In the framework of XX International Congress Porkaméricas 2022which was held from July 13 to 15, the discussion “world view of Colombian pig farming” was held, where the president of Porkcolombia, Jeffrey Fajardo, in dialogue with Rubén López general editor of Portafolio, addressed issues such as inflation , the rise in the price of the dollar, the cost of inputs, production, consumption and import within the pig sector in the country.
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In accordance with Jeffrey Fajardo, Colombian pig farminghas been standing out as one of the actors in the development of the business fabric of Colombian agriculture, giving an account of how the work organized by the association has been promoted.
The pig sector in recent years has reflected a cgrowth against its production. With figures from Porkcolombia, by the end of 2017, 371,337 tons of pork were produced, a figure that increased for 2018, with 410,281 tons. For subsequent years such as 2019, pork production continued to grow, closing with 446,627 tons, followed by 2020, where the increase continued to be evident with 468,429 tons.
Regarding the end of the year 2021, Porkcolombia reached uA production of 491,233 tons, increasing 4.8% compared to the previous year. So far in 2022, dated until May, the sector has produced 203,940 tons of pork. According to the president of the association, “the last decade has been at the forefront of growth, increasing the Colombian economy by two or three times. The photograph of the year 2010 was that 192,000 tons of pork were produced in, today we will be closing the year above 540,000 tons”.
However, inflation is a segment that has touched different agricultural sectors, including the pig farmer.
According to the president, the value of real pork production has grown by 25%, but, in the case of nominal growth, it has increased by 47%, which indicates that this “has been affected by the inflationary phenomenon that began last year”.
For this reason, “we note that this phenomenon hides the real value of pork production, and by removing these two inflationary elements, which are indexed in the CPI and the IPP, we reach a growth of 25%” he assured.
However, “pork meat has decreased in its Consumer Price Index (CPI), 2.02%, that is, -2.02%. This is a reality that reflects the difference pork has in the market, compared to our competitors, chicken and eggs”, he assured.
On the other hand, one of the factors that has also shown growth has been the per capita consumption of pork. According to data from the organization, in the last decade the figure has increased exponentially, passing in 2010 from 4.8 kilos per person to 12.4 kilos per person by 2021.
According to Fajardo, from the Porkcolombia association, “we realized that this growth had been dramatic in terms of the number of animals that benefited and the tons we produce.”
However, “the value of that production had remained relatively stable during the decade, hovering around 1.6 billion a year in terms of live hogs that go on sale,” he said.
Faced with the contribution of the country’s economy, the pig sector would be contributing in a gross domestic product (GDP) close to 12 billion pesos per year, participating for about 6% of the country’s agricultural GDP. “A decade ago we did not participate even with 1%, which means that we have positively impacted the dynamics of the Colombian economy,” assured the president.
Although it is true that unemployment is a factor that affects the Colombian population, according to Fajardo, “the pig sector has provided 140,000 direct informal jobs, including veterinarians, zootechnicians and farm technicians employed in the pork industry that provide added value to the sector”.
The challenges of the sector
From the Porkcolombia association, it is ensured that in terms of market penetration, pork was present in 17% of Colombian households in 2010.
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fact that by 2021 there was a coverage of 97% of households who say at least consume pork once for 15 days.
Given the challenges facing the pig sector in Colombia, it is in the purchasing power of households to consume pork.
According to Jeffrey Fajardo, president of Porkcolombia, 80% of Colombian people are from strata one, two and three, “who do not have the way to incorporate pork and other proteins in frequent consumption and in sufficient quantities to meet with the protein intakes recommended by the World Health Association. There is a very important challenge there, and that is that the country can transition to a more robust middle class that grows larger and ends up consuming more pork.”
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