January 2014: The PR New Harvest of Development Efforts
Food drives the world and access to adequate food is the primary concern for most people on earth. This makes agriculture one of the most significant industries in the world. Agricultural productivity is important, not only for a country’s balance of trade, but for the security and health of its population, as well. Over the past seven fiscal years, the once growing PR economy has been immersed in deep recession. Now, we need to focus more on economic growth than on the “fiscal cliff” the island has been facing. Puerto Rico’s insular status makes the island especially vulnerable to external shocks in food and oil prices. This issue analyzes the importance of agriculture for Puerto Rico’s efforts at restarting its economy out of the current recession; how this sector has evolved or declined since Operation Bootstrap in the late 1960s; what lessons can we learn from other countries that excel in agriculture; and what the government, in alliance with the private sector, needs to make agriculture once again a strategic, export-oriented sector.