Argentina

IFAD Asset Request Portlet

Country

Argentina

9

Projects Includes planned, ongoing and closed projects

US$ 395.06 million

Total Project Cost

US$ 142.51 million

Total IFAD financing

96,840

Households impacted

The Context

Argentina is the second-largest country in Latin America and has the fourth-largest population (44.5 million). In 2018, 3.6 millions of people lived in rural areas (8%).

With a 2018 gross domestic product (GDP) of more than US$518 billion, the country is one of the largest economies in Latin America. It is among the world’s leading food exporters, with large-scale agricultural and livestock industries. Agricultural exports accounted for more than half of total national export, valued at US$72 billion in 2014. 

In 2001, Argentina suffered a severe economic and financial crisis that left 61 per cent of the population living in conditions of poverty or extreme poverty. After more than a decade, still a third of the population live in poverty. In the last year, poverty rose from 27% to 35%, affecting more than 15 million people. Additionally, 7.7% of the population live in extreme poverty. Indigenous communities have particularly high levels of poverty.

At least one third of the 3.6 million people in rural areas live in poverty. They have limited access to land, frequently in less productive areas far from larger markets. They also lack land tenure security, innovations to increase their productivity and socio economic opportunities for improving human capital within rural communities.

Rural people have limited access to the technical assistance and financing they can use to modernize production. Because of weak rural organizations and transportation restrictions, smallholders also face difficulties in accessing markets and value chains. Additionally, farmers are increasingly affected by environmental problems linked to climate change, such as more intense and frequent extreme weather events such as droughts and floods. The areas at risk of desertification and water scarcity are increasing. 

The Strategy

In Argentina, IFAD loans work to reduce rural poverty by investing in smallholder farmers’ organisations as well as indigenous communities and helping them generate their own income. IFAD activities target the poorest areas of the country and its strategies focus on productive interventions for the poorest small farmers, especially vulnerable groups such as women, young people and, increasingly, indigenous peoples.

Our country programme strategy (2016-2021) is based on national priorities and is structured around three strategic objectives:

  • Income and strategic opportunities.
  • Human and social capital.
  • Institutional development.

Activities preserve the central role played by farmers’ and community organizations in the rural transformation process.

Key activities include:

  • bolstering the economic sustainability of families and their organizations by improving and diversifying productive activities, resilience, negotiating power in value chains and nutritional practices;
  • strengthening the capacities of poor rural people and their organizations to improve the management of their organizations, their socio-economic conditions and their capacities to engage in dialogue with the public sector; and
  • building the capacity of government institutions to support rural development.

 

Country Facts

Argentina is the second-largest country in Latin America and has the fourth-largest population with 43 million inhabitants, 8 per cent of whom live in rural areas.

The country is one of the largest economies in Latin America and among the world’s leading food exporters, with large-scale agricultural and livestock industries.

Country documents

Related Assets

Argentine Republic Country strategic opportunities programme 2016-2021 Type: Regional and country document, Country Strategic Opportunities Programme
Region: Latin America and the Caribbean

Country Experts

Projects and Programmes

Projects Browser

PLANNED Under design after concept note approval

APPROVED Approved by the Executive Board or IFAD President

SIGNED Financing agreements signed

ONGOING Under implementation

CLOSED Completed/closed projects

No matching projects were found
No matching projects were found
No matching projects were found

Related news

Related Assets

IFAD-funded project to help smallholder farmers make the transition to agroecology in Argentina

June 2022 - NEWS
IFAD, the Government of Argentina and FONPLATA Development Bank have launched a new rural development project to help smallholder farmers transition to more resilient agroecology-based production while also taking advantage of digital technologies to improve their livelihoods and income.

Related stories and blogs

Related Assets

Winds of change for Argentina’s herders

May 2023 - STORY
Climate change poses a myriad of challenges for Argentina’s rural herders. But one woman has no intention of backing down and tells us how she plans to forge a new way forward.

The importance of data management for pastoral communities

July 2020 - STORY
Globally, between 200 and 500 million pastoralists manage rangelands that cover over a third of the Earth’s landmass.

Related publications

Related Assets

Mapeo Participativo - Diálogos y acuerdos entre actores

January 2018
Este trabajo surge de la sistematización de cuatro experiencias de resolución pacífica de conflictos territoriales por la tierra, el agua y otros recursos naturales usando el mapeo participativo. La metodología aplicada incluye la identificación del problema y luego el mapeo participativo como iniciador del diálogo, la incidencia pública y la generación de acuerdos.

Investing in rural people in Argentina

September 2017
In Argentina, IFAD helps reduce rural poverty by investing in smallholder farmer organisations and indigenous communities to increase their income. The country programme strategy (2016-2021) is based on national priorities and has three strategic objectives focusing on income and strategic opportunities; human and social capital; and institutional development. The strategy emphasizes the central role farmer and community organizations play in rural transformation processes. Key activities include: • bolstering the economic sustainability of families and organizations by improving and diversifying productive activities, building resilience, improving their negotiating power in value chains, and promoting good nutritional practices • strengthening the capacity of poor rural people and organizations by improving their managerial capacity, socio-economic condition, and their ability to engage in dialogue with the public sector • building the capacity of government institutions to support rural development.

The issue of land in Argentina

August 2011
The purpose of this paper is to identify the central issues around land tenure and management in Argentina, in light of the global changes in agriculture and rural territorial development. In addition, a series of policy options are put forward to address the most conflictridden situations, keeping in mind the goals of equity and development.

IFAD in the MERCOSUR area

December 2008
Working to enable poor rural people to overcome poverty, IFAD operates in the MERCOSUR countries at two levels: • at the subregional level, within the institutional framework of MERCOSUR, it promotes a platform for dialogue between governments and smallholder farmers’ associations, with the aim of increasing public investment in family farming • at the national level, it provides funding and technical assistance to governments for the implementation of rural development programmes and projects that translate into action the agreements reached at subregional level.

Related videos

Related Assets