Towards Sustainable Agriculture in Chile, Reflections on the Role of Public Policy

Abstract

Given the increasing demand for agricultural products and the environmental degradation that current agricultural practices generate, there is an urgent need to change the activity. Sustainable agriculture emerges as an attractive alternative to mitigate the adverse effects of the activity on the environment, increase its resilience to global change, and increase the current population’s quality of life without sacrificing that of future generations. However, identifying effective policies that can achieve these goals remains elusive. In Chile, this sector has been one of the drivers of growth and poverty reduction but still faces many environmental and social challenges, and there is a growing public demand for achieving sustainability from an economic, environmental, and social perspective. Public and private institutions have made relevant efforts to increase Chilean agriculture sustainability. However, the need to transition towards sustainable agriculture is still not recognized by all stakeholders. In this article, we review current challenges and policies to achieve a more sustainable agriculture in Chile.