Agriculture in Venezuela

[1] Prior to the 1950s and the initiation of large-scale oil exports, agriculture, fishing, and forestry were central to the Venezuelan economy, producing more than half the gross domestic product (GDP).

As the petrochemical industry expanded rapidly in the 1970s and 1980s, however, the proportion of the labor force in agriculture dropped from one-fifth to about one-tenth.

[4] Chávez' land reform program has been the subject of criticism from a variety of sources, with farmers said to be lacking sufficient government support,[5] particularly in the case of urban residents moving to the countryside to develop farming cooperatives.

The government has confiscated and expropriated much of the industry, state intervention has seriously damaged the agricultural sector,[citation needed] and Venezuela imports most of its food.

[8] The government created Misión Agro-Venezuela to support small and medium farm production of the basic foods most commonly consumed in the country.