly, the Venezuelan agricultural industry employs 7% of the national labor force, while manufacturing employs some 22% and services employ another 71%. Meanwhile, the agriculture industry utilizes about 25% of the national territory, while another 52% is forested.
In terms of natural resources, Venezuela has some of the largest and most important reserves of heavy crude oil in the world. Likewise, the country has natural gas, iron ore, gold, bauxite, minerals, hydropower, and diamonds. Within manufacturing, the national industry is focused on agricultural & livestock products, machinery & transport equipment, construction materials, pharmaceuticals & chemicals, iron & steel products, and petroleum products. Meanwhile, the country’s agricultural industry has as main products corn, sorghum, sugarcane, rice, bananas, vegetables, coffee, beef, pork, milk, eggs, and fish. In terms of trade, Venezuela’s main partners are the United States, China, India, Brazil, Colombia, and Cuba.
Transition Would Boost Agribusiness in Venezuela
Venezuela, unfortunately, is currently going through a massive shortage of basic necessities and millions of people are suffering from undernourishment. Therefore, it is impossible to get updated information related to food consumption in the country. However, in 2011, the average per capita protein intake of animal origin amongst the Venezuelan population was of 45 grams daily. Similarly, in 2011, cereals, roots, and tubers supplied about 41% of the average food energy intake in the country. Simultaneously, land distribution in Venezuela has evolved throughout the last half century. Back in 1961, permanent pastures and meadows in the country covered almost 16 million hectares, while arable land covered approximately 3 million hectares and permanent crops accounted for less than 600.000 hectares. More recently, by 2014, permanent pastures and meadows had increased to over 18 million hectares, while arable land represented 2.7 million hectares and permanent crops covered some 700.000 hectares.