Agriculture is crucial to economic growth: In 2016, it accounted for one-third of global gross-domestic-product (GDP). Agricultural development is one of the most powerful tools to end extreme poverty, boost shared prosperity and feed a projected 9.7 billion people by 2050. Growth in the agriculture sector is two to four times more effective in raising incomes among people as compared to any other sector. Below you can find some investments made by the world bank and IFC in this space
24 Hotspots Where Agribusiness Investment is Likely to Focus
In 2017, there was US$ 4 billion in new IBRD/IDA commitments to agriculture and related sectors. From 2015-17, 158 projects were implemented to provide 20 million farmers with agricultural assets and services.
The International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) investments were US$ 3.8 billion. IFC financing goes to agribusiness, food companies, and banks.
Food and agribusiness have a massive economic, social, and environmental footprint—the $5 trillion industry represents 10 percent of global consumer spending, 40 percent of employment, and 30 percent of greenhouse-gas emissions.
Latin America: Agricultural Perspectives
- The Latin American region is an important net exporter of food and agricultural commodities, accounting for 16% of total global food and agriculture exports and 4% of total food and agriculture imports.
- The region is one of the few parts of the world with significant resources of unexploited agricultural land (concentrated in Brazil and Argentina), suggesting the region will continue to play a pivotal role in global food production and exports in the future.
- Many of the region´s countries have achieved respectable rates of agricultural productivity growth in the recent past. Nevertheless, raising productivity will be essential to meet domestic food needs or to maintain or enhance export competitiveness.
- It will be as important to the region to sustainably raise the agricultural productivity and output of smallholdings as it will be to boost the output of export powerhouses such as Brazil and Argentina.