2024 Theses Master's

The Promises and Potential of PRODESAL: A Case Study of Improving Living Conditions in a Chilean Rural Region

Abarca Blanch, Camila Andrea

This research analyzes how Chile’s Programa Desarrollo Local (Local Development Program, or PRODESAL) improves living conditions for peasants living in the rural municipality of Pichidegua, in the Libertador Bernardo O’Higgins region in south-central Chile.

This region has a long history of oppressive living conditions for farm laborers and other workers in rural areas, with PRODESAL being upheld as a remedy for this issue. A human rights framework was used for the first time to analyze the impacts of the program on living conditions, guided by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other Workers in Rural Areas (UNDROP).

Interviews were conducted using a community-based participatory format with members of the program in Pichidegua as a case study, and their responses were thematically coded for trends as either favorable or critical of the program. Results showed that although there has been notable progress in recent years, there are major gaps in basic needs such as healthcare. Public-private collaboration with locally-run cooperatives and projects has proven beneficial, and is in line with the program’s updated objectives in 2022, which include two Axes: one dedicated to improving Productivity and Income, and the other to Improving Living Conditions.