The productivity growth that transformed agriculture across Latin America and the Caribbean has slowed sharply in recent years, with farmers increasingly relying on costly inputs rather than efficiency gains. Without sustained public investment, the region risks losing competitiveness and reversing decades of hard-won progress.
WASHINGTON, DC—Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is a regional agricultural powerhouse. Although it accounts for just 8% of the global population, LAC contributes nearly 16% of agricultural exports, with Mexican avocados, Argentine beef, Colombian coffee, and Chilean salmon now considered staples in supermarkets and households around the world.