According to the UN, in 2025 the world’s population we will be 8.3 billion people.
Nearly 85% of such growth will take place in the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America, where the income per capita is increasing 3.5 times faster than in developed countries. Hence, food consumption in these emerging countries will certainly boost.
Brazil and the rest of the Mercosur member countries are facing a unique opportunity:
there is an increasing global demand for products of agricultural origin (food, fibers and energy) in all sectors, and this region has the possibility of meeting that need.
So far, this food demand by the emerging countries made agricultural products exports in Brazil escalate 21% annually during the last years, while exports in developed countries increased only half this percentage. This is the rationale behind the agricultural prices’ increase.
As happens in many other industries, Brazil will be the engine of the region’s agricultural growth.
During the last 20 years, the country’s area sowed with grains showed a 24% growth, while production boosted a 147% growth. This means nearly a 100% productivity increase. During the same term, chicken production doubled, pig production grew 130% and beef production more than 80%.
But Brazil and its Mercosur partners also have potential for energy production. Today, Brazil farms more that 70 million hectares with all its crops and 180 million hectares with pastures, and may double or more its agricultural area by taking advantage of degraded pastures and increasing its average activity by more than 30%. It has the possibility of tripling farming lands for biofuel generation, without having to compete with food production.
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