




Historic Warnings per Commodity

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Background information

Columbia is endowed with abundant natural resources, making the country for instance the world's fourth largest coal exporter and Latin America's fourth largest oil producer. At the same time however, Columbia is vulnerable to fluctuations in international commodity prices. As a consequence, the government has implemented sound policies and largely promoted free trade agreements throughout the last years, allowing its economy to mitigate the effects of external shocks. Nevertheless, obstacles such as an inadequate infrastructure and widespread inequality next to narco-trafficking threaten further economic development.

The agricultural sector contributes to 6.4% of the total GDP and employs slightly less than one-twentieth of the total workforce. The main crops produced are coffee, cut flowers, bananas, rice, tobacco, corn, sugarcane, cocoa beans, oilseed and vegetables. The domestic cereals consumption depends on imports by 63%.

The upper middle income economy scored 0.720 on the HDI (2014) ranking among the counties with a high level of human development, and showing a decreasing unemployment rate which hit a record low in 2015. Nevertheless, living conditions have to be further improved given that slightly more than one-tenth of children under five are malnourished and nearly 6% of the total population lives in extreme poverty. Food security is still an issue for conflict-affected people and those living in remote areas. The WFP in Colombia is implementing measures for improving food accessibility across the country, especially in remote areas, and supporting small-scale farming communities.