Panama prepares major agro‑market fairs as Chiapas confronts rising food waste

Panama announced a schedule of agroferias for Thursday, July 16, across several provinces, offering staple foods such as rice, beans, pasta, oil, sugar, vegetables, meat and fruit at low prices to help families stretch their budgets. The government also outlined plans for a series of large‑scale trade exhibitions in 2027—including Expocomer, Expo Logística, Expo Eléctrica and Expo Tech—aimed at attracting buyers and delegations from more than 30 countries, with an expected 20,000 international visitors, and highlighted the upcoming World of Coffee 2026 event.

In the Mexican state of Chiapas, food waste has surged, placing the region among the three Mexican states that discard the most food. The state generates about 1.8 million tonnes of solid waste each year, much of it organic, while producing roughly 686,000 tonnes of bananas annually (about 28 % of national output). Local officials cite the Mercadito del Humanismo program, which brings basic food items to neighborhoods at affordable prices, as a measure to support household economies and reduce waste.

At the 2026 World Free Zones Congress in Panama, a proposal was presented to mobilise more than 5,000 free‑zone sites in over 145 countries to boost agro‑industrial production, improve supply‑chain logistics and lower fertilizer costs. The initiative, backed by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, seeks to enhance global food security as the world population approaches 10 billion.