With the change of government, the outgoing president, Iván Duque, delivered reports from each of his ministries. In the case of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, they state that, under rediscount conditions, COP 20.3 trillion have been invested, 87% of which went directly to small and medium-sized producers between August 2018 and June 2022, according to FINAGRO data.

Most of this financing has been focused on supporting commercialization, production, and the purchase of machinery. A total of 1.3 million operations under rediscount conditions were granted, 93.3% of which went to small producers and 6.4% to medium-sized ones, according to the report by Minister Rodolfo Zea Navarro.

This is a positive indicator, as most agricultural development comes from small and medium-sized farmers who, for the most part, face difficulties accessing financing due to their credit scores or because they do not meet the requirements set by financial institutions to access these products.
In response to this context, entities such as Agrapp have emerged, offering a personalized risk model for small and medium-sized producers.

Financing from the fintech Agrapp is provided through a crowdfunding system, which ensures returns for investors and profitability for farmers by offering technical agricultural support throughout the entire process, while guaranteeing the commercialization and export of crops.

This drives the country’s economy, considering that in the first half of 2022 alone, the agricultural and agribusiness sectors exported USD $6.116 billion, representing a 38.8% increase compared to the same period in 2021, when the total reached USD $4.406 billion, according to outgoing Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Zea Navarro.

Another noteworthy piece of data is that during the first six months of the year, the agricultural and agribusiness sectors accounted for 21.4% of the country’s total export value. The main destinations for Colombian agricultural and livestock products were: the United States, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Canada, Spain, Japan, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Egypt.

The growth of traditional products in exports between January and June remains significant: coffee at USD $2.093 billion (63.9%), and flowers at USD $1.226 billion (27.2%).

Non-traditional products, meanwhile, grew by 36.2%, with exports totaling USD $2.278 billion, with significant increases in products such as palm and palm kernel oil (73%), sugar (34%), gulupa (45%), Tahiti lime (81%), and trout (41.4%).

Moreover, in the past 12 months (July 2021 – June 2022), the sector exported a total of USD $11.128 billion, representing a 31.4% increase compared to the same period the previous year.

In this context, the sector continues to offer major opportunities for both small and large producers. However, gaps still exist that prevent many, especially small and medium farmers, from accessing different forms of financing that could further boost their growth.

There remains a need for a major financial engine that also connects with a process supporting structuring, technical assistance, and commercialization, promoting sustainable practices and crop modernization.
This is where ecosystems such as Expo Agrofuturo come in, offering the opportunity to connect all actors in the food chain to generate more opportunities aimed at a more productive, profitable, and sustainable agricultural sector.

Once again, value-driven connections will fulfill this vision in the new edition of Expo Agrofuturo, where producers, suppliers, professionals, public and private institutions, companies, and other key stakeholders in the sector will gather to promote agribusiness in this important agricultural setting.