Browse Data and Analysis

This report identifies Ecuador’s import requirements for foreign export certificates, highlighting current procedures and identifying the relevant local agencies with oversight over these issues.

This report serves as a road map for U.S. companies exporting to Ecuador. While Ecuador is a challenging market for U.S. food and agricultural products, it is also one of opportunities.

This report is a supplementary follow-up to the 2025 Senegal Grain and Feed Annual, covering rice in Guinea, Mali, and Burkina Faso. Despite a 13 percent drop in area harvested due to flooding in MY 2024/25, Mali continues to be the largest rice producer among the three countries.

FAS Managua forecasts a strong coffee harvest of 2.58 million 60-kilogram bags for MY 2025/26. This optimistic outlook is attributed to increased agriculture input applications (mainly fertilizers) due to high coffee prices and expectations for a more balanced rainy season.

FAS/Managua projects MY 2025/26 sugar production to reach 840,000 metric tons, up ten percent from MY 2024/25, assuming a more balanced rainy season and an increase in sugarcane plantations.

Ecuador's sugar production in marketing year (MY) 2025/26 is forecast to reach 513,000 metric tons (MT), a decrease from MY 2023/24 estimate. Domestic consumption is forecast to remain stable with gradual increases expected in the coming years.

Wheat production in marketing year (MY) 2025/26 (July-June) is projected at just over 10,000 metric tons (MT), a decline from the previous year. With only about 5,000 hectares (HA) dedicated to cultivation, Ecuador’s wheat production is insufficient to meet domestic demand and thus dependent on imports.

The food processing industry is an important component of Ecuador’s manufacturing sector. This sector contributes 56 percent to Ecuador’s manufacturing gross domestic product and grossed $14 billion in net sales. Excellent sales prospects exist for U.S. food ingredient products to supply this industry.

Record-high remittances continue to boost consumer spending in 2024. U.S. agricultural exports to Nicaragua through September 2024 are up four percent compared to the same period in 2023.

The legal and regulatory situation to allow the planting of genetically engineered (GE) crops in Ecuador remains the same as 2023. Commercial cultivation of GE crops is not permitted, however cultivation for research is allowed and an exception exists for GE products without recombinant or foreign DNA in the genome.

In June 2024, the Nicaraguan Institute of Agricultural Protection and Health (IPSA) issued an executive resolution to strengthen the risk mitigation measures for the monitoring and testing of GE grains.

Consumer trends in Nicaragua are shifting towards modern retail channels as remittance flows increase. Supermarkets are expanding rapidly, with one grocery store chain opening eight new locations in 2024.