AgriTIERRA Insights: Decoding the UK Agri-Tech Opportunity in Latin America

AgriTIERRA CEO and Founder, Mark Jarman, recently led a vital webinar alongside the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), providing British agri-tech companies with a deep dive into the export and investment landscape across the Andean and Central American markets with a focus on Latin America agriculture opportunities.

The session, moderated by Raj Theper, featured contributions from Federico Pérez Wodtke of the DBT, Alasdair MacKay, and Lucia Rojas, alongside AgriTIERRA’s Mark Jarman. Together, they unpacked the UK’s growing trade links with Latin America, highlighting export opportunities, CPTPP advantages, and the government support available to help British agri-tech firms expand confidently into the region.

The core message of the session was clear: Latin America, a pivotal region poised to feed over nine billion people in the future, is becoming increasingly accessible and strategic for UK innovation.

Latin America Agriculture Opportunities

DBT and Trade Agreements Pave the Way

The DBT detailed its commitment to supporting UK companies, acknowledging that entering a new region can be complex. The department’s efforts are concentrated on three pillars: export support, encouraging inward investment, and promoting free trade by addressing market access barriers, particularly for products like genetics and fertilizers.

Furthermore, the webinar highlighted the immediate commercial advantages stemming from the UK’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). These benefits include:

  • Customs and Compliance: Simplified customs forms and the option for UK accreditation bodies to perform conformity assessments locally, reducing time and cost for market entry.
  • Business Mobility: Improved business travel categories and longer permitted stays in member markets like Peru (up to six months).
  • Digital Security: Commitments against data localization requirements and assurances against the forced sharing of sensitive IP like source code.
Latin America Agriculture Opportunities

AgriTIERRA’s Focus: Where UK Strengths Meet Regional Need

Mark Jarman, whose company is strategically based in Colombia, delivered granular market analysis, arguing that UK companies should abandon a country-by-country approach and focus instead on specialized, high-demand value chains.

Mr. Jarman unveiled six critical corridors of opportunity where UK technological and scientific strengths align perfectly with the region’s mounting pressures from climate change, compliance demands, and the need for greater efficiency:

Coffee & Cacao:

Demand for digital traceability and MRV (Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification) is surging to meet compliance goals and combat climate-related yield drops.

Livestock & Dairy:

UK expertise in genetics, animal health, and emissions measurement can help close a major productivity gap—regional milk yields average 2,000 liters per cow per year compared to the UK’s 8,000.

Tropical Fruits & Horticulture:

There is a critical need for precision post-harvest and logistics solutions to address high losses caused by limited cold chain capacity and weak infrastructure.

Soy Protein & Bioeconomy:

Opportunities exist for UK companies specializing in bioengineering and sustainable chemistry to support the regional transition to low-carbon, verified production systems.

Agricultural Blue Economy (Shrimp/Salmon):

Focus areas include AI diagnostics, feed innovation, and traceability platforms to tackle escalating disease risks and improve compliance across a market that supplies nearly one-third of the world’s farmed shrimp and salmon.

Smart Smallholder & Agroforestry:

This corridor needs data-driven resilience and carbon-positive systems to link smallholders, who represent 80% of growers, to global carbon finance and traceable, deforestation-free exports.

Latin America Agriculture Opportunities
Map and infographic of the Latin American Tropical Fruit and Horticulture Corridor

Our Final Word: Success Requires Local Strategy

Mark Jarman concluded with essential advice for UK businesses looking to enter Latin America, stressing that success hinges on more than just superior technology:

  • Secure trusted local partners.
  • Be open and flexible to adapting your business model.
  • Invest in language and cultural understanding.
  • Be seen by attending local market events.

AgriTIERRA remains committed to building the platforms necessary for UK companies to access these multi-billion-pound markets.

Are you ready to explore your next market? Contact the AgriTIERRA team directly for assistance in matching your technology to the right Latin American value chain.

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