Several products contributed to this uptick. In the industrial sector, electric transformers saw a 61.5% increase in exports. Insecticides experienced a 7.1% rise, beauty preparations grew by 17.6%, and chloride polymer exports went up by 9.1%. Agricultural products also played a significant role. Coffee exports increased by 18.4%, flowers by 9.9%, and bananas by 30.4%. Additionally, exports of pineapples, avocados, guavas, and mangos collectively grew by 46.3%.

Regionally, eight of the top ten non-mining export areas reported positive results. Bogotá’s exports increased by 10.3%, Antioquia by 6.9%, Cundinamarca by 9.8%, Bolívar by 7.8%, Caldas by 6.4%, Huila by 33.4%, Risaralda by 50.6%, and Magdalena by 12.9%.

The Ministry attributes these gains to government policies aimed at diversifying and enhancing the value of Colombia’s export offerings. Minister of Commerce, Industry, and Tourism, Luis Carlos Reyes Hernández, stated that the focus is on positioning Colombian products with added value in various markets, emphasizing the promotion of exports.

These figures underscore Colombia’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its non-mining export sectors and reduce reliance on traditional commodities.

Headline Image: Coffee from Colombia. Photo credit: Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Tourism (MinCIT)

While we take some time out to think more about this vital global issue, Colombia should be fully focused on food safety for the following reasons:

1. People still die of hunger in Colombia — the main reason for the need to focus! Countless NGOs and international charities are working in Colombia, but the country needs to stand on its own two feet.

2. Colombia has one of the finest growing climates on planet earth, yet is totally under-utilizing the sun that burns down and the rains that fall to create a greenhouse environment. There are numerous examples of agricultural success in Colombia, legal and illegal: coffee, bananas, avocados, mangos, coca, cacao, cannabis, flowers, meat. The list is effectively endless — but we are only touching the surface of what is possible.

3. Colombia has a huge 32 million usable agricultural hectares. Sadly only 4 million are in use. According to Oxfam, the wealthy 1% own most of the countryside, and the vast majority of them do absolutely nothing with that land. The same reports refer to the illegality of much of those holdings, grabbed by the FARC and especially the AUC and its backers during the decades of violence.

4. Colombia in 2021 saw 39.3% of its population living in poverty and 12.2% in extreme poverty. This GINI coefficient of 0.523 — one of the worst in the Americas — says it all when it comes to inequality. Within the data, the reality is that millions — upon millions, upon millions — of Colombians, live with malnutrition every single day. Perhaps in the deserts of Ethiopia or Sudan that might be somewhat understandable. In a country such as Colombia, it is a national disgrace and every single politician should hang their head in shame.

5. In terms of the economy: oil is slowly drying up, and coal is the pariah of the energy sector. Colombia has to slowly wean itself off of these exports while not destroying the balance of payments. The answer sits in the countryside. Coffee, bananas, and flowers are all huge successes overseas but are no more than “samples” of what can be achieved if Colombia achieves some joined-up thinking when it comes to the countryside. The current administration, under the guise of the peace agreement, is attempting to restore stolen land to the rightful owners, but much more radical action is required in order to fire up the agriculture export machine.

6. A rural boom would come with immense social benefits. Firstly, job creation. Hundreds of thousands already work in agriculture, but even more could be added. Secondly, Colombia is ever more urbanized as the population leaves the countryside to live in squalor and seek work in the cities. An agricultural boom might help slow, or even reverse, that trend in the long term.

For Colombia, food safety matters on several fronts — each of which is crucial.

Are Colombian politicians capable of joined up thinking?

That’s another story.

Rupert originally published his food and agriculture views on LinkedIn.
Click here to read more of his commentary.

Colombia already exports Mangos to Canada, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, UAE, and Qatar. In 2021, the US Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) green-lighted Colombian Mangos on phytosanitary safety grounds. With this approval, Mangos make up one of the 108 fresh agricultural products admitted into the US, joining among other products, paprika, Hass avocado, uchuvas, blueberries, tangerine, orange, pineapple, aromatic herbs and Tahiti lemon.

This particular shipment was grown on the Varahonda farm in Palmira, formally known as Agricola Varahonda SA, and packed at Frutales Las Lajas in Zarzal, Valle del Cauca. The Varahonda farm in Valle del Cauca, near Cali, Colombia generates formal employment for mothers who are heads of household, and contributes to the economic and social development of the rural communities surrounding their crops in the southwest of the country.

“The first export of fresh mango to the United States represents a great opportunity to consolidate the exportable supply of fresh fruits, generating formal employment and opportunities in rural areas of the country. We will continue working to enhance national food production to achieve food sovereignty, and thus achieve balances in trade,” said the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, German Umaña Mendoza.

Colombia’s climate allows the country to produce Mangos year-round. According to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Cecilia López Montaño, “there are approximately 35,000 hectares (86,487 acres) of mango in Colombia distributed in 22 (of 32) departments, led by Cundinamarca outside of Bogotá, followed by Antioquia and Norte de Santander.”

“We have great expectations with the business of exporting mango to the United States, which begins this year. We believe that our fruit will be very well received in the North American market, and we see a lot of interest. We have a production projection for next year of approximately one thousand tons,” said Juan Felipe Peña, manager of Agricola Varahonda SA.

Headline photo: Mangos from Santa Fé de Antioquia, Colombia (photo © Loren Moss)