Chapter 8 - Public policies and the food system in Chile
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Introduction
1This chapter presents an institutional, political and economic analysis of the public policies that have shaped the Chilean food system from its beginnings to the present day. The first section discusses the ways social protection policies focused on food and nutrition have evolved, with two sub-sections that go into further detail on sectoral policies for social protection and healthy eating, and policies intended to strengthen and modernize the food safety and quality management system. The second section analyzes changes in agricultural development and production promotion policies and the development of the food industry. The third section discusses the performance of the Chilean food system. This chapter concludes by discussing various present and future challenges.
2Chile has a strong tradition of food production. The country’s current food system is the result of a long history of public policies and solid institutional development. Over time, Chile’s efforts in the areas of public health, animal and plant health, social protection, agriculture and trade have contributed to ensuring a high level of food security to the country’s people. These efforts have also boosted the development and economic growth of the country, helping it to rank among the world’s leaders in the international food trade.
3With regards to public health, Chile has been able to eradicate malnutrition, undernutrition and hunger (FAO, 201377); lower the incidence of foodborne diseases (WHO, 2015); and create a regulation at the international forefront in terms of nutritional quality, to address the problems of overweight and obesity that afflict the national population today. As for the agricultural sector, Chile boasts a strong phytosanitary and zoosanitary status, which has been key to preventing production, zoonotic and food diseases as well as opened the doors of global markets to the country’s food exports.
4From an economic and productive point of view, Chile’s food industry is the second largest sector of the national economy, accounting for 23% of the total value of exports, 20% of the value of retail sales, 31% of the number of companies, 23% of national employment and 10% to 12% of GDP. Chilean food exports reach more than 150 countries and about 63% of the global population and 86% of the world’s GDP (ProChile, 2019). The export basket is made up of more than 1,500 products; Chile ranks in the top ten world exporters for around 50 of those products. Similarly, the value of exports, to date around US$ 18 billion, places Chile as one of the 15 leading food exporters in the world.
5Around the world, the demand for food will only continue to grow and people increasingly want healthy, natural, sophisticated and accessible food. Nearly 900 million people in the world suffer from malnutrition and hunger, yet paradoxically, overweight and obesity have become the major public health challenge of the 21st century. Accordingly, Chile is committed to a food system approach that seeks to diversify and modernize its food supply. A focus on safe and healthy food is a virtuous mechanism that can stimulate the competitive development of the industry, while addressing the food security needs of Chile’s own population as well as those of the markets to which it exports.
6Undoubtedly, these approaches and strategies may need to be reconsidered in light of the causes and effects of the serious crises over the last two years on food security: first, the social upheaval in October 2019 (Waissbluth, 2020), followed by the Covid-19 pandemic that began in March 2020. Although the food system has proven to be resilient and robust in both situations – evident in the operational continuity of supply chains and the adequacy and adjustments of supplementary meal programs, school meals and emergency food distribution programs – according to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report (UN, 2020), an estimated 11.8% of the Chilean population suffers from moderate food insecurity and 3.8% from severe food insecurity. Meanwhile, the study indicates that the prevalence of overweight and obesity remains above the regional average, with no change with respect to the previous report.
7These social and health crises, when viewed within the context of medium-term sustainability and beyond consumer preferences or market trends, show that the Chilean food system faces major challenges. These challenges include food production and trade, public health and welfare, environmental sustainability of the industry (circular economy and green technologies), territorial equity and social inclusion in the processes of production, processing, distribution and consumption, national food culture, food sovereignty, and more. All these issues will undoubtedly be part of the discussion that will take place in the forthcoming constituent process, and will be discussed to some extent in this chapter.
Evolution of social protection, health and food safety policies
8Public policies on food, nutrition and health have been around for more than a century in Chile, beginning in the early 20th century. The aim was to address the socioeconomic and health problems of malnutrition and high infant mortality, food distribution, and nutritional health of different groups, based on how vulnerable they were. The main focus has been on obesity and noncommunicable diseases, as well as helping groups with special nutritional needs. The following is a synthesis of the historical evolution of these public policies and their implementation.
9The state’s participation in guaranteeing or protecting the nutritional health of the neediest population began under the government of President Arturo Alessandri Palma (1920–1925), with the creation of the Ministry of Hygiene, Social Assistance and Welfare and the enactment of mandatory workers’ insurance (Act No. 4.054/1924). This initiative created a paradigm shift in the approach to solutions to social problems, from one centered on private charity78 and emphasis on individual freedom to one that advocated science-based, planned actions with greater State participation (Ahumada, 2018). For the first time, this act enshrined in public policy medical and social care for women during pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period and medical care for children up to eight months, including the delivery of milk (MINSAL, 2010).
10Subsequently, in 1937, the free distribution of milk to all children under age two began. This initiative was further strengthened with the enactment of the Mother-Child Act (Act No. 6.236/1938), linking the distribution of food to health control, and with the creation in 1952 of the National Health Service (Act No. 10.383/1952), which merged several units dedicated to public health into a single health authority. The new National Health Service was responsible for health protection for the entire population and the promotion and recovery of the health of workers, wives and children up to age 15 (Ahumada, 2018).
11In 1954, the National Supplementary Feeding Program (PNAC) was created. The PNAC ran continuously for more than half a century with the purpose of helping maintain and improve the nutritional status of the population, evolve and adapt to demographic and epidemiological changes in the population, and generate new knowledge on food and nutrition. The universal program included various nutritional support activities for prevention and recovery, through which food was distributed to vulnerable or at-risk populations. When it began, it was the main strategic tool to control malnutrition and infant mortality, extending the benefits of supplementary food to pregnant women, wet nurses and preschool children up to age six. In 1956, under the PNAC, breastfeeding promotional campaigns began, and under the government of Salvador Allende Gossens (1970–1973), the half-liter of milk” campaign was implemented, providing each child with half a liter of milk daily through the primary healthcare service up to eight months of age, which was later extended to 14 years of age.
12In 1974, during the military dictatorship (1973–1990), the National Food and Nutrition Council was created (Decree Law no. 354), a collegial body chaired by the Ministry of Health and composed of the Ministers of Economy, Education, Agriculture and Labor, the Vice President of the Chilean economic development agency (CORFO), and the Directors General of Health and of the National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research (CONICYT), and the President of the Council of Rectors.
13Four years later, in 1978, the PNAC was divided into two programs, according to the target populations and their different nutritional and food needs. The “basic” PNAC provided food to children with a normal nutritional status, while the “reinforcement” PNAC provided food to undernourished children, pregnant women, wet nurses and their families. The ideas that guided this program formed the basis of the Complementary Feeding Program for Older Adults (Programa de Alimentación Complementaria del Adulto Mayor – PACAM), created in 1999, which distributes food fortified with micronutrients to the elderly in primary care facilities to help prevent and treat nutritional deficiencies, maintain or improve physical and mental capacities, and detect and control risk factors for their loss.
14In 1996, the Ministry for Health established a food sanitary regulation (Decree no. 977). This instrument sets out the sanitary conditions for the production, importation, processing, packaging, storage, distribution and sale of food for human use to ensure healthy, nutritional and safe food. The regulation applies to all natural or legal persons related to or involved in the aforementioned activities, as well as to establishments, means of transport and distribution for such purposes. In other words, the food sanitary regulation determines specific requirements that facilities and foodstuffs must meet to guarantee safe products for human consumption.
15In 1997, with a view to promoting healthy eating among the population, the Ministry of Health asked the Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology (Instituto de Tecnología de los Alimentos – INTA) at the University of Chile to prepare food guidelines, with the food pyramid as the official benchmark (Olivares et al., 2013). Health policies on food and nutrition at this time began to shift their focus from undernutrition to overnutrition, due to the rise of overweight and obesity problems in the population, especially among young people and children. New comprehensive policies were developed to promote healthy lifestyles and combat overweight, obesity and chronic or communicable diseases.
16In 2003, PNAC coverage was extended to population groups with special nutritional needs, such as extreme premature infants and children under 18 with diseases due to inborn metabolic issues. In 2008, the program’s benefits were extended to pregnant women with phenylketonuria to ensure normal fetal development, and the Program on Healthy Eating and Physical Activity (Programa de Alimentación Saludable y Actividad Física – PASAF) was created. This primary care program, for the obese and overweight aimed to help reduce the prevalence of obesity-related chronic diseases and improve lifestyles and the nutritional status of the overnourished population. Beneficiaries received aid through primary health care network and other establishments approved by the Ministry of Health, where they could also have access to other health prevention and treatment activities.
17In 2006, under the administration of President Michele Bachelet Jeria (2006–2010), the Ministry of Health implemented the intersectoral Global Strategy against Obesity, (Estrategia Global Contra la Obesidad – EGO-Chile). This national strategy (based on the recommendations of the WHO’s Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health, adopted in 2004 by the 57th World Health Assembly), was an attempt to address rising obesity rates in the Chilean population, as evidenced in the 2003 National Health Survey. The EGO-Chile initiative recognized the multidimensional nature of the sociocultural factors involved in obesity, and sought to address them through public policies, plans, and multisectoral and intersectoral programs. The Ministry of Health’s dietary guidelines were also revised around this time and updated in the “Eating for a healthier life” guide.
18In 2007, EGO-Chile was expanded with the EGO School Strategy (Estrategia EGO Escuela), with a focus on nutrition and physical activity in schools. This strategy was promoted as an intervention aimed at structurally transforming school environments to help students adopt healthy behaviors. In addition to EGO-Chile, the Ministry of Health worked with the primary healthcare network to implement the Nutritional Intervention Strategy through the life cycle to prevent obesity and other noncommunicable diseases (Estrategia de Intervención Nutricional a través del Ciclo Vital para la Prevención de Obesidad y otras Enfermedades no Transmisibles – EINCV. Both the EGO School Strategy and EINCV took an integrated approach to nutrition, food and physical activity in the various health programs. They are part of the country’s official health objectives and efforts to prevent chronic non-communicable diseases due to their impact on population morbidity and mortality.
19These processes have evolved over time, giving rise to the following strategies: Healthy Cities, Towns and Communities (Municipios, comunas y comunidades saludables), Health-Promoting Workplaces (Lugares de trabajo promotores de salud), and Health-Promoting Higher Institutions (Instituciones superiores promotoras de salud). These strategies were initially focused on communication, and have subsequently informed public policies in local governments. Similarly, in 2011, the Ministry of Health again worked through the primary healthcare system to implement the Healthy Life Program (Programa Vida Sana). By promoting healthy eating and physical activity, this program aims to reduce the incidence of diabetes and hypertension, and it provides nutritional, physical and psychological support to users.
20In 2012, the Ministry of Health’s Act No. 20.606 on food nutrition and advertising was approved. This act represented a significant advance in terms of improving the regulatory framework for food, updating it to take into account public health challenges and issues reflected in the alarming levels of overweight and obesity in the population.79 The main achievements of the act included the introduction of “high in” labeling for sugar, fat, sodium and calories (for which the act is probably best known) as well as requiring more exhaustive and precise labeling on the use of additives, breast milk substitutes and allergenic ingredients (soy, milk, peanuts, eggs, shellfish, fish, gluten and nuts).
21The act also established restrictions on the use of food marketing strategies and advertising such as promotions and loss leaders aimed at children under 14, prohibited the sale of unhealthy foods in schools, and implemented educational and physical activities, for all ages and in all learning conditions, to help children develop healthy eating habits and warn them about the harmful effects of an unhealthy diet. Finally, a mandatory nutritional monitoring system for schoolchildren at all levels was established.
22The spirit of this law is to address public health problems associated with overweight and obesity. In particular, it seeks to protect those most at risk in the population by better informing consumers about the true nature, composition and quality of food. It also aims to restrict consumers’ access to unhealthy foods, prohibit advertising unrelated to the actual promotion of the product or which is misleading or uses means that take advantage of the gullibility of consumers. The law also attempts to discourage fraud and encourage people to develop healthier eating habits along with a food supply that can meet those needs.80
23In 2017, the Ministry of Health published its National Nutrition and Food Policy, an inclusive and intersectoral policy that presents a modern focus on human rights, social determinants of health, the mainstreaming of health in all policies, gender and interculturality. This policy establishes two guiding principles: i) the right to food as an ethical principle to be included when developing programs, initiatives and standards, and ii) the social determination of food and nutrition, with people’s consumption decisions being shaped by their living conditions. The purpose of this policy is to help improve the state of health and quality of life of Chileans in terms of food and nutrition.
Policies for social protection and healthy eating
24Together with health policies, other institutions, through their policies, plans and social protection programs, have played a decisive role in meeting the objectives of reducing malnutrition and, more recently, in combating overnutrition (overweight and obesity) in Chile. Thus, in addition to implementing the PNAC as a pillar of nutrition and food assistance policies, under the government of President Eduardo Frei Montalva (1964–1970), the National Board for Student Aid and Scholarships (Junta Nacional de Auxilio Escolar y Becas – JUNAEB) was created under the Ministry of Public Education.
25The JUNAEB is still active today, and is in charge of implementing the School Feeding Program (Programa de Alimentación Escolar – PAE). The School Feeding Program delivers daily food services (breakfasts, lunches, snacks and dinners as appropriate) during the school year to students from preschool age to adults in vulnerable conditions in municipal and subsidized private educational establishments. The aim is to improve their attendance and help prevent school dropouts.
26In 2013, the Ministry of Social Development implemented the Choose to Live Healthily program (Elije Vivir Sano, Act No. 20.670) to encourage healthy habits and lifestyles and prevent and reduce risk factors and behaviors associated with non-communicable diseases. The policies, plans and programs that are part of the program are prepared and executed by the different bodies of the State Administration on a single or multi-sector basis, according to their respective competences, and are coordinated by the Elige Vivir Sano Executive Secretariat.
27In 2016, high childhood obesity rates led the JUNAEB to implement the Plan Contrapeso, a set of 50 measures to modify the School Feeding Program policies and guidelines and provide targeted support to vulnerable students with greater exposure to the risk of overweight and obesity. To this end, two commissions of expert advisors were formed: one on obesity and another to strengthen the School Feeding Program. The commission on obesity included representatives from governmental and non-governmental sectors, such as the ministries of education, health, and sport; the FAO; the PAHO; CORFO; INTA; and civil society actors, among others. Its focus was on proposing measures in education, nutrition, physical activity and healthy living. The second commission was made up of representatives from governmental and non-governmental sectors, such as the ministries of education, economy and general secretariat of the presidency; CORFO; former directors of the JUNAEB, Institute of Agricultural Development (INDAP); National Board of Children’s Gardens (JUNJI); and the INTEGRA foundation, with expertise in public policy in education and food services. This commission aimed to put forward proposals based on the School Feeding model, relating to components such as fines, technology, management, supervision, financial, business, supplier development and decentralization. Professionals from the fields of education, social sciences, agronomy and economics were involved.
Policies for strengthening and modernizing the food safety and quality management system
28In 2005, under the administration of President Ricardo Lagos Escobar (2000–2006), a process was initiated to strengthen the institutional framework for food safety and quality assurance. The initiative was based on the principles of the new international food safety and quality paradigms in place since the end of the 20th century. These principles are centered on the concept of food chains, integrated action and institutions, a conceptual and methodological framework based on risk analysis and explicit recognition of the role and responsibilities of public and private actors and citizens in this area.
29Against this backdrop, the Chilean Food Safety and Quality Agency (ACHIPIA, Supreme Decree 83/2005) was created, along with a presidential advisory commission to advise the Chilean president on all matters related to the identification, formulation and execution of policies, plans, programs, measures and other activities related to food quality and safety. A national food safety and quality system was also established to coordinate the various agencies involved in these matters. Specifically, this commission was entrusted with formulating a food safety policy and developing a proposal to modernize the relevant institutional framework.
30To satisfy this demand, in 2009, Chile enacted its first national food safety policy. One of the policy’s main characteristics is its interdisciplinary and intersectoral approach to issues on production, marketing and public health in relation to food consumption. The ministries of health, general secretariat of the presidency, agriculture, and foreign affairs; public services specialized in animal, plant and aquaculture health, public health and foodborne diseases, and international trade; and actors from academia and civil society participated in preparing the policy through a public consultation process.
31In 2011, the Chilean Food Safety and Quality Agency was transferred from the Ministry General Secretariat of the Presidency to the Ministry of Agriculture (Supreme Decree 162/2011). This move provided the agency with infrastructure, equipment and permanent staff, along with new responsibilities, including the area of food quality. The agency was also tasked with coordinating the Codex Alimentarius at the national level, bringing the secretariat into the agency and establishing it as the point of contact for communication and coordination between Chile and the Codex Alimentarius Commission.
32In 2018, the national food safety and quality policy update was published, with a 2030 timeline (ACHIPIA, 2018). This policy, currently in force, was designed to ensure the safety and quality of food produced, processed and marketed in Chile and intended for human consumption. The aim is to protect people’s health and consumer rights and develop the competitiveness and exports of the food industry, within the framework of the national food safety and quality program.
33Currently, the Chilean Food Safety and Quality Agency is a collegial body that reports to the undersecretaries of public health, agriculture, fisheries and the general secretariat of the presidency. These entities meet through a council to which the director of the agriculture and livestock department, the director of the aquaculture and fisheries department, and a representative from the undersecretariat of economic relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are also permanently invited. From a technical point of view, the agency operates as a public agency that coordinates, liaises with and advises intersectoral players. Administratively, it reports to the Undersecretariat of Agriculture.
34Among its many activities, the agency strives to improve the availability and access of the population, especially the most vulnerable and disadvantaged, to safe and quality food. It also promotes the competitiveness and sustainability of the food industry and trade, advances a national culture of food safety and quality, supports the establishment of adequate food environments, and stimulates citizen participation in these activities. In addition, the agency encourages the use of raw materials and Chile’s biodiversity by promoting them in healthy foods, supports the development of human capital, capabilities and skills, and works to strengthen the country’s image as a supplier of safe and healthy foods for domestic and foreign consumption.
Evolution of agricultural development and production promotion policies, and the configuration of the food industry
35Unlike the historical evolution of institutional policies in social protection and health, the development of the agrifood sector over the last 150 years in Chile has gone through several phases. These phases have often been contradictory. When the country first became an independent nation, it adopted free mercantilism approaches promoting international trade, which led the country to develop its agrifood sector. At other times, state intervention was strong, such as the periods following the saltpeter crisis and the Great Depression in the 1930s. During these periods, Chile implemented protectionist policies and import substitution as a strategy for industrial development. The state also intervened during the agrarian reform process that transformed the productive and social structure of the rural world, as well as when it implemented an extreme neoliberal social economic model during the civil-military dictatorship.
36After these many turbulent periods in the political and institutional course of events, marked by deep underlying ideological conflicts, a sufficient level of consensus has been reached over the last thirty years to allow for a new strategic approach. Chile’s leaders have taken advantage of the country’s international position, with Chile as a relevant player in international food markets, to consolidate the food sector as driver of development and economic growth on the same level as mining was previously.
37After gaining its independence, Chile began a process of growing involvement in the world economy. However, it remained fundamentally a rural society with an agrarian economy for much of the 19th century. The earliest available statistics show a rural population of 71% of the national total. Agricultural labor force participation was 42%, by far the highest level in the country, and there were only six major urban centers, each with more than 10,000 inhabitants. The agricultural sector was made up of large estates (known as latifundias), characterized by low land and labor productivity and, associated with them, a myriad of smallholdings. Around 86% of the rural population did not own land, which created a labor force of tenants working in semi-slavery regimes for the owners of the large estates. This was a socioeconomic and political power system, similar to the European manorial system, with economic relations of mutual dependence between landowners and peasants and a hierarchical and coercive structure. This structure remained relatively unchanged until the mid-20th century, when it began undergoing a transformation to a capitalist-type agricultural system (Llorca et al., 2017).
38With regard to agrarian policy, in 1831, under the government of President José Joaquín Prieto (1831–1836), a sectoral tax was levied on the agricultural land registry. This tax was part of a major fiscal reform and replaced the old colonial forms of tax collection. This important fiscal modernization, beyond contributing to the direct collection of taxes, marked the beginning of agricultural censuses, which in time would become fundamental tools for agrarian policy management. It is because of this and subsequent censuses that we now have early information on the evolution and economic, technological and productive development of the agricultural sector.
39The information reported by the land registries revealed the sector’s productive inefficiency, which was caused by the excessive concentration of land ownership, insufficient financing and public infrastructure for roads and irrigation, technological backwardness, a lack of economic and commercial incentives to intensify production, underqualified workers, and the conditions of misery and neglect in which farm workers lived in rural Chile, and inadequate regulations to stimulate the sector’s development. By 1840, this was already a cause for concern among the farmers themselves, as reported in documents of the Society of Agriculture, as well as by foreign experts who visited the country at the time.
40Despite the generalized backwardness of the agricultural sector, towards the middle of the century, during the so-called “first great expansionary cycle of the national economy,” the increase in international demand for primary products had an impact on part of the sector. This increased demand, which followed the Napoleonic Wars and the gold rushes in California and Australia, drove the development of a fledgling food industry linked to the production and export of wheat and flour (Riveros & Ferraro, 1985). To protect this development, import duties on wheat and flour were established in 1834 and, in 1840, export taxes on these products were abolished. This activity, together with silver and copper mining, was the main source of economic growth between 1840 and 1860.
41Beginning in the 1850s, under the government of President Manuel Montt Torres (1851–1861), the institutional transformation of Chile was consolidated. The country transitioned from a colonial system to a republican and capitalist one. The export boom of the period led to economic growth and modernized the country, reflected in the development of railroads, telegraphs and steamships, in the expansion of cities and ports, the emergence of a new entrepreneurial class, and the arrival of immigrants, which significantly boosted the economic and technological development of the agrifood export sector. From 1861 to 1871, under the government of President José Joaquín Pérez, a liberal policy began that facilitated scientific and technological progress in agriculture, bringing with it imported machinery, inputs and new production techniques. These activities impacted the development of the food processing industry. According to census data around 1870, of the total number of registered industrial businesses (85), 48.2% (a total of 41) were food factories. In 1884, there were 485 manufacturing facilities, of which 33.1% (152) were food processing plants (Sofofa, 1983).
42The war conflict between Chile and the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation between 1879 and 1884 represented a strong industrial stimulus for the economy in general and the food sector in particular. At first, the growing demand for food stemmed from the need to feed an army of 25,000 men in combat, and was later due to the annexation of the saltpeter regions of Tarapacá and Antofagasta as well as urban expansion.
43Although the export of nitrate stimulated the economy by creating considerable domestic demand that, to a large extent, was satisfied by national production, during this second period of economic growth the national currency suffered a severe devaluation due to the constant fluctuations of international markets. As a result, the final decades of the century were characterized by a shift towards a more protectionist economy, promoted by the demands of the private sector through its two major representative organizations, the National Society of Agriculture (Sociedad Nacional de Agricultura – SNA) and the Society of Industrial Development (Sociedad de Fomento Fabril – SOFOFA). These organizations advocated for direct state intervention to protect and stimulate industrial development given the instabilities of external markets. These actions were the first indication of the subsequent import substitution policy that would be adopted in the mid-20th century.
44In 1897, under the administration of President Federico Errázuriz Echaurren (1896–1901), a new customs law was enacted, setting high import duties for products manufactured in Chile. This measure had a decisive impact on the development of fruit and horticulture players in the agrifood industry in the central valley. In 1895, census data show a predominance of the food industry over other industrial sectors. Of the 1,089 manufacturing facilities in the census, 45% belonged to the food industry, accounting for 10% of Chile’s GDP (Schneider, 1904).
45During the first decades of the 20th century, thanks to the continuing saltpeter revenues, the Chilean state developed major institutional modernization programs and invested heavily in public infrastructure, roads, bridges, ports, railroads, irrigation, and irrigated agricultural land expansion. In turn, these activities supported the intensification and specialization of agriculture in the central valley between Aconcagua and Cachapoal, where production quickly exceeded domestic demand. This provided a new stimulus to the development of the canning and processing agroindustry and exports. During this period, Chilean canned peaches were recognized in practically all the countries of Latin America’s Pacific coast. At the same time, wheat and wine production expanded (Bengoa, 1988).
46Another aspect that boosted the development of Chile’s food industry was the need to replace imports during the First World War. By the end of the war, the agricultural productive structure consisted of nearly 100,000 farms. Irrigated agricultural land had expanded to 1.1 million hectares, while orchards totaled 22,300 hectares and vineyards 56,200 hectares. Foodstuffs accounted for 40% of industrial production. During this period, the production of canned fruits, vegetables and legumes, dehydrated fruits and grape juice continued to be further expanded, more specialized and diversified. The first modern industrial poultry farms were established and the use of cold chambers for livestock products was developed. In 1923 there were 124 mills, 43 noodle factories, 20 fruit and vegetable canneries, 11 sugar refineries, 53 beef jerky factories, 19 chocolate and cookie factories, four flour factories, two condensed milk factories, six salt refineries and 12 factories producing fats. Meanwhile, the first food canneries were installed, and in the southern part of the country, the production of industrial canned meat and seafood began.
47Towards the end of the 1920s, under President Carlos Ibañez del Campo (1927–1931), the economy entered into a severe recession due to the fall in saltpeter exports, which was replaced by the production of synthetic nitrate developed in Germany, and the global effects of the Great Depression that followed the 1929 stock market crash. During this period, the country experienced the decline of exports, the growing influence of urban groups and mining towns in political life, the global rise of Keynesian economic thought and the application of counter-cyclical policies, which reinforced the “inward development” paradigm founded on import substitution and strong protectionism (Rojas, 2007). In this context, import tariffs were raised to 35% for products produced in Chile and the Agricultural Credit Fund and the Industrial Credit Institute were created as investment promotion mechanisms.
48In 1939, under President Pedro Aguirre Cerda (1939–1941), CORFO, the Chilean economic development agency, was created to promote a plan to foster national production by directly executing the actions to industrialize the country (Act No. 6.334/1939). CORFO’s actions were instrumental in developing strategic sectors and creating large companies that were indispensable to Chile’s development. These companies included the National Electricity Company (ENDESA), the National Petroleum Company (ENAP), the Pacific Steel Company (CAP) and the National Sugar Industry (IANSA).
49At the same time, special development plans supported the agricultural sector through mechanized equipment exports, the expansion of irrigation works, and the development of new crops, commerce and transportation. These initiatives particularly favored the development and modernization of the canning and dehydrated products industry, which by the end of the 1960s numbered nearly 50 companies, especially throughout the central valley. Support for the industrial development of meat and dairy products also had a significant impact with the establishment of a national cold storage network.
50Although the import substitution model had some success in terms of the domestic market, and CORFO’s actions provided essential support for the development of strategic sectors, there were complex consequences for the competitive development of the overall productive sector. Modernizing national industry required the import of machinery, inputs and technology, but doing so did not generate the necessary foreign exchange, which came mainly from the export of traditional commodities. Thus, instead of adding value to national production, industrial development ended up dependent on the export of primary products. Meanwhile, protectionist measures served to sustain increasingly inefficient companies, with lower quality production and higher prices compared to international players. As a result, capital accumulated in just a few groups supported by these policies (Meller & Blomstrom, 1990).
51At the agricultural level, plans were initiated for the development of beef and dairy cattle and the diversification of meat production and consumption to stimulate growth in the poultry and pork industry. However, the domestic development strategy encouraged the development of deficit crops, such as oilseeds, corn and rice. New price regulations, associated with the inflationary process, caused the agricultural sector to stagnate. There was a substantial transfer of capital from the agricultural sector to the urban industrial sector.
52This serious crisis also highlighted once again the inefficiency and inequity of the latifundia system, which, according to studies at the time, showed one of the most unequal distributions of land and capital resources in the world. According to the 1955 census, 78% of the country’s agricultural and irrigated land was concentrated in 7% of farms, while smallholdings accounted for less than 10% of the country’s agricultural land (Gobierno de Chile, 1965).
53As a result of all these problems, the production and productivity of the sector collapsed. In 10 years, the sector’s contribution to GDP fell from 15% to 11%, causing a drop in agricultural employment and a growing wave of migration towards urban centers, with serious consequences of unemployment and poverty. The imbalance between population growth and declining food production became increasingly evident. While for more than two decades the population grew at an average annual rate of 2.1%, agricultural production barely reached a growth rate of 1.8% and was unable to meet domestic demand. As a result, the annual per capita growth rate of agricultural production was negative –0.4% for the period. To address this very real food crisis, food imports had to increase steadily, using about 30% of the scarce foreign exchange that the country generated, which in turn resulted in a trade balance deficit (Ministry of Agriculture, 1968). Even so, serious food deficiencies persisted in a significant proportion of the population (Bellisario, 2013).
54The progressive deterioration of the agricultural sector was a topic of deep political and ideological debate during the 1960s. Although it is now admitted that before the agrarian reform, the process of transition from the latifundia system to a capitalist one had already begun the previous decade (Schejtman, 1971), it was far from being concluded. Moreover, it was even less a solution to the political, social and economic crisis represented by the national agricultural situation. Not only was the sector stagnating due to an unbalanced industrialization strategy, which, through price regulation, made agricultural activity less profitable and discouraged investment, many believed the latifundia/minifundia system was a main cause of backwardness, poverty, injustice and marginality of the rural world, not only in Chile but across Latin America. This view was associated with the demands of mass, political and social movements calling for the end of this system of subjugation and exploitation of workers, and which led to the agrarian reform processes that would soon emerge throughout the region.81
55At the beginning of the 1960s, popular political parties inspired by Christian and Marxist principles reached significant levels of consensus to promote the transformation of the agrarian sector. Although the first Agrarian Reform Law (Law 15.020) was enacted in 1962 under Jorge Alessandri (1960–1964), it was limited to the possibility of distributing state lands and had a very minor effect on expectations and needs, which did not satisfy popular demands. However, it was this law that established the creation of the Agrarian Reform Corporation (Corporación de Reforma Agraria – CORA) and the Agricultural Development Institute (Instituto de Desarrollo Agropecuario – INDAP). Both institutions would play a relevant role in the expropriation and distribution of land and in the technical and credit assistance provided to the peasants who benefited from the reform processes of successive governments.
56In 1964, under President Eduardo Frei Montalva (1964–1970), a process of structural transformation of political, economic, labor and social relations in the sector began. During this period, laws were passed on agrarian reform (Act No. 16.640/1967) and peasant unionization (Act No. 6.625/1967), which would definitively end the latifundia/minifundia system and lay the foundations for modern agriculture. The agrarian reform process was undoubtedly one of the main claims of the struggle for social justice and heavily influenced the Frei government’s political agenda, as well as that of his successor, Salvador Allende Gossens (1970–1973). Allende had to contend with the increasingly radical demands of leftist groups and the reactions of the landed oligarchies.
57Under Frei and Allende, over nine million hectares (5,800 estates) were expropriated, accounting for 59% of the agricultural land accumulated under the entire latifundia system. In 1973, the reformed sector was comprised of about 76,500 rural workers, who together with their families totaled 342,000 people.
58In 1973, after the military coup that kept dictator Augusto Pinochet Ugarte in power (1973–1990), a counter-reform process was set in motion that lasted until 1980. The agrarian reform laws were repealed and a process of returning land to former owners was initiated; around 32% of the expropriated land was given back. By the end of the counter-reform, 47,000 peasant families were able to keep two-fifths of the expropriated lands, in the form of family farms (Rojas, 2007). Approximately 30,000 peasant families did not have access to land, nor to any other means of subsistence. In addition to state intervention in this process, many peasants, harassed by former owners or speculators, were forced to get rid of their land, fearing reprisals and receiving insignificant payments in exchange. Finally, much of the land expropriated from the peasantry was auctioned off at public sale, and some was transferred to public or non-profit institutions. Today, about 40% of the families that received land still own it (Belisario, 2013).
59In economic matters, the import substitution strategy was replaced by the adoption, between 1974 and 1976, of neoliberal shock policies recommended by Milton Friedman and later, in 1979, reforms known as “seven modernizations.” The economic and social model imposed during the civil-military dictatorship was characterized by the orthodoxy in the application of neoliberal postulates of the Chicago school. This approach translated into unilateral tariff liberalization as the hallmark of the anti-inflationary policy, financial system reforms, trade liberalization, reduced state intervention, and the minimization of state participation in the economy, limiting it to only a subsidiary and supervisory role. In this context, public agricultural services were particularly hard hit by these economic policies; they suffered severe budget and personnel cuts, the reduction of technical and financial assistance programs for peasant settlements and cooperatives, the privatization of production infrastructure and transformation of first- and second-degree cooperative administration.
60However, the agrarian reform process, despite the dictatorship’s efforts to dismantle it, radically restructured the territorial organization and agricultural property of the latifundia system. As a result of the subdivision of the former expropriated estates, tens of thousands of peasant farms were created, boosting development of the land market. The labor market was also liberalized with the end of the tenancy system. Together with policies to liberalize trade and attract investment, these initiatives stimulated the emergence of numerous agricultural enterprises and laid the foundations for a modern agrifood system. Although not without its difficulties and inequities, this new system was able to overcome structural deficiencies and become one of the key drivers of development and growth in the last three decades.
61In 1980 and 1982, in the midst of a deep economic recession caused by an abrupt devaluation of the real exchange rate and the fall in exports, Chile experienced one of the most serious economic crises in its history. The agricultural sector suffered a contraction in production of around 3%. To address the crisis, the economic model was adjusted, initiating a more flexible approach to the hitherto ironclad neoliberal economic policy. At the sectoral level, adjustments included the establishment of price bands and renewed support for the sugar beet and oilseed industries, which had been previously been left to their fates. This attracted external and urban capital, allowing for a rapid recovery. As a result, between 1985 and 1990, the sector grew at an annual rate of 5.6%. By the end of the decade, sectoral exports reached US$2 billion with sectoral employment accounting for 18.7% of the national labor force.82 This marked the beginning of a period of development and growth of the Chilean agricultural sector of non-traditional products, especially fruit and vegetable exports. Chile would quickly become a paradigmatic model of growth for developing countries in the context of globalization and trade integration (Ríos-Núñez, 2013).
62At the same time, however, these actions led to a growing socioeconomic and productive sectoral duality. On the one hand, capitalist agriculture was concentrated in non-traditional crops and located in the most agriculturally valuable lands. The sector was made up of a small number of medium to large companies. They boasted intensive capital and technology capabilities and a capacity for differentiation and added value, with a strong focus on export markets. On the other hand, the sector also had a large number of traditional, small-scale, peasant and indigenous family farms, with low capacity for added value. Technology use was rare on these labor-intensive farms, which had no access to financial capital. These subsistence farms were distributed across the country, located on land of lower agricultural quality, and focused on supplying local markets on the margins of agro-export development. The lack of public policies to support this segment caused a progressive deterioration and impoverishment of the rural sector, accentuating the duality in the sector. At the end of the civil-military dictatorship, the country had a rural poverty level of 39.5% (Barril Garcia, n.d.).
63It was not until the early 1990s, with the return of democracy, that policies to include peasant and indigenous family farms in the agrifood development strategy were resumed. The INDAP then played a stronger role of providing technical and financial support and worked more closely with public institutions for productive development and technological innovation, human capital formation, financing, commercial insertion, and irrigation promotion, among others.
64During the 1990s, under presidents Patricio Aylwin (1990–1994) and Eduardo Frei (1994–2000), thanks to the country’s international reintegration, free trade agreements were signed with the leading world economies and strongly promoted the development of agricultural and food industry exports. One of the results of these agreements is the sustained increase in public spending, which in real terms more than tripled in the last ten years of the period. Approximately half of this expenditure was directed towards public goods aimed at correcting market imperfections and asymmetries and protecting the environment and the country’s natural resources. The other half went towards direct or indirect subsidies aimed at improving technological progress and the commercial competitiveness of the poorest farmers.
65The trade agreements allowed the agrifood sector to take full advantage of its comparative and competitive advantages. Among the country’s comparative advantages are the geographical isolation that offers privileged phytosanitary and zoosanitary conditions, the Mediterranean climate that covers more than a thousand kilometers of the central valley, and Chile’s southern hemispheric location that supports climacteric fruit production during the off-season of northern hemisphere markets. Competitive advantages include institutional strength, a high standard of phytosanitary and zoosanitary protection, the business community’s export experience, adequate public and private infrastructure for production, logistics and transportation, and a strategic public-private alliance (Villalobos et al., 2006).
66With the arrival of the new century, the agro-industrial export development strategy was consolidated as one of the pillars of economic growth. It is in this context that efforts were focused on making Chile a “food power,83” which impacted the sectoral policy agenda for several years. A foundational milestone of this period was the signing, under President Ricardo Lagos (2000–2006), of the EU-Chile Association Agreement, an innovative agreement political and economic association between the European Union and Chile that set an international precedent. The agrifood sector deeply benefited from the agreement, which helped consolidate the country as a relevant player in the international food market.
67The main result of this agreement was the momentum given to modernizing agricultural activity. The sector shifted towards a systemic view of food chains under the “farm-to-table” concept, rather than the classic sectoral approach of public policies, emphasizing the achievement of international standards of quality and safety. The Ministry of Agriculture took the lead in the food sector and promoted various initiatives. Among them was the creation of the public-private Commission on Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs), which developed free and voluntary technical quality specifications for different products, setting a fundamental precedent for the development of quality assurance in the food chain in the following years; the modernization of the Agriculture and Livestock Department, which was given powers to ensure health and safety in export processes; and the implementation of the first health traceability system for cattle and the system of officially certified farms for the export of livestock products to the EU.
68However, breakdowns in food safety in the developed world in the late 1990s resulted in new food safety control policies and instruments with a more prevention-focused approach based on risk assessment, management and communication. The Ministry of Agriculture took the lead in strengthening the national food safety and quality system, promoting the creation of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Food Safety. The aim was to coordinate and integrate the national food safety system, improving its performance by correcting duplications, overlaps, information asymmetries, gray areas and regulatory gaps between competent institutions, in a system strained by the different approaches of the ministries of health, agriculture and economy. Among the relevant milestones of this process was the delegation of official beef inspection for the national market from the Ministry of Health to the Agriculture and Livestock Department (Leporati et al., 2010).
69The concept of Chile food power strategy, developed by Mario Montanari84, and Chilealimentos85, was institutionalized by the government of President Michelle Bachelet (2006–2010). The initiatives were included in her government program as a natural long-term strategy to shift the country’s economy from one based on the exploitation of non-renewable resources to one based on renewable, diversified and high value-added natural resources. The focus moved from agro-export development to the exploitation of competitive advantages based on quality differentiation (Odepa, 2011).
70During this period, a national food power council was created as a public-private body to coordinate policy actions. Its aim was to promote a strategic agenda that would address the institutional, regulatory and operational needs and gaps make Chile one of the top ten food exporting countries in the world. Chile’s exports of agricultural products and food rose from US$8 billion annually at that time to US$17 billion by 2014. In addition, the need to take into account sustainable development (understood as economically efficient, environmentally friendly and socially equitable production, beyond commercial profitability), along with a long series of impacts and externalities that have accumulated over time, will likely make this this strategy unviable if public policies are not implemented to avoid, mitigate and/or compensate them adequately (Odepa, 2011).
71In line with this approach, a period began where policies increasingly took on an intersectoral dimension via interinstitutional coordination, including with regards to food and its development strategy, through a set of policies, plans and programs of different ministries and departments. In the area of productive development, Chile’s Institute of Agricultural Development has promoted production links between peasant and indigenous farms and the agrifood industry and retail players; created the Flavors of the Countryside (Sabores del Campo) program and Rural Trade Fair (Expo Mundo Rural) to help rural agricultural food producers position themselves in the gourmet market segments in cities; implemented funds to support best agricultural practices and quality certification from CORFO, the AFC internationalization program promoted by INDAP and ProChile, and SERCOTEC’s programs to support the competitive and commercial development of food SMEs.
72In the area of R&D, programs that focus on healthy foods and promoting food heritage, along with support to develop marketing strategies for agrifood micro and SMEs, should be emphasized. In 2008, the aquaculture and food sectors were included when a policy promoted by CORFO was adopted to cluster strategic sectors to support their competitive development. A major achievement of this policy for the food sector was the creation of the International Centre of Excellence for the Food Industry at Wageningen UR Chile in association with local universities, marking the first large public R&D fund aimed at the sector.
73In 2015, the Ministry of Economy, as part of the pro-growth agenda, worked through CORFO to create strategic smart specialization programs. These joint public-private actions aim to enhance the competitiveness of specific sectors and regions. Among these is the strategic food program called Transforma Alimentos, which offers a collaborative development model for the public and private sectors, academia, and scientific and technological players to promote innovation as a way to make the food industry more competitive. The program’s objective is to consolidate Chile’s international leadership as a food supplier. To this end, a prioritized roadmap was agreed upon and is being implemented. The aim is to relax the main regulatory, scientific, technological, capacity-limiting and other restrictions to create a better environment for the diversification and sophistication of Chile’s food supply. Through the coordinating action of Transforma Alimentos, both the public supply in terms of productive promotion and science and technology has been organized, and greater coordination has been achieved between the sectoral regulatory authority and the productive promotion agencies, establishing coherence and synergies in public policies.
74During this period, a range of intersectoral initiatives were implemented, such as the program of short supply chains and public food procurement between the Agricultural Development Institute and National Board of Student Aid and Scholarships. Other initiatives included healthy production agreements to reduce unhealthy foods produced by micro and SMEs in light of the entry into force of Act No. 20.606, promoted by the Chilean Food Safety and Quality Agency and the Chilean Agency of Sustainability and Climate Change, with financing from a strategic innovation fund. A public-private strategic plan, called From the Sea to My Table (Del Mar a mi Mesa), was promoted by the Undersecretariat for Fisheries and Aquaculture to encourage Chileans to eat more seafood products to support the development and sustainability of the national fisheries sector. Smart specialization programs for regional centers were promoted by the Foundation for Agrarian Innovation (Fundación para la Innovación Agraria – FIA). The Scientific and Technological Development Support Fund (FONDEF) issued a special call in conjunction with the Chilean Food Safety and Quality Agency for R&D projects on food safety and quality. Finally, the sector has been increasingly involved in instruments such as CORFO’s Programs and Technology Centers and the regional competitive funds, among others.
75A fundamental aspect of state modernization efforts was the strengthening of the institutional framework to address the growing food safety challenges and trends imposed by new global paradigms. These challenges included not only normative and regulatory issues but also aspects related to production promotion, social protection, and scientific and technological development. In this regard, in 2009, the first project to transform the Ministry of Agriculture into the Ministry of Agriculture and Food was sent to parliamentary proceedings. The project suggested leaving under the same institutional framework all the links of the food chains, from primary production to industrial processing and including all food items. However, in the end, the project did not move forward. That same year, the Presidential Advisory Commission on Food Safety became an agency and developed the first national food safety policy with a modern approach to food chains, an intersectoral approach to food safety issues and a methodological and conceptual framework of risk analysis to manage those issues. Subsequently, on two more occasions, in 2011 and 2019, the executive branch attempted, unsuccessfully, to transform the Ministry of Agriculture. A major sticking point was the lack of consensus regarding the incorporation of the fisheries and aquaculture sector, currently under the Ministry of Economy, to this new institutional framework.
The performance of the Chilean food system
76The following is a review, based on official indicators and data, of the performance of the Chilean food system. This review considers the contributions (or lack of) of the food system to the achievement of objectives and commitments in the sanitary, productive, technological and commercial areas that Chile has assumed as part of its public policies.
77In the area of health and social protection, by 1920 the infant and preschool mortality rate in Chile was 300/1000 live births. At the beginning of 1960, this figure was 120/1000, the highest in Latin America. The figure is now around 8/1000, the lowest in the region. This significant decrease is closely related to the reduction of child malnutrition, from a prevalence of 37% in the 1960s to 0.1% today. This reduction has been possible thanks to the sustained efforts over time of various public policies to support families, such as the PNAC National Supplemental Feeding Program. PNAC distributes about 16 million kilograms of food per year and is linked to various programs that have objectives and/or target populations. These programs include the child, adolescent and women’s health programs, as well as the program for the control of chronic non-communicable diseases, the PACAM Complementary Feeding Program for Older Adults, the PASAF Program on Healthy Eating and Physical Activity, and the EINCV Nutritional intervention strategy through the life cycle to prevent obesity and other noncommunicable diseases run by Ministry of Health. Other programs include the Chile Grows with You (Chile Crece Contigo) program of the Ministry of Social Development and the PAE School Feeding Program of the National Board of School Aid and Scholarships, which provides more than 3.5 million daily rations to elementary and middle school students. All these programs incorporate different actions that include nutrition, food and physical activity.
78Regarding obesity and overweight indicators, according to the latest OECD report, 74% of the Chilean adult population suffers from obesity or overweight, more than any other country and ahead of both Mexico and the United States. These data have been recently confirmed by the National Board of School Aid and Scholarships, which noted an increase of 0.3% of severe obesity in children from kindergarten through secondary school, with respect to the 2019 measurement. This information confirms what has been repeatedly pointed out in recent years by various reports from specialized agencies on the subject. In addition, the 2017 OECD Obesity Update report indicates that, between 2016 and 2017, Chile recorded a 9.3% increase in the proportion of obese adults over 15 years of age.86 The 2018 Nutritional Map by the National Board of School Aid and Scholarships indicates that 51.7% of school children suffer from overweight and obesity, a prevalence that is increasing in young children compared to the 2017 measurement.
79ECLAC estimates that around 10% of Chile’s population lives in poverty, the second lowest after Uruguay. According to data from the Ministry of Social Development, both poverty and extreme poverty have fallen considerably since 1990 to date. In 2017, 8.6% of the population was in income poverty (1,528,284 people) and 2.3% in extreme poverty (412,839 people). Poverty has a higher incidence among women than among men; 9% of women and 8.2% of men face income poverty. The difference between the two groups in relation to extreme poverty is not statistically significant. Between 1990 and 2017, the incidence of poverty and extreme poverty has consistently decreased for both men and women.
80Income poverty in 2017 totaled 7.4% of the population living in urban areas, and 16.5% in rural areas. Extreme poverty also has a higher incidence in rural areas, with 4.4% versus 2% for those living in urban areas. For people living in both urban areas and rural areas, poverty and extreme poverty rates by income have decreased over the 1990 to 2017 period. Rural areas continue to have the highest income poverty rates, more than double the rates in urban areas.
81It is important to note that the indigenous population has a higher incidence of poverty and extreme poverty than the non-indigenous population. A total of 14.5% of the indigenous population lives in income poverty, while this figure is at 8% for the non-indigenous population. Extreme poverty levels show the same trend. The incidence of poverty, extreme poverty and income poverty have among the indigenous population has decreased, with income poverty falling significantly between 1990 and 2017. The incidence of income poverty is higher among the population born outside Chile than among those born in Chile: 10.8% of those born outside Chile are in income poverty, while among those born in Chile this figure is 8.5%.
82The dimensions that contribute most to multidimensional poverty are work and social security, housing and environment, and education. Together, these issues account for nearly 85% of multidimensional poverty. Poor nutrition problems contribute 3.4% within the health dimension, which in turn accounts for 10.4%. No other dimensions or sub-dimensions directly associated with food are identified among the determinants of multidimensional poverty.
83According to the WHO report on the global burden of foodborne diseases, Chile is located in the “Americas low-adult, low-child mortality-stratum B” (AmrB, according to Ezzatti methodology) category. In the AmrB region, the average rate of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) caused by foodborne diseases is 140/100,000 inhabitants. This region ranks as the sixth least-affected region out of 14, which brings it closer to the AmrA region (Canada, Cuba, United States), with an average 35/100,000 DALYs, than to the AmrD region (Bolivia, Guatemala, Haiti, Nicaragua, Peru), with 315/100,000 DALYs on average.
84Between 2011 and 2018 the number of foodborne disease outbreaks rose from 962 to 1,134; however, the number of people affected decreased from 6,736 to 6,050. The severity of illness also fell, with a drop in the hospitalization rate from 1.44 (248) to 1.03 (191) and in the rate of deaths from 0.05 (8) to 0.00 (0). The four main causative agents, in order of importance, are Salmonella, scombroid, Staphylococcus aureus and E. coli. Around 40% to 50% of foodborne disease outbreaks occur in the home and 30% to 40% in facilities where food is prepared and eaten, with fewer occurrences earlier in the supply chain.
85The Chilean Food Information and Alert Network (Red de Información y Alertas Alimentarias – RIAL) noted in its 2017 annual report a total of 223 national alerts. Of these, 221 applied to food, one to animal feed and one to materials in contact with food. With regard to the alerts for food, 183 corresponded to products destined for the domestic market, of which 97.3% were food produced in the country and 2.7% were imported products. As for the type of hazard involved in the domestic product alerts, 93.4% were chemical hazards, 5.5% were biological hazards and the rest were physical or other hazards. Fresh fruits and vegetables accounted for 90.2% of the alerts for food for human consumption, 4.9% for livestock products, 3.3% for aquaculture and 1.1% for industrially processed foods. The types of hazards detected were chemical hazards in fruits and vegetables in 100% of the cases. Alerts for food of livestock origin were associated with biological hazards in 88.9% of the cases.
86According to the Global Food Security Index prepared annually by The Economist, which measures the fundamental determinants of food security in 113 countries, until 2019 Chile ranked 24th in the world and was first among 18 countries in Latin America for the areas of access, availability, and safety and quality. The main gaps with respect to the world average were related to the volatility of agricultural production, risk infrastructure and public spending on R&D.
87In 2020, with the inclusion of the natural resources and resilience dimension and the increase to 59 indicators, Chile dropped to third place in the Latin American ranking and to 34th place in the world ranking. The main gaps with respect to the world average in this new scenario are related to the: availability dimension (resources for safety programs, –58.4%); access dimension (agricultural infrastructure, –7.7%; crop storage capacity, –85%; risk infrastructure, –5.8%; food safety agency, –27.4%); safety and quality dimension (national food guidelines, –38.9%); natural resources and resilience dimension (average annual losses from severe storms, –41.3%; agricultural water availability risk, –14.6%; eutrophication, –16.8%; marine biodiversity, –18.3%; food import dependence, –15.5%; natural resource dependence, –31.3%).
88The gaps in availability and access can be explained by the change in methodology, and will surely be positively corrected in future indexes. Meanwhile, those related to natural resources and resilience are mostly existing gaps that are being progressively addressed through tools such as clean food production agreements. These complex issues will be difficult to resolve, so it is likely that for Chile to return to the prominent position it once held, the national food system will have to take on the challenges that these new dimensions impose from the perspective of food security and sustainability.
Social upheaval, the pandemic, the constituent process and food style outlook
89Like the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the 2007 subprime crisis and the MW 8.8 megathrust earthquake of February 27, 2010 that devastated large areas of the country, the serious crises that have hit Chile in the last two years (i.e., the social upheaval of October 2019 and the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic) have been tough tests for the food system and the thus far successful trajectory of more than thirty years of development of the national food industry.
90With the current social and health crisis, the system has proven to be resilient and robust in the operational continuity of supply chains, adapting complementary feeding programs, school meals, and emergency food distribution programs, ensuring universal access to food for the population in sufficient quantity and quality. However, according to the latest United Nations report on world food security and nutrition (UN, 2020), 11.8% of the Chilean population suffers from moderate food insecurity and 3.8% from severe food insecurity, while overweight and obesity remain unchanged, indicating a worsening of the nutritional situation compared to previous reports. It remains to be seen whether this is the result of the current situation or, as some analysts see it, a structural deterioration of the system’s capacity to meet the needs of the population under the new paradigms of healthy eating and food security.
91Regardless, the social and health crises are a clear warning. In terms of sustainability in the medium term, beyond the ability to competitively respond to consumer preferences or market trends – as has been done so far – the crises have made major challenges for Chilean food system obvious: the production and trade of food, the effects on people’s health and well-being, climate change, the environmental sustainability of the industry (circular economy and green technologies), livestock animal welfare, regional equality and social inclusion in the processes of production, processing, distribution and consumption, food culture, food sovereignty, and the right to food, among others. All these issues will undoubtedly be part of the debate that will take place in the constituent process soon to begin (BCN, 2020).
92The complex social, economic and production scenario due to the Covid-19 pandemic has created an uncertain short- and medium-term outlook for Latin America and the Caribbean. Not only does the sector face issues regarding the adaptive capacity and sustainability of food systems and possible long-term consequences, but the overall performance of the region’s economy, which is strongly based on food production and trade also faces challenges. The most alarming aspect in the immediate term has been the abrupt slowdown of supply chains as a result of the massive worker infections, as well as sanitary measures requiring isolation and movement restrictions implemented by the authorities. Beyond the obvious economic damage caused, the slowdown could have potential consequences in terms of the health and welfare of animals and the deterioration of agricultural products; the spread of pests and diseases; environmental contamination; loss of food safety and quality; loss of food security (market shortages); disruption of social peace; and situations that could in turn worsen already fragile public health, environmental, productive and socioeconomic conditions.
93In view of the above and according to WHO recommendations, the governments of most countries in the region have declared the food industry as an essential sector. They have taken measures to safeguard production processes and distribution logistics and implemented prevention and contingency management protocols that are compatible with social distancing and movement restrictions imposed by health authorities. These actions have allowed the reasonable operational continuity of food supply chains, with no serious shortages to date, aside from pre-existing situations that have undoubtedly been aggravated by the crisis.
94The economic damage caused to date and the economic projections for the coming years offer a bleak regional outlook. Governments will need to take significant economic measures to support industry players, especially small and medium-sized enterprises. There is also an urgent need to create new balances between the appropriate levels of protection of citizens against hazards that affect public health, food safety, industry competitiveness and food system sustainability. First, lessons must be drawn from the current pandemic experience, such as the high degree of uncertainty that, despite technological advances, continues to govern risk management; the increasingly complex multidimensionality of hazards and their impacts requires a conceptually more sophisticated (one health paradigm) and technologically more complex (digital transformation) approach to the management of sanitation, safety, sustainability, and public health risks, and the need to develop a culture of resilience in organizations that allows them to face crises and emerge stronger.
95It is ironic to note that the Covid-19 crisis has acted as a catalyst for ongoing phenomena, accelerating the need to respond to growing challenges in the areas of productive and commercial development, scientific and technological development and human capital, public health, and social and environmental sustainability. These challenges can be grouped into the following areas:
Environmental: the effects of climate change, the most evident manifestation of which is the intensification of climate phenomena, with consequences that include the displacement of global agroecological maps and the modification of epidemiological patterns of pests and diseases. These effects call for responses that advance mitigation, adaptation and resilience to climate change.
Production: the transition from physical and analog production systems to computerized and digital systems, through the adoption of software and hardware technologies for sensorization, automation and robotization. There is also a need to ensure interoperability and analysis of large volumes of information and its use, among other things, in better risk and uncertainty management, the development of new products, as well as support in logistics, administrative and related service management processes.
Socioeconomic: mitigation of the impact on employment and income of short-term phenomena such as Covid-19 and structural phenomena such as the digital transformation of industry at the labor level, through reconversion of workers’ skills and capacities, the adaptation of school curricula, technical and professional education, and the promotion of innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as the implementation of plans to create new opportunities and integration in territories and social groups that are lagging behind.
Science and technology: the promotion of R&D and the training of advanced human capital for the development of applied technological solutions and innovation in response to the needs of society, with a special focus on health, sustainability and digitalization.
Commercial: the need to adapt the food supply to new consumption patterns and trends, taking into consideration the demand of increasingly informed, connected, conscious, critical, and challenging consumers who resort to non-traditional forms of information and distrust authority, whose consumption decisions are increasingly complex and include ethical, environmental, social, health, indulgence and economic aspects, among others. More specifically, the post-pandemic effects of increased food consumption at home must be accounted for, as well as the use of digital retail platforms, home delivery, the desire for local products and stronger trade protectionism.
Sanitary: the global trend to raise the adequate level of protection in terms of health, safety and quality, with increasing demands on pathogen control through stricter biosafety, sanitation and hygiene standards, restrictions on the use of agrochemicals, veterinary drugs, synthetic additives in production processes and stronger requirements. The intensification of regulations on the nutritional composition of processed foods in response to the pandemic of overweight and obesity and its association with the incidence of chronic non-communicable diseases in the population, especially young people, focusing on the reduction of critical nutrients such as sodium, sugars and saturated fats.
Consumers: in societies in transition, such as many in Latin American countries, in recent times we have witnessed the collapse of many conventions and customs in various areas, which have been, or are being, replaced by new approaches that are ever more demanding in terms of ethical, political, technical, social, organizational and other standards. The food sector has been no exception. In the last twenty years, we have witnessed a growing sensitivity of the population to the effects of food on health and well-being. It is a fact that after the current crisis, citizens will demand ever higher standards from the food supply, which will pressure industry and governments to move towards providing safety and quality guarantees that exceed current regulatory requirements.
96In short, we must prepare ourselves for a post-Covid-19 world, where the vulnerability or sustainability of food systems in general and of companies in particular will depend, among other things, on the political, institutional, economic, technological, productive and cultural adaptation process that countries undertake to face this new reality of risk and uncertainty. To this end, the one planet, one health framework of the United Nations seems to be more relevant than ever in the search for integrated multivariate risk management models. Finally, the crisis will pass and the future is uncertain, but it is here now, so we must develop resilient strategies to tackle new emergencies as an urgent and unavoidable task to which we must all – public, private and civil society stakeholders – contribute.
Bibliographie
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References
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Notes de bas de page
77 According to the FAO (2013), Chile has the lowest rate of chronic child malnutrition (2%) and the lowest level of overall malnutrition in children of all countries in the region (0.5% prevalence).
78 The first precursors of food programs in Chile were private initiatives run by charities. In 1912, the La Gota de Leche (“drop of milk”) program was created to distribute milk to the most deprived and malnourished children and mothers.
79 In 2015, Act No. 20.606 was complemented by Act No. 20.869 on food advertising, which regulated the advertising of breast milk substitutes and established a tax levy on sugary soft drinks in the tax reform under discussion.
80 National food guidelines were also reviewed, and the Eating for a healthier life guide was replaced by the current food guides for the population. Instead of the food pyramid, the new guides use a new image that promotes variety and portion control.
81 This movement was supported by the signing, in 1961, of the Alliance for Progress cooperation agreement between the United States and around twenty Latin American countries that were members of the Organization of American States. The agreement provided financial support for agrarian reform processes on the condition that they were liberal and democratic.
82 The Chilean economic transformation between 1973–2003. Chilean Memory. National Library of Chile. http://www.memoriachilena.gob.cl/602/w3-article-719.html
83 A concept coined by Chilean businessman Mario Montanari in the early 2000s and institutionally adopted by the Ministry of Agriculture by successive governments from 2006 onwards.
84 Mario Montanari is a sociologist, businessman, vice-president of Invertec Agrofood SA, former director of INDAP IV Region, and former Undersecretary of Agriculture.
85 Chilealimentos is a private entity acting similar to a trade union, representing companies that bring together processed food companies and machinery, equipment and services companies involved in food processing.
86 The FAO’s State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2019 report indicates that Chile has one of the highest rates of child overweight in Latin America and the Caribbean, with 9.3% of children under 5 years of age, a figure that remains unchanged from the same report in 2018.
Auteurs
-
Michel Leporati Néron
Director of innovation and technological transfer at the University of Talca, Chile. Director of CERES BCA biosafety services and food quality. mleporati@utalca.cl; michel.leporati@ceresbca.cl
- Pablo Villalobos Mateluna
Le texte seul est utilisable sous licence Creative Commons - Attribution - Pas d'Utilisation Commerciale - Pas de Modification 4.0 International - CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Les autres éléments (illustrations, fichiers annexes importés) sont « Tous droits réservés », sauf mention contraire.
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