An Overview of Land Use in Livestock and Agriculture in Colombia.

According to the latest national information reported by official sources, land use in the country for the year 2.023 was 49.9 million (m) hectares, of which 38.5 m were used for livestock, 5.2 m were used for forests, and 5.6 m were used for agricultural purposes. The area used for livestock is almost 10 times greater than the area used for agricultural products.

The country's total cattle population is 28.4 million, indicating that each bovine animal has an average of 1.4 hectares.

Of the total agricultural area mentioned above of 5.6 million, only 4.1 million hectares are used for harvesting, with total production of 61.2 million tons, meaning an average of 15 million tons of agricultural products are produced per hectare.

The above shows how cattle possess more land per hectare per head than a ton of agricultural products.

The distribution of cattle by region in the country is as follows. Of a total of 28.4 million, there are 9.8 million in the Andean region, 8.6 million in the Caribbean region, and 6.2 million in the Orinoco region. However, in the Caribbean region, two departments: Córdoba and César, account for more than 50% of the region. The same applies to Meta and Casanare, which account for 74% of the region. In the Andean region, the area is more evenly distributed among the departments that comprise it, with Antioquia accounting for 3.2 million.

On the other hand, the country's harvested area, which is 4.1 million hectares, is divided among agricultural products as follows. For agroindustrial products, 1.9 million hectares are cultivated, 1.1 million hectares are cultivated for cereals, 0.5 million hectares for tubers and plantains, 0.4 million hectares for fruit trees, and 0.3 billion hectares for vegetables. In turn, three agro industrial products are the most important: coffee with 658.630 hectares, palm oil with 547.228 hectares, and sugarcane with 267.929 hectares. In tons, agroindustrial products account for 40 million hectares, or 66% of the total tons of agricultural products. Among the other agricultural products with the lowest share in hectares, tubers, cereals, plantains, and fruits, rice, plantains, and potatoes stand out, with 0.6 million, 0.3 million, and 0.1 million hectares respectively, for a production in tons of 3.1 tons of rice, 2.9 tons of potatoes, and 2 tons of plantains.

Some observations regarding all the above are as follows. There is a preference in the country for land used for livestock, with large tracts of land far exceeding those dedicated to agricultural crops. It is clear and well known that some agricultural products, such as corn, wheat, and coffee (for domestic consumption), must be imported due to low supply. 1/ There are also recurring periods during which food inflation primarily accounts for the behavior of total inflation, which particularly affects lower incomes. Therefore, it is pertinent for public policy, together with the private sector, to seek to align the acreage between livestock and agriculture to correct the consequences.

Also, productive units dedicated to agricultural work ( agriculture and livestock combined) are concentrated, according to information from official sources, on land with an area of less than 10 hectares. Of a total of 1.970.575 productive units in the country, 1.475.127 are included there, representing 75%.

While productive units with areas larger than 500 hectares are only 13.400. Extensive livestock farming explains land use here.

Regarding this, analysts, researchers, and private and public think tanks use figures on land distribution, as well as assets and income, where, in order of inequality, the inequality of assets is higher than that of income, and in turn, land exceeds the inequality of assets.

Indeed, the inequality measure in the case of income is 0.55, the Gini coefficient for assets rises to 0.70, and for land ownership it reaches 0.90. This result is reflected in the content of the 2.023 National Agricultural Survey recently presented by the official source and briefly explained here in this economic note.

As mentioned before, the redistribution of income and land depends on public policy in concern with the private sector. 

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1/ 15% of Colombian imports are agricultural products. According to official sources, imports of these products totaled $4.198 billion through may, including $1.142 billion in cereals, $517 million in animal feed, $410 million in vegetables and fruits, $371 million in oils, $301 million in meat, and $182 million in coffee.