Latin America accounts for 23% of global agri-food exports and faces the challenge of generating more value, not more hectares

At the 2026 World Conference of the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IFAMA), held in Cork, Ireland, before an audience of some 400 participants from more than 40 countries, the Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Muhammad Ibrahim, stated that strengthening agri-food systems in the Americas is a goal of global interest and not merely a continental priority.

During the event, it was highlighted that Latin America and the Caribbean account for about 23% of global agri-food exports and nearly 13% of the global net value of agricultural and fisheries production. The region leads strategic markets such as soybeans, corn, beef and poultry, coffee, sugar, fruits, and biofuels.

Ibrahim warned that the main risk for the continent is not that it will stop producing, but that it will not transform quickly enough to adapt to the new global context. He noted that the region will not be able to maintain its essential role simply by expanding farmland or increasing the use of inputs, but rather by generating more value per hectare, per worker, and per unit of water and fertilizer, in order to reduce pressure on ecosystems.

In this context, the director of IICA positioned innovation as the bridge between the region’s natural potential and its global leadership, aiming to shift from exporting raw materials to generating greater added value, and from isolated success stories to a systemic transformation of production. For the Latin American swine industry, these trends are directly relevant: future competitiveness will depend on improvements in production efficiency, animal health, traceability, and access to international markets.