Abstract

Located in the transverse valleys, the inland creeks, and the dry coastal land, the agricultural communities in the Limarí Province, Chile, strive for survival in a semi-arid climate characterized by ever more frequent droughts and a subsequent water demand that grows year after year, menacing their main economic activities: goat farming and small-scale agriculture and mining efforts. This scientific note refers to the current state of the agricultural communities in the Limarí Province, more particularly, to the agri-environmental and socio-cultural problems these communities are facing. Cerro Blanco Agricultural Community (located 50 km to the south of Ovalle) and nearby areas, for example, are undergoing the effects of drought, desertification and erosion, exacerbated by climate change, affecting crops and goat farming. This fact, alongside the socio-cultural problem characterized by lack of opportunities for development, scarce jobs within the communities, and few institutions to proceed with secondary and vocational studies, is causing the migration of the younger generations to the cities. Serious efforts should be made to help these communities attain a higher level of personal and cultural development, establish a more sustainable relationship with their natural environment, and hence, maintain their ancient agricultural traditions.