The longest north-south mountain range in the world, the Andes encompass a tremendous range of ecosystems and are home to a rich variety of plant and animal species and human communities. Given this diversity, mountain development priorities will not be the same in every region. The mountains play a central role in the economy and cultural life of the countries of the northern Andes. Although oil production from lowland tropical valleys brings in significant revenues, particularly for Venezuela, highland and mountain agriculture is also an important source of foreign exchange for the region. However, it is at higher elevations that mountain agriculture makes its greatest contribution to the regional economy.
Coffee accounts for over half of Colombia's legal export earnings.
It is also Venezuela's most important agricultural export. Coffee is generally cultivated on small holdings of land, so population densities are often high in coffee growing areas. Intensive production and high population densities make controlling soil erosion extremely difficult. Traditionally, farmers cultivate coffee in combination with shade trees in order to obtain the best yields and these trees also help hold topsoil in place. However, new coffee varieties have been developed that require little or no shade to produce well, and this may make the problem of soil erosion even more difficult to deal with.