Analysis of the Concentration and Specialization of Vegetable Production in Colombian Municipalities between 2007 and 2021

In 2021, vegetable crops in Colombia accounted for 3.7% of national agricultural production, reaching a total production of 2.71 million tons, of which 81.2% came from 8 departments, the most representative being Boyacá (20.3%), Antioquia (17.3%), Cundinamarca (12.0%), Nariño (8.1%) and Santander (7.4%). Of the country’s 1,121 municipalities, 796 reported vegetable production. This article aims to analyze the concentration and specialization of vegetable production in Colombian municipalities between 2007–2021. The methodology analyzed two statistical databases applying the Gini coefficient, Location Coefficient (LQ), Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) and Moran’s index of spatial autocorrelation to identify the agricultural clusters (CA) in the Colombian vegetables sector, which are complemented with thematic cartography. Measurements were made in 2007, 2014 and 2021 (start–mid–end). Additionally, the sensitivity of five vegetable crops (the most important for national production) is estimated using OLS, with respect to the average annual temperature (AAT) and total annual precipitation (TAP). The results reveal a regional Gini of 0.7496, 0.7674 and 0.7072 in 2007, 2014 and 2021, respectively. By 2021, 398 municipalities were identified with LQ greater than 1.0, of which 66 were among the 20% of the highest values (between 12.03 and 27.02). Likewise, 51 municipalities were found where vegetables accounted for more than 50% of total agricultural production. Additionally, in 2021, the municipalities with the highest level of specialization HHI were Sáchica (1.00), Cajicá (0.77), Aquitania (0.65), Tibasosa (0.605) and Cota (0.619). The OLS between production, AAT and TAP identified statistical significance only in tomato and green onion. In conclusion, the findings indicate a significant regional concentration of vegetable production in the last fifteen years. A variation of 34.7% in the number of producing municipalities was observed at the between 2007 and 2021. The most representative crops in the years analyzed were tomato, green onion, bulb onion and carrot, which in 2021 were 64.0% of national production. These results contribute to the guilds institutions, regional governments, municipal administrations, and public policymakers because they constitute an input to regional productive planning in rural areas, especially where peasant family farming is prevalent.