AGRARIAN SECTOR

Farming

Still today Colombia is predominantly an agrarian country and resides few exceptions (for example wheat) it is self-sufficient. About 1.4 billions US Dollars worth of exportation of vegetal agrarian products are confronted with about 537 millions of US Dollars worth of imports. The agrarian sector is one which traditionally has produced the highest contribution to the Colombian GNP (1998: 19%) and employs about 34% of the working people.

Different climate zones facilitate the cultivation of a large range of products, and the climate often allows several harvest a year. Finally, only the plants which need the winter to be able to prosper are the ones which cannot be cultivated successfully. On a regular basis Colombian products are exhibited on German fairs (ANUGA, GRÜNE WOCHE, among others).

But undoubtedly the Colombian agriculture was the one which most suffered by economic opening. The few products cultivated efficiently, such as coffee, bananas, cotton and flowers have to struggle against price problems on the international market. Also imported grain is less expensive. Completely without any subventions, Colombian agriculture will not be able to survive. The possible result, if nothing is going to be undertaken in this direction: More deforestation to develop more pastures, agriculture is not worth-while any longer.
 

Coffee

The main agrarian products occupy these important positions mainly because of the fact that they are at the same time export products. Obviously coffee is first in the list, known and popular world wide.

After Brazil, Colombia is the world’s most important coffee supplier (about one sixth of the world production) and occupies worldwide the first place as an exporter of mild coffee.
Coffee cultivation and export are under the management of the Federación Nacional de Cafeteros (coffee Growers Federation), which is largely the country’s most important private enterprise.

The Federation sponsors farmers in the so-called coffee zones through extensive social and economic aid programs. The Federation fixes periodically a minimum price for the coffee bought from the coffee grower if the quality of the crop corresponds to the Federation quality requirements.

Today, the cultivation of coffee is carried out with disease resistant coffee types developed in Colombia. The Federación technicians visit the plantations on a regular basis and help with advice and deed. The Coffee Federation manages its own considerable research institute which is not only busy research institute which is not only busy researching about coffee but also about other tropical agrarian products.

The runnig out of the International Coffe Agreement in 1989 first caused an intense shock. The prices fell radically down to 0.54 US Dollar – The net production price in Colombia is about 0.90 US Dollar and the Coffee farmers, used to a business reatively free of worries, were desperate. A new coffee agreement between the cultivating and purchasing countries failed. Soon Latin America saw that the individual management of the coffe sales led into ruin.

Today, coffee producing countries practice sales policies agreed among each other, with acceptable success. During the last years, the coffe price was relatively good, in 1998/99 temporaly fell underneath the 1.00 US Dollar limit. The quality of the “Colombian mild” is not only asked for at the fixed consumer markets, mainly Germany, but also the Japanese market has developed a preference for the Colombian coffee.
 

During the last years coffee share of the total of Colombian exports sank to about 17.5% (1998). This drop is not so much caused by exports of other agrarian products, but mainly by the increasing export of mineral resources and finished products. Diversification programs undertaken by the Coffee Union, in an effort to export other agrarian products, did not have the desired success.

Flowers

Today, cut flowers range second on the list of export products and surpassed bananas (4%), accounting for 5% of agrarian exports. After the Netherlands. Colombia is the second most important flower exporter worldwide. In the case of carnations it even occupies first place. Flower producers have assistance of the important federation ASOCOLFLORES. Though the United States are the most important customers of Colombian flowers, nevertheless Germany imports roses and carnations.

Bananas

Bananas occupy the third place of exports. Their cultivation is also fully mechanized. The big companies such as BANACOL and TURBANA have their own ships, which are loaded directly in the cultivation region, mainly in Urabá or preferably in the Caribbean harbor of Turbo.

The decisions of the European Community which determined higher customs duties and lower quotas for Latin American bananas than those from other producing countries caused serious social consequences for Latin America, moreover for Colombia, where any agriculture offers less and less jobs. A great number of plantations were abandoned, meaning absolute poverty for many rural workers. The German position, which clearly recognized these consequences, is mentioned by Colombia as a praiseworthy example and gives reasons for hope that this will only be a temporary measure, in 1998 476.1 millions US Dollars worth have been exported.

Few Europeans can imagine that in Colombia about twenty different kinds of bananas grow, from small aromatic apple-bananas up to cooking bananas of nearly one pound, which, together with yucca, replace potatoes in the “hot” country. In spite of the importance of bananas, Colombia is anything but a “banana republic”.
 

Other products

Other export products are cotton, cacao, sugar and rice. But these are only exported, when there is not any shortage in the internal supply.
According to the general health awareness, tobacco is losing its importance as export product.
 

The Agricultural Structure

Colombia’s agrarian area is characterized by the typical duality of developing and NIC countries structure. The great difference between the few big and the many small holdings is of disadvantage for the latter, as they can not impose themselves on the market.

The agrarian reform pushed forward with great expectancy in all Latin America countries, did not turn out to be very efficient, or successful in Colombia. Still only 1% of the landowners use more than 40% of the whole cultivation and pasture area. The remaining 60% is distributed in small farmsteads. Only rich farmers can finance the necessary infrastructure, the agricultural machinery, fertilizers and pesticides.

But the agrarian sector has also other problems:

Mostly small farmers cannot transport their products to the market by themselves, they depend on middlemen who fix the prices as they like. Additionally, in many remote regions lack of security and difficult living conditions drive farmers into the cities.
 

Another problem is the missing infrastructure in remote regions. People cannot sell their harvests, this is why the grow cocaine and poppy, ordered by the drug czars, who come in their – naturally own- airplane to fetch the yield. Although, the government systematically destroys the areas under cultivation and the secret landing places (if they are found), as long as the government does not offer any alternative for live hood, the illegal plants will continue to be cultivated.
 

Modern agricultural machinery, which could also be used at the foothills, is missing: in 1990 there were about 20.000 tractors (I.e.1 tractor for 266 hectares) in Colombia, which – as well as the remaining agricultural machinery- are partially out of date and not very profitable. The government in the process of market opening acknowledged priority to agricultural machinery and at the same time reduced on a large scale the import duty. Whereas in 1990 more than 891 tractors where imported, in 1998 this figure decreased to only because the small farmers could not afford the high cost.

 

Cattle Breeding
 

Cattle breeding depends on the climate zone as well. In the highland Friesian and Swiss brown cows are grazing, which are mainly bred for milk production. In the “hot” country only Zebus or animals obtained by crossbreeding with this race can be kept, as they are insensitive to the heat and more resistant to tropical diseases.
 

Meat production is oriented to supply the internal market. Today exports to Germany cannot be considered, as the sanitary norms for slaughter houses, stipulated by the European Community, are not fulfilled.