In Venezuela, which has approximately 20 million hectares of arable land, one of the sectors affected by the economic crisis is agriculture. Today, only 1.5 million hectares of land can be cultivated in the country, where production, preservation and transportation costs have increased.
Venezuelan Confederation of Agricultural Producers drew attention to the fact that agricultural production reached the lowest level of the last 50 years last year.
President of the Confederation Celso Fantinel, “In Venezuela, where more than 9 million people are said to be undernourished, the fact that we cannot use more than 90 percent of the arable land explains the state of the agricultural sector in the country. While 13 years ago we met most of our food needs, today this rate is around 30 percent. The cultivation of corn, which is one of our most important agricultural products, fell from 650 thousand to 140 thousand hectares, rice from 220 thousand to 70 thousand hectares, sugar cane from 110 thousand to 40 thousand hectares and coffee from 210 thousand to 140 thousand hectares,” he said.
Saying that most of the foods consumed on the tables today are imported products, Fantinel said, “The fact that no customs duty is applied to them adversely affects the producers, especially the small farmers. In addition, problems such as power and water cuts and fuel shortages cause production costs to increase. “The lack of credit or support for farmers leads to a decrease in food production,” he said.
The center of animal husbandry in Venezuela is the state of Barinas, which has large and wet plains. Barinas livestock producers said that the number of animals in their possession decreased by half during the crisis period.
Barinas Livestock and Farmers Association President Jose Labrador said, “The main factors that negatively affect our production are the decrease in consumption and the problem of access to fuel. We use diesel not only for transportation and transportation of products, but also for the preservation of meat and dairy products as we experience chronic power cuts. However, reasons such as the lack of sufficient diesel supply and the exorbitant prices of diesel on the black market cause a decrease in food production, although they mostly affect small producers.
Stating that most breeders have to sell animals every month or two to make a living, Labrador said, “Also, the materials we need to raise animals were produced in Venezuela before, now we have to import them from abroad and the increase in exchange rate increases our production costs. Our prices are cheaper than in other countries, but we are having difficulties because protein consumption has decreased due to the decrease in the purchasing power of the people during the crisis.
The common problem of agricultural producers and breeders is that while production costs increase, purchasing power and consumption decrease. Former MP Marcos Tulio Villafañe, who is also a farmer, said, “While production costs increase, especially high inflation and exchange rate increase, the decrease in protein consumption affects us negatively. Since Venezuela does not produce the necessary materials, tools and equipment or spare parts for stockbreeding and agriculture, they are imported and sold in dollars. The exchange rate increase and inflation have reached such a level that, for example, the price of a necessary spare part for a broken tractor is higher than what you paid for the tractor.
Pointing out that in addition to production and transportation, the fuel used as a generator in chronic power cuts, falling into the black market also increases the cost, Villafañe said, “I know many small producers who stopped planting because they did not have diesel or could not leave their farms because they could not get their broken vehicles repaired. Many producers in Barinas are forced to sell their wares to cover their expenses. When my income decreased, my two sons, who worked with me before, immigrated abroad”.
According to researches, in Venezuela, where 95 percent of the population has difficulty in meeting the compulsory kitchen expenses, although there are extremely favorable conditions for agriculture and stockbreeding, problems in production negatively affect both access to food and employment.