What no other of its sectors has achieved, Mexico’s agricultural exports accumulated 12 consecutive years of year-on-year growth in 2021, reaching a record of 19,668 million dollars, 7.6% more than in 2020.
Its last fall occurred in 2009, in the global financial crisis: but even then it had a decline of only 2.1%, according to data from the Bank of Mexico.
Then Mexican agricultural exports accumulated a growth of 155% in the following dozen years, from 7,726 million dollars in 2009.
How did Mexico achieve this? Among its advantages are: its skilled workforce (not only relatively cheap), its diversity of soils and climates, its proximity to the United States and its investments in the sector.
Another quality of Mexico is that its exports are diversified, with star products such as strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, avocados, beef, almonds, walnuts and cucumbers.
From January to November 2021 (latest statistics available), they stood out for their year-on-year growth in value: strawberries (28%), at 650 million dollars; avocado (11.9%), to 2,791 million, and pepper (5.4%), to 1,359 million.
In general, at a global level, Mexico has gained competitiveness in recent years in the production and export of fruits and vegetables.
On the contrary, the largest interannual falls among the outstanding products corresponded to tomatoes (-3.8%), to 2,275 million dollars, and bovines (-19.9%), to 639 million.
According to statistics from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the share of agriculture in Mexico’s GDP has remained stable at 3% since 2000.
However, despite the decline in the last two decades, the share of agriculture in total employment remains comparatively high at over 12% in 2019, indicating that labor productivity in the sector is far below in comparison with other sectors.
In June 2020, the Mexican government published the Agricultural and Rural Development Sector Program 2019-2024, which guides the implementation of the National Development Plan during those years.
The Sector Program focuses on three objectives: improve agricultural productivity for food self-sufficiency, reduce poverty rates in rural areas, and increase the income of small agricultural producers.
The Mexican Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Sader) selected the beneficiaries of payments by area (Production for Welfare) to focus on producers with less than 20 hectares and those in marginalized indigenous communities in the southeastern states of the country.
Meanwhile, the guaranteed minimum price program now includes medium-sized corn producers with 5 to 50 hectares.
On the other hand, the Mexican government suspended support for financial instruments (price hedging, insurance, and contract farming), as well as various support programs for livestock production and rural development.
Sader and the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) are developing the National Strategy for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Pollinators (ENCUSP) to promote the conservation of pollinators and value the ecosystem services they provide.
GDP grew 2.7%
In parallel, yesterday, January 31, the National Institute of Geography and Statistics (Inegi) reported that, for the third consecutive year, the primary sector in Mexico showed growth, presenting an annual increase of 2.7% for all of 2021.
In a statement, Sader highlighted that, in the fourth quarter of 2021, the country’s primary activities saw an increase of 4.8% compared to the same period in 2020, while compared to the previous July-September period they increased 0.3%, from according to the report Timely Estimate of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the Inegi.
In 2020, the worst year of the pandemic, the sector ended with a growth of 2% and was the only one that advanced, while in 2019 it expanded 2%.
