area. Venezuela exports rice, corn, fish, tropical fruit, coffee, beef and pork. The country is not self-sufficient in most areas of agriculture. Venezuela imports about two-thirds of its food needs. In 2002, American firms exported $347 million worth of agricultural products, including wheat, corn, soybeans, soybean meal, cotton, animal fats, vegetable oils and other items to make Venezuela one of the top two American markets in South America. The United States supplies more than one-third of Venezuela's food imports. Recent government policies have led to problems with food shortages. Venezuela produced in 2019: 4.3 million tons of sugarcane; 1.9 million tons of maize; 1.4 million tons of banana; 760 thousand tons of rice; 485 thousand tons of pineapple; 477 thousand tons of potato; 435 thousand tons of palm oil; 421 thousand tons of cassava; 382 thousand tons of orange; 225 thousand tons of watermelon; 199 thousand tons of papaya; 194 thousand tons of melon; 182 thousand tons of tomatoes; 155 thousand tons of tangerine; 153 thousand tons of coconut; 135 thousand tons of avocado; 102 thousand tons of mango (including mangosteen and guava); 56 thousand tons of coffee; In addition to smaller productions of other agricultural products. Due to internal economic and political problems, sugar cane production dropped from 7.3 million tons in 2012 to 3.6 million in 2016. Corn production dropped from 2.3 million tons in 2014 to 1.2 million in 2017. Rice fell from 1.15 million tons in 2014 to 498 thousand tons in 2016. Livestock In livestock, Venezuela produced, in 2019: 470 thousand tons of beef, 454 thousand tons of chicken meat, 129 thousand tons of pork, 1.7 billion liters of cow's milk, among others. The production of chicken meat decreased progressively, from year to year, from 1.1 million tons in 2011 to 448 thousand tons in 2017. The production of pork fell from 219 thousand tons in 2011 to 124 thousand tons in 2018. The production of cow's milk dropped from 2.4 billion liters in 2011 to 1.7 billion in 2019. Trade Venezuela is a founding member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the Organization of Gas Exporting Countries (GECF), the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). Petroleum constitutes 80% of Venezuela's exports with a value of $22.2 billion in 2017. Thanks to petroleum exports, Venezuela usually posts a trade