Although agriculture plays a relatively minor role in the overall economy when measured by
value added and share in total exports compared to some other sectors, in particular oil and
mining, it is still an important sector in terms of employment with a share of 9.7%. The share
of agriculture value added in the GDP is low at 4% and the sector registered slow growth in
real terms at 1.3% on average between 2000 and 2010. The agrarian system is characterized
by the co-existence of large commercial producers with smallholders that predominately
produce for own consumption and informal markets