Chile is on a drive to strengthen family and smallholder agriculture and to prioritize irrigation and technology adoption, says new agriculture minister

San Jose / Brasilia, 20 April 2022 (IICA) -- Chile is proposing to diversify its agricultural production system, by bolstering and fostering family and smallholder agriculture, with a focus on guaranteeing food and water security, as well as sustainability.
 
This was revealed by the South American country’s new Minister of Agriculture, Esteban Valenzuela, who outlined the objectives set by his administration during an interview on AgroAmerica – a program aired on Brazil’s TV Agro Mais.
 
 “We are going to strengthen vegetable and fruit farmers, as well as cheese and honey producers”, remarked Valenzuela, who was appointed to head the agriculture portfolio by young President, Gabriel Boric, who himself assumed office on 11 March. “Not only do we consider these products to be essential, but they also complement the agroexport sector, which has received significant State support and is flying high”.
 
Valenzuela listed the new government’s priorities in agriculture, one of them being to increase production system sustainability amidst a drought that has affected the country for the last 13 years. 
 
It will also aim to increase food sovereignty and security, reinforcing the capacity of livestock, dairy and grain production, which includes working towards healthier diets.
 
The third area of focus relates to ensuring territorial justice, by striving to create equality and greater appreciation of the value of the rural world, which is lagging behind urban areas, in aspects such as connectivity, the quality of education, technology and transportation.
 
“Eighty percent of the Chilean population lives in the central region and towards the south. This is a narrow valley that is subject to high levels of contamination. To tackle the water problem, there have been ongoing investments to increase technology adoption and irrigation for more than two decades. However, small farmers and grain producers have not benefitted. This government will focus on the most marginalized sectors from the perspective of irrigation”, announced Valenzuela, who has a Master’s degree in Political Science and a Doctorate in Contemporary History.
 
The minister explained that, in any case, the areas most seriously affected by the drought are in the center and to the north of the country and specified that, “There are many towns that have been left without running water, where water has to be trucked in from other places. However, there are fruit production operations that use too much water, so we must be more efficient and considerate in our use. The agriculture sector today consumes 78% of Chile’s water and the aim is to lower it to about 60% by 2030, compelling us to restore environmental flows that will ensure adequate drinking water for communities”.
 
A Convention tasked with drafting a new Constitution is now meeting in Chile and Valenzuela stated that the hope is that it will ensure the responsible management of water as a public good and human right and that Chile will be seen as a plurinational country, recognizing the rights of its indigenous people.
 
“Most of the indigenous communities are Mapuche”, he revealed. “In the last census, 10% of the Chilean population identified themselves as Mapuche, with half of them residing in the Wallmapu region in the central southern region of the country. We have already introduced changes. For example, in the Araucanía district, in Wallmapu, the head of the agriculture portfolio is from the Mapuche community. We are seeking to design plans for indigenous territorial development, based on the community’s ancestral knowledge. We are going to create a cooperative academy of craftworkers that will preserve and highlight the value of the Mapuche people’s agricultural, livestock and forestry management practices”.
 
The minister expressed special appreciation for the opportunities for policy and program coordination provided to Chile by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) – an institution that he defines as one “from which we have learned historically and that has assisted us”.
 
Valenzuela listed several projects that the IICA Office in Chile is undertaking, for example, an initiative to rationalize water use in the country’s northern region, through the use of clay pots; another that is cultivating a variety of rice that requires less water; and finally, the production of olive oil by the Mapuche communities of Araucanía. “These initiatives are not merely for the communities”, he said, “but are in partnership with the communities”.
 
Finally, he underscored the partnership between the Chilean government and the environmental sector, as well as the desire to attract youth to the agriculture sector.
 
“We want all of Chile to be farmers and to be green. If it is not green and it is not sustainable, it is not true agriculture, but pillaging. There is an agroecological movement taking place in all the regions which is pushing for greater productivity through natural fertilizer use. This requires more cooperation with the agroindustrial sector to remedy certain incorrect practices”, he maintained.
 
As such, he emphasized that the country had already started on a positive path, indicating that, “Livestock production had adopted good methane reduction practices quite quickly in the south of the country. The forestry industry has begun to use biomass with high quality standards to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Chile has already begun to move in the right direction, which is something that we will intensify over the next four years. Agriculture refers not only to production but also to a community, a dignified, equitable and healthy context that we must know how to build”.
 
Agro América is a production of Brazil’s TV Agro Mais channel – a member of the Grupo Bandeirantes communication group, which is the product of a partnership with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA). The program presents the current situation in the agriculture and rural sector of IICA member countries, with a view to promoting experience sharing and a discussion on the challenges and opportunities for agricultural and rural development in Latin America and the Caribbean.

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