The World Cup and Agribusiness in South America
As the FIFA World Cup enters into the quarter-finals this weekend, there are six European and two Latin American countries still in the tournament. Twice FIFA World Champion, Uruguay is a mid-sized country located in South America and also known for its agricultural production. Currently, Uruguay has a total territory of 176.215 square kilometers, which is somewhat smaller than the state of Washington. The country is dominated by rolling plains and low hills alongside a fertile coastal valley as well as 660 kilometers of coastline. Likewise, Uruguay has a total population of almost 3.4 million citizens, 95% of which live in an urban setting, notably the capital city of Montevideo with 1.7 million inhabitants. The national annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is about US$78.4 billion (PPP) and the country has experienced positive economic growth in recent years. The Uruguayan economy is divided into 7% agriculture, 25% manufacturing, and 68% services. Similarly, it is estimated that the agricultural industry employs 13% of the national labor force, while manufacturing employs 14% and services employ another 73%. Meanwhile, the agriculture industry utilizes 87% of the national territory, while another 10% is forested.
The World Cup and Agribusiness in South America
In terms of natural resources, Uruguay has arable land, hydropower, and minerals. Within manufacturing, the national industry is focused on food processing, machinery, transportation equipment, petroleum products, textiles, chemicals, and beverage production. Simultaneously, Uruguay’s agricultural industry has as main products beef, soybeans, rice, wheat, dairy products, fish, lumber, tobacco, and wine. During 2016, the country imported US$8.5 billion worth of goods and exported US$7.8 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of US$730 million. Furthermore, that same year, Uruguay’s main export, representing 15% or US$1.1 billion of the country’s total, was sulfate chemical woodpulp. On the other hand, the country’s main import, representing 7.4% or US$633 million of all international purchases, was crude petroleum. In terms of trade, Uruguay belongs to the regional Mercosur trade bloc alongside Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Meanwhile, Uruguay’s main trade partners are China, Brazil, Argentina, the United States, and the European Union.
Unfortunately, in Uruguay, some 100.000 people suffer from undernourishment. In recent years, the average per capita protein intake of animal origin amongst the Uruguayan population has been 51 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 Uruguay covered 13.8 million hectares, while arable land covered 2.5 million hectares and permanent crops accounted for 53.000 hectares. More recently, by 2015, permanent pastures and meadows had decreased slightly to 12 million hectares, while arable land represented 2.4 million hectares and permanent crops covered 39.000 hectares. Likewise, in 1961, the cereals market in Uruguay utilized almost 873.500 hectares of land and yielded approximately 751.000 metric tons annually. Finally, by 2016, the country devoted about 730.000 hectares of land to cereals production and yielded almost 3.6 million metric tons.