BRIEF January 15, 2021

Future Foodscapes: Re-imagining Agriculture in Latin America and the Caribbean

This new report from the World Bank offers a fresh way to think about the role that agriculture plays in Latin America and the Caribbean Region. It shows that what has traditionally been thought of as “the agriculture sector” is part of a much larger food system whose performance affects the economy at multiple levels including economic growth, jobs and poverty reduction, food and nutrition security and climate resilient ecosystems.

Download the report

Propelled by powerful drivers—both slow-moving trends (e.g., population growth, income gains, urbanization) and sudden disruptors (e.g., technology breakthroughs, extreme weather events associated with climate change)— agriculture and food systems in Latin America and the Caribbean are undergoing rapid change in a highly uncertain environment and not always delivering desired outcomes.

Using the results of a participatory scenarios-building exercise, the report offers a menu of 20 Proposed Actions that policy makers can tailor to the circumstances of individual countries as they rebuild following the COVID-19 crisis and pursue sustainable and climate resilient food systems that will be good for people and good for the planet.

"We need an agriculture sector that can satisfy the growing food needs of the region and the world at large while avoiding further damage to our environment. With better policies and new technologies, the region’s agri-food systems can contribute more to growth, reducing poverty and food and nutrition security."

Carlos Felipe Jaramillo

Vice President, Latin America and the Caribbean

MULTIMEDIA

VIDEO Nov 12, 2020

How to change the agricultural future of the region?

Latin America and the Caribbean region is the world’s breadbasket and lungs, but the costs for the environment and health are enormous. How to change the agricultural future of the region? Carlos Felipe Jaramillo, Vice President of the World Bank in LAC, tells us about it 👩🏽‍🌾👨🏻‍🌾

News and blogs

Blog: A sustainable future for agriculture in Latin America and the Caribbean is in our hands. Let´s make it happen!

Fulfilling the promise of sustainable agri-food systems is not effortless: it will require appropriate strategies, well-crafted policies, robust investments, and strong institutions staffed by capable people. But the pay off – whether measured in growth, food security, nutrition, natural resources or climate change mitigation – is eminently worth it. Let’s roll up our sleeves and make it happen!

Interview: What is the future of agriculture in a post-pandemic world?

Michael Morris, an expert in agriculture at the World Bank, authored a report on the region’s agri-food systems together with his colleagues Ashwini Rekha Sebastian and Viviana Maria Eugenia Perego, with collaboration from other institutions such as the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and McKinsey. In this interview, Morris explains how the future of agriculture can be reimagined in Latin America and the Caribbean.