Agriculture

Increased investment and the expansion of irrigated land along the Peruvian coast has ensured the continued development of large-scale industrial agriculture for over two decades. After introducing dozens of new products, local agri-business firms have successfully expanded and diversified Peru’s agricultural export base. Meanwhile, increases in production and exports occurred despite the effects of the El Niño climatic phenomenon, which caused crop damage in 2017. Certain hurdles still need to be addressed for Peru to move from being a regional agricultural leader to a global one. In the coming years, ongoing public programmes to assist small-scale farms should help ensure that producers are more integrated into the export industry. In addition, the development of value-added services could see the sector play an increasingly important role in the future of the country’s economy. This chapter contains an interview with Édgar Vásquez Vela, Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism.