SOAS Research Online

Abstract

Over the last twenty years, several Latin American countries have become major exporters of manufactures, with the share in total exports rising from 11 per cent in 1970 to 33 per cent in 1990 (IDB, 1992, p. 196). However, agricultural exports remained a major source of foreign exchange for the region, accounting for about 40 per cent of the value of regional exports in the early 1990s and, of course, much more than this for a number of individual countries. For the foreseeable future, the performance of the agricultural sector, which accounts for but ten per cent of regional Gross Domestic Product, will have a major impact on the balance of payments for most countries in the region. If it is somewhat anachronistic to propose an agriculture-led growth strategy for the region (De Janvry and Sadolet, 1989), it remains the case that agriculture will continue to play a major role as a generator of foreign exchange and the source of livelihood for a large portion of the low-income population of the region.