Guatemala

Guatemala has a population of over 15 million.

Guatemala is largely dependent upon traditional commercial crops such as coffee, sugar, and bananas. Agriculture provides employment for about two-fifths of the workforce, but contributes to less than one-fourth of the gross national product (GNP).

Traditional peasant agriculture, focused on the production of corn (maize), beans and squash for domestic consumption, is concentrated on small farms or milpas (temporary forest clearings) in the highlands. Commercial plantation agriculture, based on coffee, cotton, sugarcane, bananas and cattle for foreign markets, is restricted to large estates on the Pacific piedmont and coastal plain and in the lower Motagua valley.

38-49% of the food energy consumed in Guatemala comes from crops that are not native to the region. Most of these plants’ diversity is found elsewhere on the planet.