As one of Central America's leading fruit-producing countries, Guatemala has seen several challenges to its agricultural exports since beginning of the pandemic.

Labor is one of those issues, explained Edgard Baldizon, commercial manager of Agroaltos, an exporter of tropical fruits and vegetables to the United States and Europe for over 25 years. Agroaltos is part of the value chain that sources fresh produce from small producer alliances in Guatemala and redistributes the products to the world's markets.

“We also work with smaller producers who export through us,” Baldizon told FreshFruitPortal.com at Agritrade in Antigua. “We offer them supplies and technical assistance on pesticides and fertilizers so they can grow according to the requirements of different markets.”

Labor market pressure

The United States is Guatemala’s largest trading partner, accounting for nearly 40% of Guatemala’s trade, according to the USDA.  The United States has also become a major market for Guatemalan labor.

"Immigration to the U.S. skyrocketed, so we lost a lot of working hands,” Baldizon said. “We used to have 350 people working in our packing house. We are down to 100.”

He added that 60% of the workforce had been men, who have left the industry in greater proportion. The decline is also noted among fruit producers on the southern coast of Guatemala. 

Baldizon said growers in that zone tend to farm larger plots of land, but production has been on the decline. Cost increases since the beginning of the pandemic, he said, have led many growers to give up on the industry. For those still in the game, the advantage has been higher value.

“Production and export costs have all gone up, which means everything we export is worth more, so sales value is up,” he said. 

Despite the challenges, Baldizon sees big export opportunities for Guatemalan agriculture in the near future. 

“Our soil is great to work with," he said. "I think that exporters must adopt more advanced planting methods, meaning better varieties and systems that allow products to grow without human intervention, because there will be a shortage in the workforce.”

He believes that once the value of Guatemalan produce increases, more people will be interested in joining the industry.