Agriculture and the economy of Chile

Upon my research for information on the economy of Chile, I found an article on the SDSU library website. This was from a book title Agriculture Policy Monitoring and Evaluation 2013 OECD Countries and Emerging Economies. The reading was on Chapter 7 which is titles “Chile.” An interesting read on this report is how the Chilean government has been active in adopting policies to boost competitiveness, and small-scale farmers have high support, unlike other nations were faring is left to a few big corporations.

The article has graphs comparing agricultural figures from 1995-1997 to 2010-2012. The main takeaway from this is the “TSE as % of GDP” image, this shows how total support has decreased over time from 0.6% of GDP in 1995-1997 to 0.3% in 2010-2012. However, nominal spending constantly increased and half of it has been allocated to GSSE. There are very limited transfers to Single Commodity Transfer (SCT). In 2010-2012, SCT represented only 3% of the PSE.

With that said, the government policies are giving support to small scale farmers through budgetary allocations. In 2012, 54% of direct payments to farmers went to improving farm productivity and competitiveness. Most programs included in this category are designed to support small-scale agriculture and rural development. It is important to notice that the rural and territorial development program for indigenous communities (PDTI) has seen an increase year over year from 2010-2012.

Another important category of payments to farmers goes to soil recovery program, which in April 2012 was amended to better define and incorporate macro zones. The crop insurance program was also implemented and expanded in 2012, this covers 50% of the premium for medium and large scales farms, and up to 90% for small-size farms. The expansion in 2012 a livestock insurance was added, to help cattle producers to better manage animal death by decease, natural events, and civil responsibility. The second expansion to the program was the commodity price coverage that protects farmers from international price volatility.

              

Overall, policies keep getting introduced to help the economy, protect the agriculture business, and promote small-farming. This is huge for me because of the wealth being distributed amongst many farmers versus the elite. Small farming in the top nations has almost disappeared due to the governmental policies that promote giant corporations to monopolize the agriculture market.                      

indigenous population in Chile

According to the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs:

There are 1,565,915 indigenous persons in Chile, that is 9% of the national population, and nine different indigenous groups. The Mapuche represent 84% of the indigenous population, while the Aymara, the Diaguita, the Lickanantay, and the Quechua peoples together represent 15%.

(https://www.iwgia.org/en/chile)

It is incredible how indigenous only make up 9% of the entire population in Chile. How did this happen? This country, as all Latin American countries were 100% indigenous prior to the colonization. 

Some of the key events have been:

- Pedro de Valdivia founded the capital city of Santiago on February 12, 1541

- December 1553, an Araucanian army of warriors organized by Mapuche chief Lautaro (Valdivia's former servant), assaulted and destroyed the fort of Tucapel. Valdivia fled but was later tracked down, tortured, and killed by Lautaro. 

- Battle of Mataquito 1557 - Lautaro was killed by the Spaniards. 

- The Araucanians were nomadic hunting and food-gathering peoples divided into three groups: the Mapuche, the Picunche, and the Huilliche.

- The Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of present-day Patagonia. 

- Picunche - also referred to as picones by the Spanish, were a Mapudungun-speaking Chilean people living to the north of the Mapuches or Araucanians

- The Huilliche are the principal indigenous population of Chile from Toltén River to Chiloé Archipelago.

- The Spaniards generally traated the Mapuche as n enemy nation to be subjugated and even exterminated. 

- The conquerors appropriated mines and washings from the native people and coerced them into extracting the precious metal for the new owners. The crown claimed one-fifth of all the gold produced, but the miners frequently cheated the treasury. By the seventeenth century, depleted supplies and the conflict with the Araucanians reduced the quantity of gold mined in Chile.

- Because precious metals were scarce, most Chileans worked in agriculture

- The haciendas initially depended for their existence on the land and labor of the indigenous people. 

- In 1791 Ambrosio O'Higgins outlawed encominedas and forced labor.

- Free trade brought the spread of liberalism in Europe and the United States, but never reached the majority of mestizos and native Americans, who remained illiterate and subordinate.

http://motherearthtravel.com/history/chile/history-4.htm