Foreign direct investment in the agricultural and agro-industry sector in Latin America and the Caribbean

Agriculture and agro-industry are currently the focus of a global debate on food security, energy security and climate change. The world population is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050; to meet the demand for food, agricultural production will need to increase by 70% over the level recorded in 2006 (FAO, 2009). Virtually all of the net population increase of 2 billion will be in the emerging and developing economies. This demographic trend is accompanied by rising family incomes (see figure III.1) and an increasingly Westernized diet based on higher consumption of animal protein (see figure III.2) and more highly processed food.

Related Subject(s): International Trade and Finance