Sustainable agriculture and healthy food in Chile

Abstract

Chile is located in the far SW of South America. It occupies an area of 756,100 km2, making it the world’s longest country and, possibly also the narrowest. It has a population of 17 million, with a growth rate of 1%, where 13% is over 60 and 13% is rural population. Life expectancy at birth is 79, and the agricultural sector represents 8.6% of the country’s labor force. Its agriculture, marked by a great diversity of climates and soils, permits the cultivation of a broad range of species, which include aquacultural ones. They not only provide a significant portion of the population’s staple food but also contribute significantly to world food, especially salmon, fruit and wine, which makes it possible to generate a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $258.16 billion USD, representing 8% of the total, expressed in GDP per capita, which totaled over $23,000 USD in 2014.

The country has highly trained human capital and a solid infra- structure for conducting R&D&I, which has allowed it to be successful

in eradicating the child nutritional deficit that prevailed until the first half of the last century, through the implementation of effective public policies. At present, however, the problem is related to a worrying level

of obesity, which also affects the adult population, for which aggres- sive public policies are beginning to be promoted.