Part
01
of eight
Part
01
Agricuture in Chile
Four federal and local government investments made in the agriculture sector in Chile include funding four development centers for functional and specialty ingredients, an investment in modernizing the equipment and production methods in La Araucania, funding several types of initiatives of small farmers in Valle de Itata, as well as improving irrigation in Magallanes.
Findings
Development Centers for Functional and Specialty Ingredients
- In 2017, it was announced that the Ministries of Agriculture and Economy, financed by the Strategic Investment Fund of the Ministry of Economy, will invest in "territorial centers that serve as a basis for the development of a functional ingredients and specialty additives industry of natural origin in Chile."
- The investment is 3.6 billion.
- The government aims to create four development centers within three years to add value to agriculture-related exports, as well as develop innovations and packaging methods to expand to new markets.
Investment in an Underdeveloped Region
- In 2020, the Ministry of Agriculture and the government of La Araucania invested $470 million Chilean Pesos ($574,706) in developing the agricultural sector in La Araucania, which is considered an underdeveloped region.
- The Ministry of Agriculture contributed 233 million Chilean Pesos ($284,907) out of the total amount.
- The investment is supposed to help small farmers from the region lower the production costs and decrease the time needed to do their job with modernized equipment and methods. It has already provided 157 farmers with new equipment and projects related to the infrastructure of production.
Investment in Valle de Itata
- In 2019, the regional government of Nuble signed an agreement with the Ministry of Agriculture to invest 300 million Chilean Pesos ($366,596) in the development of several aspects of agriculture in Valle de Itata, especially those connected with real assets.
- The investment was to help 200 small farmers in Valle de Itata invest in diversifying their production by building greenhouses to produce vegetables, plant orchards, build warehouses and sheds, improve the genetics of cattle, goats, and sheep, as well as for projects related to irrigation and beekeeping.
- The overarching aim of the initiative is to help local farmers to improve their production and life conditions.
Irrigation in Magallanes
- In 2017, the Magallanes region's agriculture got its largest irrigation-related investment to date. The Ministry of Agriculture allocated 1.3 billion Chilean Pesos ($1.6 million) to improve agriculture-related water management in the region.
- The investment was supposed to fund "wells, water wheels, and ponds, drip irrigation systems, sprinklers, photovoltaic systems, wind or hydraulic energy, as well as the installation of biofilters, ultraviolet devices and other elements aimed at reducing water pollution."
- According to the local director of the Ministry of Agriculture, the investment grew 43 times compared to previous years.
Research Strategy
During our research, we only found information on one investment in English-language sources. To compile the list of 3-4 investments, we referred to the website of the Chilean Ministry of Agriculture. The "News" section of the website includes a subsection on investments, from which we chose the other three investments. Nearly all investments we identified are regional and relatively small. Please note that we assumed that the amounts are provided in Chilean Pesos, because even though they were preceded by "$," multiple news articles later clarified that the sum was in pesos. We converted the currencies using XE Converter.