Executive summary

The Argentinian agro-food sector has grown and innovated remarkably in the last three decades, driven by technological change and, over much of the period, by high international agricultural prices. An upper‑middle income country, well-endowed with natural resources and human capital, Argentina has a history of macroeconomic volatility and policy instability that has contributed to its long term overall poor economic performance. Despite challenges, agriculture is the country’s main exporting sector and an exception in terms of performance. Agriculture in the extended Pampas region has experienced a major structural transformation involving crops, manly cereals and soybeans, productivity growth and new on‑farm practices, technologies, institutions and contractual arrangements. Land use and production have significantly changed in favour of soybeans, and exports have shifted towards China and other Asian economies. Meanwhile, other products in other regions have under-performed: agricultural goods produced outside the Pampas region such as vegetables, fruits, cotton and tobacco have experienced lower productivity growth rates.