Nicaragua covers an area of 130,374 km2 and has four types of climates: tropical rainforest, monsoon, tropical savanna and subtropical mountain.
According to the Global Hunger Index (GHI) Nicaragua has moderate levels of hunger. It is an area that the country has made remarkable progress on in the past 25 years. However, in terms of climate vulnerability, Nicaragua is the fourth most vulnerable country in the world, according to the Global Climate Risk Index 2014. Another indicator, the World Risk Index, which considers environmental, social and political indicators, considers Nicaragua to be one of the fifteen countries in the world with a high level of risk exposure.
Nicaragua is the second poorest country in Latin America, its economy depends on the primary sector, which makes up 20% of gross domestic product (GDP), of which, 85% comes from agriculture. Strikingly, 70.2% of households depend of farming and/or forests activities. According to the latest national inventory of the National Forestry Institute (INAFOR, 2011), 25% of the national territory is occupied by forests.
The main export crops of the country include coffee, sugar cane, sesame, peanuts, bananas, tobacco, cocoa and palm oil. The crops that are most consumed within the country include rice, beans, corn and sorghum. Livestock products generated are cattle, poultry and pigs, and products that are imported into the country are: yellow corn, whole rice, red beans and sorghum.