Resumen:
Food self-sufficiency is a relevant political issue in many countries, developed and developing,
particularly to satisfy the internal nutritional needs of the population and face situations in which the prices
of basic products are unstable or when a country faces an external shock. Improving resilience involves
strengthening local rural communities to meet demand with domestic production. The member countries of
Latin America and the Caribbean (LCN) produce enough food to sustain their population and to be one of the
world’s largest food exporters. From the theoretical discussion and using data from FAO, the research shows
that there is a potential to improve food sovereignty and to define food and agricultural policies through
agricultural complementarity among the LCN countries. Diverting part of the current trade with third parties
to intraregional trade, for products in which the region has a comparative advantage, would mean that LCN
countries could save up to 2.7 billion dollars per year, that is, 6.8% of total imports of food in 2018, avoiding
the outflow of foreign currency and promoting greater economic integration between countries.
