Take record commodities prices, add a subtropical climate that gives farmers five harvests every 24 months and vast tracts of virgin arable land and it is no surprise that tiny Paraguay has emerged as one of the big beneficiaries of the global food crisis.

The International Monetary Fund reckons the country, whose history of poverty and entrenched corruption usually bills it as one of the world’s economic losers, has gained more from soaring food prices in terms of the boost to its trade balance than any other nation.