Agribusiness in Latin America and the Caribbean

So far, we have argued that in the post-commodities boom world, Latin America must find a way to become more competitive and increase value added activities. The brief reference to Shanghai Expo suggests that in the years ahead there may be scope to develop foodstuff exports to China – an important (but not the only) market for the region. The time has now come to be a little more precise. What is exactly meant by agribusiness? World Bank economists Fabian Méndez Ramos and Nina Paustian have noted in a blog that interest in agribusiness has grown sharply partly because of its perceived ability to contribute to economic growth, reduce poverty, and link to manufacturing and service sector development. John H Davis and Ray A Goldberg first coined the term in the late 1950s. They described it as “the total sum of all operations involved in the manufacture and distribution of farm supplies; production operations on the farms; and the storage, processing and distribution, of farm commodities and items made from them”.