PATAGONIA

Two patterns of economic,

social and spatial organization
The most representative
landscape...
The oasis
…
 1) SHEEP AND GOATS
The wheat and cattle boom in the Pampas
pushed the sheep into Patagonia. This
process was not simple:
 The territory of Patagonia was not a

“desert” in terms of population. Based on

the discourse of “progress”, three military
campaigns were done to conquer
indigenous groups: The Campaign of the
Desert, The Campaign of Nahuel Huapi
and The Campaign of the Andes.
 The federal government started giving
“Campaña del Desierto”
“Campaña del Nahuel Huapi”
“Campaña de los Andes”
SHEEP
S Patagonia is the
main sheep
producer of
Argentina with
two products:
wool and mutton.
sheeps in
Patagonia
3. Chubut account
for 90 %
4. Santa Cruz of
Argentine
5. Río Negro an stock.
Merino
 Río Negro

 Chubut

 North of Santa Cruz

Corriadale
 Santa Cruz

 Tierra del Fuego

Wool
Main features of
wool production  90 % of this
production is
exported (Italy,
China, Chile,
France, Uruguay
and Germany).

 Chubut accounts
30 % of
Argentinean wool
production
 Great differences among ranchers
taking into account: quality of land,
access to technologies, mortality of
sheep and rates of reproduction,
quality of wool, ways of selling their
products…. Profits obtained !!!

 75 % of Patagonian wool exports has

some process of industrialization.
Mutton
 75 % of
mutton is
produced
in
Patagonia.

 Santa Cruz
accounts
50 % of
Argentinea
n mutton
production.
 Exports oriented to Europe. Main
markets: Spain, Great Britain,
Belgium, Italy.

 Argentina could export more mutton

to Europe (in 2003 Argentina only
exported 23 % of the quantity
allowed by EU).
 Land tenure
 Sheep herding in a desert requires vast
expanse of land (2 or 2,5 hectares per
animal).
 The number of sheep needed to support a
family is 7000, that means a farm of 17
500 hectares.
 “Minifundistas” are more dominant in goat
herding than in sheep herding (Neuquén
and Río Negro)
Province/N - 1000 1000-5000 5000- More than
umber of 10000 10000
sheep

Neuquén 74 % 25 % 0.6 % 0.4 %

Río Negro 95 % 2% 2% 1%
Chubut 58 % 36 % 5% 1%
Santa Cruz 11 % 57 % 24 % 8%
Tierra del 18 % 21 % 33 % 28 %
Fuego
PATAGONI 66 % 27 % 5% 2%
A

http://www.enjoy-patagonia.org/articulos-relacionados/articulos-
cuando-avanzan-arenas.php
 Desertification
 94% of
Patagonia
presents some
degree of
desertification
risks
 Chubut and
Santa Cruz are
the provinces
more affected.
 Causes of desertification

 Natural:
extremely
fragile
ecosystem

 Social
Overgrazing:
Sheep and
goats pull up
the plant by the
2) IRRIGATED AGRICULTURE
The colonization of the Valley of the “Río Negro”
started in the 1880s, after the Campaign of the
Desert.

Some important events that contributed to the

creation and growth of this area of production
 The arrival of the railroad (border dispute with
Chile)
 The construction of the system of irrigation

 The arrival of Italian and Spaniards immigrants

 The distribution of irrigated land in medium size

family farms
 The role of British Capital
Owner of:
 The railroad ( the

geopolitical basis of its

construction did not
preclude the idea of
obtaining profits )
 “Argentine Fruit

Distributors”, a company in
charge of the
commercialization of fruits.
 An experimental station

which offered technical

assistance to farmers.
 It became the main social
agent by
 paying 50 % of the infrastructure of the
irrigation system.
 taking charge of the construction of the
irrigation system
 subdivision of land in small farms (no more
than 10 hectares)
 selling at a cheap price the apple and pear
trees (credits for the farmers).
 providing free technical assistance.
 SMALL AND
FARMER
MEDIUM SIZE
FARMERS

PACKING

TRANSPORT BRITISH
CAPITAL
FREEZING

COMMERCIALIZ
ATION
 From “alfalfa” to “apple and
pear trees”…
 From 1890s to
1930s the main
crop in the Alto
Valle was alfalfa.

 By 1930, fruit
production became
the most important
crop.
 The small farmers

 By 1947, the farms from 1 to 20 hectares

accounted 73 % of the farms in the area.
 Life for the first farmers was hard. Take
into account that an apple tree, at that
time, needed ten years to started being
profitable.
 At first, farmers had to work not only in
the farm but also outside in order to be
able to support their families.
 Later, the good prices of fruits allowed
farmers to obtain profits.
 The markets

 From 1930s – 1940s,

70 % of the
Argentinean fruits
exports were
produced in the Alto
Valle.
 Exports: fresh fruits.
 Argentinean fruit
production had
advantages to gain
the European market.
 However….
Things started changing by 1950s:

 Technologies applied to the preserve fruits

reduced the seasonal advantage that
Argentina had to gain European markets.
 Countries such as Chile, New Zeeland and
South Africa started competing with
Argentinean production.
 The British capital left the production
 Packing, transport, freezing and
commercialization started being in charge
of Argentinean investors.
 From small farmers to
agribusiness… changes in
social organization
Small farmers:

 Even organized, could not negotiate in

favorable terms with the companies in
charge of packing, freezing and
commercialization.
 They started having higher cost of
production
 Their production started losing its quality.
 Their farms became “minifundios”
 Agribusiness in the Alto
Valle
The importance of a few number of big
companies started growing during the
1970s and 1980s.
 Companies (such as Moño Azul, Expofrut)

have their own:

 primary production – in big farms-,

 packing,

 freezing,

 commercialization system
 Looking at one of the
successful companies: Expofrut
 The company was created in 1971 to
export fruits directly to European
supermarkets by an Argentinean
businessman and a German.
 By 1975, the company had already bought
land in Alto Valle to have their own
primary production.
 In 1981, Expofrut became the second
export company of apples in Argentina.
 Main strategy of the company consists of
selling the fruit directly to the
supermarkets.
 Italian investors bought almost all the
company.
 The company started buying land in the
“Valle Medio” of Río Negro in order to
develop new systems of production: new
varieties, high quality of the production,
introduction of the most modern
technologies.
 The company started investing in the
industrial phase of fruits production.
 In 1997, the company won the concession
of the port “San Antonio Este” (Río Negro)
 Currently, the company exports 28 % of
the Argentinean fresh fruits exports
 The company has an amazing
territorial development in
Argentina:
 Salta: orange and grapefruit production
 Tucumán: lemon and orange production. Commercial office
 La Rioja: grape production
 Entre Ríos: oranges, tangerines production
 Mendoza: apple, pear, grape and garlic production.
Commercial office.
 San Juan: grape and garlic production. Commercial office.
“Frigoríficos”
 Buenos Aires: commercial and administrative office.
 Puerto Campana (Buenos Aires province)
 Puerto San Antonio Este
 Neuquén and Río Negro: apple, pear, grape, onion
production.
Other oasis in Patagonia
 New irrigated areas in the
North of Patagonia
 Production of wines for the
international markets: Malbec,
Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot
Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc
 Private colonization of new
irrigated areas (3200 hectares) in
the valley of the Río Neuquén.
 It has received a financial push
with important subsidies of the
federal government.