In the highlands subsistence agriculture and the production of staples for the urban areas are predominant (corn, wheat, barley, potatoes, pulses, and various vegetables). In the coastal lowlands tropical crops are grown to export. Since the late 1940s, bananas have been the main commercial crop of this region. The large-scale production of cocoa for export began in the 1870s. Production of coffee for export began in 1920s.
Ecuador's forests produced 8.7 million cubic meters of timber in 1986. Livestock, raised mainly in the highland region, included 3.8 million cattle, 2.1 million sheep and 4.2 million pigs in 1987.
Fishing has expanded rapidly since the mid 1960s when the annual catch was about 50,000 tons. It was over one million tons in 1987.