Adopting Sustainable Practices: Tensions between Policy Design and Implementation in Chilean Small-Scale Agriculture

In recent decades, government programs and public initiatives in Chile have aimed to integrate sustainable practices into small-scale agrifood production. Following recommendations from international organizations such as the FAO, small-scale producers have been encouraged by the Ministry of Agriculture to adopt agroecological approaches and environmentally sustainable practices in areas such as irrigation and livestock management.

Using an Anthropology of the State and Institutional Ethnography framework, this presentation will analyze how these guidelines have been incorporated into public policy documents and reflected in the discourses of public officials and consultants involved in program design for small-scale producers. Drawing on data collected through document analysis, observations, and interviews with small-scale producers, peasants, and local public officials, I will examine how sustainability guidelines are implemented at the local level and the extent to which producers adhere to them. The use of ethnographic techniques enables the identification of gaps between policy design and the actual adoption of environmentally sustainable practices among small farmers. Based on the data, three main groups of small-scale farmers can be identified: (i) those whose lack of resources prevents them from transitioning to agroecological production or adopting sustainable practices; (ii) those who had already been implementing these practices and use public programs to further develop their skills and knowledge; and (iii) those who have recently begun adopting sustainability guidelines and are weighing their individual benefits and drawbacks.