Despite the geopolitical tensions after the pandemic, in 2022 Mexico produced 297.6 million tons of food and for this 2023 it foresees an upward trend and points to a production volume of more than 301.3 million tons, which means a growth of 1.2 percent.
During the presentation, this Friday, of the Agri-Food Outlook 2023 of the Agri-Food and Fisheries Information Service (SIAP), the head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Sader), Víctor Villalobos Arámbula, highlighted that, for the fourth consecutive year, “in 2022 the agricultural, livestock, fishing and aquaculture production of the country registered sustained growth”.
The official stressed, in the act held in the city of Campeche, that the Government of Mexico has the firm conviction that “food security is the surest way to build strong societies that allow eradicating hunger and poverty and achieving social justice based on adequate food for all”.
He recalled that in the agricultural year 2019 a production of 287.4 million tons of food was generated, in 2020 it increased to 290.7 million tons, in 2021 it increased to 294.7 million tons and last year it closed with 297.6 million tons.
“These figures indicate that the Mexican countryside not only did not stop, but has guaranteed, in a timely manner, the generation of food for all families, thanks to the work of the producers”
In her speech, the director of SIAP, Patricia Ornelas, indicated that the Agrifood Expectations 2023 document is the result of the efforts of thousands of producers who make statistical monitoring of the primary sector possible.
“The positive numbers of the Mexican countryside demonstrate the commitment to add to food security, the growth of the primary sector and the country”
The person in charge of the SIAP pointed out that Mexico is the third agricultural producer in Latin America and climbed a step worldwide, going from twelfth to eleventh as a food producer.
In addition, he stressed that Mexico has placed itself in the first places as a producer and exporter of food, with 23 million hectares on its agricultural frontier and a production value of 1.4 trillion pesos (about 77.836 million dollars) in 2022.
He specified that the agricultural subsector represented 91% of the volume generated, as well as 55.3% of the total economic value, while the livestock sector represented 8.3% of the volume and 41% of the value, while the fishing sector represented 0.7% of the volume. and 3.7% of economic value.
At the event, the representative of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Mexico, Lina Pohl, recalled that there are 60 million hungry people in Latin America and the Caribbean and pointed out that “it is the region most expensive in the world to eat healthily”.
“In Mexico we see two faces: extensive territories with drought in the north and rains in the south-southeast and, in the middle, an agri-food sector that has maintained growth in the last four years, which is no coincidence and is due to the importance that This government has addressed the issue of food security,” he said.
