Data or statistical facts on the situation and perspectives of agri-food systems and the impact of policies
One third of the more than two billion hectares of land in LAC is used for agricultural purposes (FAO and UNDP, 2025).
62.7% of farms in LAC have five hectares or less of total area, while only 4.5% have more than 100 hectares (FAO and UNDP, 2025).
Of the 33 countries in LAC, only three have an agricultural census produced in the last 5 years (FAO and UNDP, 2025)
More than 15% of family farming farms in LAC exceed 20 hectares (FAO and UNDP, 2025).
More than 50% of the area cultivated in vegetables, fruits, cereals, roots and tubers in LAC comes from family farming (FAO and UNDP, 2025).
40% of the world's land is degraded, reducing its productivity and negatively affecting climate, biodiversity and people's livelihoods.
60% of the total soybean area in Mato Grosso was under double cropping system by 2013, increasing from 10% in 2001 (Garrett et al.,2018).
234 Tg CO2e yr-1 represents soil capture capacity with high adoption rates in U.S. agriculture, increasing 1.47 Mg CO2e ha-1 yr-1 over existing practices (Matlock et al., 2024).
Almost 70% of deforestation in Latin America between 2000 and 2010 was caused by commercial agriculture (Gutiérrez et al., 2019).
62.7% of bird species and 77.7% of mammals gain habitat from the abandonment of cropland, but 74.2% and 86.3% would have benefited even more in the absence of recultivation.
