Economics

The Agricultural and industrial sectors in Venezuela are the main contributors to development. Agriculture in Venezuela contributes about 4 of the total GDP. It covers about a quarter of the land and uses 10 of the labor force. Most of the exports are manufactured goods. Others include fruits, cigarettes, sorghum, rice and cocoa. In 2005 for example, the major markets for the exports included Mexico (4.5), U.S. (57.5) and Colombia (4.5)(Food and Agricultural Organization, 2010). The agricultural sector in Venezuela is not sufficient enough to cater for the population. As a result, most of the food sources are imported (two-thirds). In 2008, it was one of the largest markets for the US with imports being worth  1.6 billion. These were mainly agricultural goods such as cotton, soybean, wheat, vegetables and other equipments. Food imports from the US are about one-quarter (Food and Agricultural Organization, 2010).

The major crops in Venezuela include rice, sorghum, corn and Sugar cane. Fruits such as oranges, mangoes, bananas and coconuts are also produced. Coffee, sisal and tobacco are grown in most parts (Food and Agricultural Organization, 2010).

Most of the lands (about 35 million hectares) in Venezuela are suitable for agriculture. About 7.3 million hectares are used for arable farming while livestock grazing uses 18.4 million hectares. In some parts of the country, there is mixed farming which combines both arable and livestock farming (9.3 million hectares). The arable lands however, are not used to their full potential (Food and Agricultural Organization, 2010).

Cattle keeping in Venezuela contribute about half to the incomes which the country gets from farming. Therefore, most of the lands have been set aside for grazing. Production is both large scale and small scale. Most of the large producers use a larger percentage of the available lands (about 58) for farming. Small scale farmers are left with poor pieces of land for farming. Most of these lands have been degraded and located in flood prone areas (Food and Agricultural Organization, 2010).

In order to enhance an increase in production, the government in collaboration with Food and Agriculture Organization has established a program to enhance food security. This programme is known as Program for Food Security and Rural Development. Its main objective is to manage lands and natural resources. The program establishes irrigation schemes in the rural areas. There is also the distribution of improved seeds to small scale farmers. With the help of FAO, the agricultural sector has also received technical support to improve on production (Food and Agricultural Organization, 2010).