Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development in Rural Territories Final Report Challenge 1: Improve management techniques It would difficult to meet the increased demand if processing companies work only with dairy farms directly contracted by them, since the availability of their land is limited. It is therefore necessary to continue working with them as key production units, and invite local small dairy farms to participate in their value chain. For this it is necessary to address some issues.
First, it is essential to develop and extend breeds of cows with high milking capacity such as Holstein.76 To achieve this, it is necessary to facilitate low-interest financing for small farms which purchase high-capacity dairy cows, and create an appropriate framework for repayment with daily processing companies.
The dairy farms that sell raw materials directly to the dairy processing company studied are mostly descendants of Europeans with rich experiences and expertise, such as pasture management, provision of balanced artificial insemination techniques, integrated management of hygiene in the milking process, bacteriological control, and temperature control before clearance, which are all necessary for management of dairy cows.77 These farms can produce between 20 and 30 liters of milk per head per day through proper management of high capacity cows (Holstein, among others), which is much higher than the national average, 10 liters per head per day.
Many small farms raise Holstein, but do not have appropriate management techniques. It is obviously not sufficient to introduce breeds of cows with high capacity, but is necessary to provide training on proper management and follow up actions for small dairy producers.
Challenge 2: External assistance to processing companies The processing company studied offers technology transfer and monitoring to directly contracted dairy farms. If the number of dairy farms increases, it is inevitable for the company to expand its service coverage and monitoring of technology transfer to those new farms.
However, it is likely that the extension of service coverage would put additional costs to the company, push up sales prices of dairy products, and result in the loss of competitiveness in this industry. The assistance by the public sector or donor agencies to organize small farmers could be one of the areas to support the initiative of processing companies. For example, raw milk is
76 For example, to achieve the recommended by the WHO in the domestic market, keeping the same number of dairy cows and milking the volume of calls for increased 33,866 head of cattle. “Exploitation of medium and small farms in Paraguay,”, 2004 MAG / JICA. 77 ABC Digital La Vaca Lechera: un verdadera fábrica de alimentoshttp://fw3.abc.com.py/suplementos/rural/articulos.php?pid=182210
77 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development in Rural Territories Final Report currently transported to collection centers with carts or motorcycles by respective small producers. It might be possible to support organize small producers, establish a collective collection system, and reduce transport costs as a result.
Challenge 3: Improve road infrastructure There are several sections in rural areas that become impassable in rainy season. To address the issue, it is necessary to consider two groups of paths: rural roads from the production area to the collection centers where containers are installed, and main roads.
Rural roads play an important role in ensuring the supply of raw milk according to the plan of processing companies. Rural roads in poor condition make it difficult for producers to comply with the plan, and adversely affect their income. Improving conditions of rural roads from the collection centers to the main road is therefore critical. There is a clear need of co-management of rural roads by the administration, processing companies, and communities. For example, rural roads within the community could be built and maintained mainly by the community, while access rural roads from main roads to communities could be maintained by processing companies and the public sector.
Challenge 4: Reduce processing cost Of gross profit of 1,025 per liter Guarani of the processing plant, net profit is only 6% and the remaining 94% are costs. In particular the materials purchased from a third party, including paper packaging accounts for 51% of their expenditures. It is considered necessary to reduce the cost of processing by increasing production and as a result, increasing the ability to negotiate prices with external suppliers.
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Organic sugar is more than 60% of the total According to the MIC, table (ordinary) sugar that was previously dominant is being replaced by organic sugar through the continued growth in the latter. In 2007 the production of organic sugar surpassed table sugar (figure 3.2-33). Of the total production of 106,598 tons in 2008, 61.2% was organic sugar, most of )'96% `HYP`` 9' 6 564$9#8)43 )3 6 '9 D which was oriented for export. 78 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development in Rural Territories Final Report
The sugar produced in the 22 major refineries is exported to 27 countries through 18 exporting companies. Total export volume increased from 32,551 tons in 2003 to 101,553 tons in 2008. The main market was North America (68,837 tons, 67.8%), of which the U.S. accounted for 97%. The export to European countries was 29,622 tons (29.2%), mainly Germany (26.8%).
According to the Paraguayan Chamber of Sugar, direct employees of sugar industry are estimated to be 31,250 people, including farmers and mill workers. Additionally, there are 220,000 people indirectly involved in this industry, including transport companies, financial institutions, suppliers of agricultural equipment and materials, workshops, farm machinery, and so on.
Production of sugar cane According to CAN 2008 there are 20,550 agricultural production units in the Eastern Region, the main production areas of sugar cane, with the planted area of 81.8301 hectares and a production of 5,079,612 tons.78 Small producers with less than 20 hectares occupy 87% of agricultural production units, and produce 40% of total sugar cane production.79 Disaggregating by departments, The largest proportion was produced in Guairá (38.6%), followed by Paraguarí (21.5%), Caaguazú (15.7%), Cordillera (6.3%), and Caazapá (5, 7%). These five departments together accounted for around 88% of total production. Between 2000 and 2008, the area planted increased by 68% and the production volume by 112%. These figures demonstrate the increasing trend of production of sugar cane.
The 22 major mill companies produce sugar with raw materials from total 77,171 hectares, among which 28% belongs to those companies. However, only six of the 22 mill companies have large areas of cultivation, and many of the mill companies depend on supply of raw materials by small producers.
78 Among the total land planted, 27% belongs to mill companies. 79 122 large producers with land of more than 500 hectares (0.5%) occupy 36.2% of total production. 79 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development in Rural Territories Final Report Value chain of sugar industry As a case study, the value chain of sugar in Cordillera department is analyzed. The value chain consists of the following stages: production → collection → processing → export.
According to CAN 2008, there are 1,464 agricultural production units in Cordillera department with 5,111 hectares, )'96% `HYP`a 19% #( )3 4& 8(% 79' 6 )3$9786D producing annual 317,390 tons or approximately 38,000 million Guarani. The main costs consist of: preparation of agricultural land and labor labor for harvesting, which together are estimated to be approximately 8,300 million Guarani; and materials (fertilizers) costing 5,360 million Guarani. In addition to producers and employees of the mill companies, the following are involved in the value chain: 25 equipment and materials suppliers in the department; 12 equipment and materials suppliers outside the department; temporary harvest workers; and extension technicians directly employed by the mill companies. The price of delivery to mill compnaies is 120,000 Guarani per ton, and 38,000 million Gurani of total production.
The sugar cane harvested by producers is first transported to collection centers by horse cart carriers. There are several collection centers in the department, equipped with cranes for loading trucks. The loading transportation costs are borne by producers, and are estimated to be approximately 640 million Guarani. The cost of equipment and materials are paid by mill companies. The value added in the production process is estimated to be 29,060 million Guarani, which is calculated by total production (38,000 million Guarani) minus the cost of labor (8,300 million Guarani) and the cost of transport (640 million Guarani).
Then, the harvested sugar cane is transported to mill factories by trucks. This cost is borne by the mill companies, estimated to be 640 million Guarani. Sugar cane is processed into sugar with the value of USD 26.2 million (120.5 billion Guarani). The breakdown of this amount is 67% sugar (ordinary 41%, organic 26%), alcohol 27%, and honey for distilleries 6%.80 Most of the organic sugar (USD 6.55 million) is exported. In the case of organic sugar processing, the stages of production, transport and processing are performed within the department, while the
80 Miel para destilerías. 80 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development in Rural Territories Final Report activities from the port of landing are performed outside the department. Assuming the retail price in Italy (one of the destinations of exports) being 100%, 36% of the economic value were generated within the department.
Potential of demand for organic sugar The demand for organic food has been showing a steady increasing trend in recent years. For example, the demand in the U.S. increased by 70% between 2004 and 2009.81
World sugar consumption is estimated to be 151 million tons, among which the consumption of organic sugar (240,000 tons) represents only 0.2%.82 The main supply countries are Paraguay and Brazil (100,000 tons each), and it is no exaggeration to say that these two countries dominate almost the entire market of organic sugar. For example, 83% of organic sugar to the U.S. market supplied through Fair Trade is made in Paraguay.83 However, since the U.S. imposes import quota to respective export countries in order to protect the domestic sugar industry, it is difficult to increase export to the US in a short period of time.84 According to the Florida Crystals Food, a food company in the US, sugar supply in the US falls short of demand for one to two million tons a year.85 To meet this potential demand, the Paraguay’s largest sugar company has already invested USD 20 million to expand its plants in order to produce 100,000 tons annually.86
The European sugar market import trade barriers through tariffs on sugar imports, but there is no import quota system as in the US.87 The demand for organic sugar shows a rising trend in Asian markets such as Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea and Oceanic markets in Australia and New Zealand.
Thus, global demand for organic sugar is likely to increase in the future, but perhaps not dramatically in the short term. Therefore, it is appropriate to strengthen the production system by carefully watching the trend of other countries.
81 Hansen 2010 http://www.suite101.com/content/demand-for-organic-food-increases-dramatically-over-5-year- period-a268687 31/3/2008. 82 FIBL (Reserch Institute of Organic Agriculture)Mercado Europeo de Azúcar Orgánica y Comercio Justo 2006. 83 Commercio Justo. 84 Currently the US government set import quota 7,258 tons for Paraguay. Paraguay exported total 7,100 tons in 2009. 85 Florida Crystals Food. 86 There is indeed a potentially drastic increase in demand for organic sugar in the future, since major companies such as Coca Cola, Pepsi, and Kelogg, which use a vast amount of sugar for their products, have been developing new products using organic sugar. 87 The main raw material for sugar in Europe is beet.
81 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development in Rural Territories Final Report Challenge 1: Support organic farming The organic cultivation of sugar cane use organic fertilizers that are heavier and bulkier than chemical fertilizers. Thus, it is necessary that sugar mill companies take the initiative to facilitate the transportation of fertilizers so that small producers can use them, given the very limited means of transportation available for small producers. At the same time, it is necessary to change the transaction mechanism which determines the unit price based on the degree of sugar content (brix) in order to encourage producers to produce organic sugar.
Challenge 2: Reduce cost of sugar companies The average yield of organic sugar in factory is around 30% less than that of ordinary sugar. The extraction of glucose also takes longer time because other techniques need to be applied, such as centrifugation. In addition, organic sugar production requires cost for monitoring to ensure traceability as organic products. There is a need to reduce these costs by improving technical and management processes. Organic sugar is more expensive than ordinary sugar, but at present there is no quoted price. Therefore, in practice, prices are to be determined through negotiations with import companies. To find new customers, it is necessary to participate in fairs and similar events and establish direct contact with customers individually.
Challenge 3: Raise priority in the government MAG developed the “National Program to promote the cultivation of organic sugar cane (Period 2003 - 2008)” in 2003, and yet the Program has not been implemented due to the lack of budget. Prior to this Program, “The Law 3481 on Development and Control of Organic Production” was also enacted in June 2008. Since the preparation for supporting the production of organic sugar has been already completed, the next step would be to raise the priority of this initiative within the government to allocate necessary budget and put the Program into practice urgently.
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Yerba mate is a crop whose value chain has been most developed in the sense that small producers are directly involved in production, and perform processing, packaging and sale in the country. According to Club Mate, which is based in Argentina, there are 10 large and around 200 small plants for production of yerba mate in 88 Paraguay. The three main departments are: )'96% `HYP`b 4192% 4& 564$9#8)43 4& D%6" 2 8% 88 See http://www.clubmate.com/informacion-general/la-yerba-mate-paraguaya-con-mejor-sabor-al-conservar-etapas- del-proceso-tradicional. 82 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development in Rural Territories Final Report Guaira (26), Central (23) and Itapúa (16). According to the data from those companies, total domestic production of yearba mate and related products was approximately 30,000 tons in 2009.
According to CAN 2008, the area sown with yerba mate in the Eastern Region is 18,305 hectares, and 9,505 agricultural production units produce 76,663 tons. 60% of production and 93% of agricultural production units consist of small producers with less than 50 hectares. As shown in figure 3.2-35, sub-region 4 produces the highest volume of production, in particular in Itapúa department, which is followed by departments of Alto Paraná and Guairá. The volume of production of raw materials in sub-region 4 is estimated to be 33.355 million Guarani, and 2,700 units are directly involved in agricultural products.89 Sub-region 4 is thus at the center of the yerba mate industry, serving as the supply base of raw materials.
Value chain of yerba mate The value chain which is centered around a producer at Obligado in Itapúa is analyzed as a case study.90 This chain consists of: Producers → collection centers and primary processing plants → storage → processing plants → distribution center (wholesale) → retail.
First, there are approximately 410 agricultural production units (members) that annually produce about 210,000 tons of yerba. There are at least three organizations supporting their 6!&)#4 `HYP`YG 4784 D 98)1)$ $%7 "698 7 production, including the $% 2 8% processing company and suppliers of equipment and materials. The yerba harvested are sipped to over 30 primary processing plants in the area for drying and milling. 91 In this process, at least 650 people are directly employed. )'96% `HYP`c 478 3$ '6477 564&)87 4& D%6" 2 8% As a third-party agents
89 The estimate is based on the results of the analysis of the value chain under EDRIPP, which is described below. 90 Expecting an increase in demand, one of representative yearba mate producer in Itapúa constructed a new storage space (100 tons) for dried leaves of mate. 91 The processing company has only one primary processing plant of its own. 83 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development in Rural Territories Final Report supporting this process are vendors of firewood used for drying green leaves. The weight of these leaves is reduced to 38% in this process.
Primary processing plants that collect green leaves serve as the places where processing companies distribute necessary equipment and materials to mate producers, and maintain close communication to ensure quality. They are therefore the key points that strongly influence the production plan and product quality of the company.
After two years of maturing leaves in the warehouse of the company, those leaves are sent to secondary processing plants in which they are ground, mixed with other ingredients such as green tea, and packaged.
Employees directly engaged in this )'96% `HYP`d 14B '6%%37 3$ (%6" 4& 8 5@ process are 94 people. Those involved indirectly are providers of additional ingredients and packaging materials. The products are shipped to seven wholesale centers in Asunción, which includes a wholesale center directly managed by the company.
The retail price of yerba mate reaches 3.6 times higher than the selling price of mate farm. The price at the wholesale stage reaches 2.9 times, which generates value added in several districts, primarily in Itapúa department. In this sense, this product contributes substantially to the local economy.
Market potential of yerba mate Domestic demand for yerba mate has been increasing steadily in line with the increase in population. A considerable portion of demand for yerba mate in Paraguay is products made from yerba mate and other ingredients. There are a variety of products with different value added (diet, medicinal effects). The proportion of exports is still very low in total production, accounting for merely 2.7%. The main export destinations are Spain, Bolivia, and the USA. This low percentage has more to do with the small size of the export market than the production 84 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development in Rural Territories Final Report to satisfy only domestic demand. If the current production system is maintained, it will be difficult to meet foreign market demand.
Challenge 1: Increase unit yield The average yield of yerba mate in Paraguay is 2.4 tons per hectare with a maximum of 4.3 tons per hectare in Itapúa department. This productivity is much lower compared with that of Brazil and Argentina where the yield reaches the level of 10 tons per hectare. The high performance in Itapúa is primarily due to the fact that mate producers (mainly small) consist of members of the processing company. Members can benefit from technical assistance and other assistance offered by the company. To increase productivity nationwide, it is necessary to extend the scope and frequency of technical extension services by both businesses and the MAG. Undoubtedly it is also necessary for government research centers to develop varieties of yerba mate that has higher productivity than existing ones.
Challenge 2: Save distribution costs and improve quality In the production process of mate, it is necessary to mature dried and cut leaves for two years in storage. Low productivity at the production stage (orchards), and the high cost of storing the raw materials in the process result in a relatively high cost of production. In order to strengthen competitiveness at each stage of value chain, it is necessary to save costs and improve quality. For example, aiming to expand its markets abroad, Club Mate considers it essential to introduce “good practices,” best management techniques of the production process, at all stage of value chain.
The primary processing generates gross profits of 46%. One possible way to save distribution cost and improve quality might be to introduce keiretu, a grouping of collection centers, primary processing plants and small and medium enterprises under the umbrella of a large company. This could stabilize the volume of products and save the cost of processing. In addition, this keiretu could help transfer knowledge and techniques (know-how) that large companies have been accumulating in order to standardize quality of products.
Challenge 3: Ensure other inputs )'96% `HYP`eG 496)78 6%')437 4& The primary processing consumes a lot of firewood 6 '9 D
85 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development in Rural Territories Final Report for drying and grinding leaves before delivering them to the processing company. The planned reforestation is necessary to ensure the supply of firewood. It is also important to cultivate varieties of medicinal herbs with high economic values that are mixed with yerba mate as additional ingredients.
4 &1(#)$ Tourism industry in Paraguay is not large in the economy since its value added accounts for only 1% of GDP (2009), and generates foreign exchange earnings of about USD 112 million. However, it has been growing steadily in the last ten years, and possesses a great potential for the diversification of rural industries.
The National Secretariat of Tourism classified the Eastern Region in five regions according to potential tourism resources, including Asunción Capital. The characteristics of each region are briefly summarized below.
Region 1 Suburban Asuncion: Franciscan Route (Departments of Central, Cordillera and Paraguarí)
The so-called “Golden Circuit” includes the scenic nature, colorful villages, a variety of handicrafts, historic areas of the War of the Triple Alliance, and the route by which the Order of St. Francis of Assisi came to Paraguay in the second half the fifteenth century, and began his mission of evangelization among indigenous population.
The town of Caacupé (Cordillera) is both a sacred place and a major producer of leather crafts, wood, and so on. Also, Pirayú (Paraguarí) is known for Ñandutí92, traditional crafts of Paraguay and the only place that produces handmade hammocks.
Region 2: South - Jesuit Route (Departments of Misiones, Ñeembucú and Itapúa)
It is a route through which the Jesuits propagated christianity in the 17th Century.This route goes through indigenous towns that they built, the remains of the War of the Triple Alliance93, big rivers and hills, wetlands, grasslands, and forests of the
92 They are hand-made lace, round, square or rectangular shaped combined web. 93 The War of the Triple Alliance or the Great War was the greatest war in American history between 1864 and 1870. It was the war in which a coalition formed by Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina fought to defeat Paraguay completely. The Paraguayan population fell from 520,000 to 210,000, and the country had to cede a quarter of its territory (140,000 km2) to Brazil and Argentina. 86 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development in Rural Territories Final Report Atlantic Alto Parana, where visitors can enjoy a scenic landscape. In Misiones department, one can find varieties of woolen outfit like poncho, and San Miguel district holds Festival of Ovecha Rague, the annual festival of folk music and crafts in June.
Region 3 The Center -- Tapé Avirú (Departments of Caaguazú, Guairá, Caazapá)
This region corresponds to the central area of the Eastern Region, maintaining beautiful natural environments and traditional customs over years. This region is called Tapé Avirú in the native Guarani, indicating the place to set out on a journey to the world without evil.
The town of Yataity (Department of Guairá) is famous for its shirts, ties and blouses of A’o Po’i94, a typical cotton fabric in Paraguay.
Region 4 East – Technological Route (Departments of Alto Paraná and Canindeyú)
This region is called “red earth” where vast lands for soybean production are spread. Within this region, there remains the natural forests called the Upper Parana Atlantic Forest in which a valuable ecosystem is conserved. The Parana river, which run through the eastern part of the Eastern Region, is known for the Itaipu Hydroelectric Power Plant, the largest hydroelectric dam in the world. This region is also called “Technology Route” because of the Itaipu Technological Park in which universities and research centers are concentrated.
Region 5 North – Adventure (Departments of San Pedro, Amambay and Concepción)
The eastern part of this region borders with the country’s highest mountains (Department of Amambay) with wetlands along its edge, archaic cave drawings, and the hill where the last stage of the War of the Triple Alliance was fought. Its western part is Concepción department along which the Paraguay river, the country’s largest natural current, Apa river, and Ypané river run through. This region is called as “Adventure”, where visitors can enjoy great outdoor activities. Concepción departmnet is known for its wood crafts (chairs, tables), a’o po’i and traditional weaving Encaje Jú.95
94 Embroidery on wool fabric using white thread and a variety of colors. 95 As Ñandutí, the lace is woven by hand on wooden racks. The ends are thicker than Ñandutí and used as clothing and everyday items. 87 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development in Rural Territories Final Report Indigenous Culture and public safety According to the SENATUR, the number of tourists who visited Paraguay from 2000 to 2007 increased at an average rate of 5.3% annually, which is much higher than the average in Latin American countries, 2.9%. The charm of Paraguayan tourism is based on nature and culture, including religious elements. The growth of this sector is due in part to the efforts by SENATUR to publicize the charm of those tourist resources through its web page, and to the efforts of the MIC to actively participate in tourism and crafts exhibitions abroad through its network of export promotion. To further develop Paraguayan tourism, it is urgent that each region formulates a concrete tourism development plan to put the characteristics of their local resources in practical use, based on the Master Plan of Tourism Sector Development prepared by SENATUR in 2008.96
Compared with the large tourism countries like Brazil and Argentina, Paraguay must be well aware of a number of constraints and challenges that are not easy to overcome, such as the scarcity of
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96 Plan Maestro del Desarrollo del Sector Turístico de Paraguay 2008. 88 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development in Rural Territories Final Report tourism resources that are unique attractions in Paraguay, the improvement of accessibility, among others. On the other hand, it also has a number of strengths that can become the basis of tourism development. First, Paraguay is one of the few Latin American countries that keep indigenous culture, as evidenced by the fact that the Guarani language is recognized as one of two official languages. Second, it is a very safe country with an extremely low crime rate. It is critical to emphasize these two points, and link them with other tourism resources in respective regions.
Synergy effect of agriculture and tourism It is worth articulating a tourism strategy that effectively utilizes the image of Paraguay as the “producer of organic agriculture”, an image that has been developed through the export of some organic agricultural products such as sugar.
Agritourism is an initiative to link tourism development with the image of “Paraguay, producer of healthy foods,” taking advantage of gradual growth of organic farming. It is important to design and promote package tours that include visits to production areas, in particular targeting European and North American visitors with strong preference for organic foods. In fact, Costa Rica is a country known for ecotourism, and designed several tourism packages of this type. The office in Paraguay Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) has already identified the potential of agritourism as departmental and individual targets.97
It is well known that consumers with strong preference for organic foods are also interested in handicrafts, not only for its simple appearance, but also on the land and the history of the people who have made and the history of these items. In this regard, by transmitting this information strategically, there is a possibility to expand the niche market. Also, it is expected to attract tourists who return to the country. This will not only increase opportunities for direct sales of products of small producers, but also employment opportunities in the tourism industry to improve their income level and, eventually, to help rural residents settle in the rural area. To induce this synergy effect, there is a need to combine strategic infrastructure development and capacity building of stakeholders involved.
Challenge 1: Limited capacity of SENATUR The capacity of SENATUR is still insufficient to elaborate development plans, implement projects and coordinate the actions of local governments, private sector and tourism management. The limited capacity appears to result in impeding effective investment and promotion in order to take advantage of available resources. For instance, in the case of tourism
97 IICA. 2009. Documento de Trabajo No 5 Consideraciones sobre Turismo Rural en el Paraguay. P29-30. 89 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development in Rural Territories Final Report development centered around religion and historic spots, it is worth considering development of well-written guidebooks, and high quality crafts accompanied with a short booklet with photos and brief episodes of authors. In the tourist spots, it might be also worth considering a support program in which restaurants run by local communities prepare a menu of fresh, organic agricultural products. To start and manage these activities sustainably, it is required that local governments (departmental and district) have sufficient capacity to develop and implement their respective plans involving local community, and coordinate the views and interests of different social actors and relevant agencies. In this process, the SENATUR is expected to promote capacity development local governments and facilitate coordination among central agencies and the private sector.
Challenge 2: Improve infrastructure For successful tourism development, it is essential to develop a number of basic infrastructures such as roads, hotels, restaurants, electricity, telephones and information. These infrastructures not only meet the requirements of tourists, but also help improve the quality of life of local people. There is a need to develop investment plans through effective coordination among concerned institutions and agencies.
Challenge 3: Develop capacity of social actors In addition to improve infrastructure, tourism development would never take off unless decent services up to the expectation of tourists are provided. In parallel with the development of the tourism industry, there will be a need to train employees at hotels and restaurants, as well as local guides, tourist police, among others.
90 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development of Rural Territories Final Report pap
The people (citizens), their organizations and social networks constitute the vital backbone of sustainable development in rural territories. The key features of these organizations are the structure, methods of operation and hierarchies, and these are decisively affected by cultural roots, traditions and religion. The performance of these organizations also affects access to social services (health, education, land, etc.), the modes of production and consumption patterns. In this case formal and informal organizations are included. In addition to cultural diversity it is essential to pay special attention to differences of gender, age and ethnicity.
This chapter describes the current status of key issues in social dimension. Those key issues are: social capital as an essential element in territorial development processes; women, rural youth, and ethnic groups as key stakeholders in the design of strategies; access to land, education and health. Those are major issues in which inequalities are revealed. pph Social capital in the Eastern Region of Paraguay is a product of historical and cultural elements, structural elements that shaped social environment in different regions, and economic environments. However, patterns are unambiguous in all areas that relate to rural populations, whose cultural profile defines manifestation and construction of social capital. In Paraguay, social capital is classified in two main groups: informal social capital formed by family, friends and the neighborhood; and formal organizations such as committees of farmers, neighborhood associations, sport clubs, among others.
A history of formal organizations in rural areas is summarized briefly in the following.
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The first organizations in rural areas are those that were created with support from the Catholic Church and focused on the construction of a new rural society. The main action lines of the Christian Agrarian League were collective work at farms known as “Minga” or “ojopói,” the organization of community collection centers, and education of rural children. The education of rural children was outside the formal system, powered by modern ideas of “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” by the Brazilian educator Freire and “liberation theology.” The military regime of Stroessner did not tolerate these initiatives, and fought until the movement was dismantled completely.
91 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development of Rural Territories Final Report
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This period is characterized by a widespread fear in the rural area as a result of political repression and dismantling of all types of organizational initiatives from the experience of the Agrarian League. No major organizations were established, and only very local events this time piloted by new international cooperation projects began timidly to work in some areas of the Eastern Region, such as German cooperation and others.
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The establishment of democracy in 1989 coincided with revitalization of rural organizations, enhanced by various international cooperation projects and NGOs. In many cases, leaders of farmers took the initiative to organize people, following restoration of democracy and supported by political backing. During this period, MAG intensified its activities in rural areas, installing the system of rural producer organizations so that farmers can have access to services such as training, credit and supply of inputs.
From this brief historical review a basic regional type of social capital in the Eastern Region is proposed. Although there are slight differences among regions, the structure and behavior of social capital in the regions are similar, and therefore do not need further classifications.
Traditional rural areas These areas are characterized by the primacy of strong family ties and proximity (neighbors and friends) with low levels of formalization, acting in parallel with formal organizations, with their primary cultural patterns of social solidarity. Some areas have generally individualistic behaviors, and their economic activities are primarily for self consumption. The vast majority of rural families have experienced structural transformations through modernization of society, in terms of family composition due to migration to urban areas, productive activities, and access to goods and services. Some areas have experienced increasing poverty, while others have experienced modernization and integration into new value chains, which indicates the polarization of Paraguayan society.
There is a general tendency that people perceive organizations as a tool to have access to free goods and support services. Because of this, many tend to seek short-term profits or expect paternalism. As a result, public policy interventions aimed at improving the quality of life of rural families has ended up promoting organizations that aim to receive paternalistic support from the state.
92 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development of Rural Territories Final Report
Those traditional rural areas are distributed in most of the Eastern Region, with the exception of the eastern portions of the border departments – Canindeyú, Alto Paraná and northeastern Itapúa.
Settlement areas from overseas and the areas under their cultural influences These areas are located in border departments – Canindeyú, Alto Paraná and Itapúa.
Social environments in those areas are classified into two major groups. The first is settlement areas formed in the early decades of the twentieth century by European and Asian immigrants who are characterized by social capital built on formal institutions, especially in the forms of cooperatives.
This group is located especially in the northern central portion of Itapúa department, and is known regionally under the name “German and Japanese colonies.” Today numerous people from different groups other than Germans and Japanese live in those areas. This group is characterized by having a worldview different from the traditional Paraguayan peasant society, marked by different production dynamics, aimed primarily at business success and individual prosperity. Arrived in the country in the late nineteenth and the early twentieth century, these immigrants faced poverty as a challenge to be overcome with work ethic, personal effort, saving, improvement and social advancement.
The other major group consists of immigrants from Brazil in the 1970s. Brazilian settlers were themselves descendants of German and Italian settlers who had settled earlier in the neighboring country. The cultural profile of these immigrants is very similar to those described above, sharing the values of work and savings as factors of social advancement and economic progress as well as technology-intensive production. Unlike the descendants of European and Asian immigrants, Brazilian immigrants and their descendants did not base its growth and expansion in the cooperative model, but did so with private enterprises. ppi
Rural social organizations in Paraguay have generally limited capacity to take actions autonomously without support of public policies or NGOs, primarily due to structural and historical issues. Rural organizations are not seen as ones to solve everyday problems or promote community development, but rather a tool to obtain free external support from agencies
93 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development of Rural Territories Final Report outside community. Therefore, it is not surprising that the rural organizations do not cooperate or remain active after the termination of external support.
Rural organizations have long been facing the challenges of transportation of products and the access to market. The participation in value chains will provide a strong incentive for rural people to join organizations because they can solve historical challenges of family farming mentioned above, namely, transportation and market access. The conventional schemes of rural extension services are aimed at improving quantity and quality of products. If the schemes are adjusted to a new one that involves small producers in value chains and increase sales, they could improve market access and increase revenues as a result.
With regard to support of NGOs, one of the greatest challenges is that their methodologies and approaches are too different. There are other challenges as well, for instance: Technicians are dispatched without proper training to field work; overlapping activities are undertaken in the same area, as in the case of Caazapá; and those activities are contradictory to public policies. Indeed, there are cases in which some NGO initiatives are not aligned with national plans such as the Strategic Economic and Social Plan (PEES) and the Plan of Public Policies for Social Development 2010-2020.
There are, however, successful experiences rural agricultural extension project in which local technicians from MAG and technicians from NGOs support with effective cooperation to influence communities. For NGOs, alliance with MAG will provide legitimacy from political and institutional support of MAG. For the MAG, alliance with NGOs will enable the MAG to expand the coverage of areas, and provide support closer to communities, especially in logistics.
Currently, universities do not have a close connection with rural social organizations. This is because the programs of university education are most often associated with services and labor markets in urban areas. However, considering the importance of linking rural producers in value chains, it is worth exploring partnership frameworks in which programs on management and marketing in universities could be utilized in order to build capacity of producer organizations in rural areas.
!
The role of Catholic churches in social support for rural areas has been becoming undoubtedly smaller along with the change of cultural environments under modernization. And yet the churches remain one of the most trusted institutions in Paraguayan society, especially in Asunción. However, interventions of some church members in the political arena, the reduction
94 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development of Rural Territories Final Report of staff in church organizations and the weakening of finance of Catholic churches have adversely impacted their ability to play more dynamic roles in rural communities.
" " #
Rural schools for basic education are well rooted in rural community, and can serve as a tool to cooperate, communicate and have access to rural community. As for technical colleges or agricultural schools, they face serious challenges, such as a declining number of students, and shortage of financial resources to purchase necessary materials and maintain facilities.
An innovative initiative is the Program for Training of Agricultural Professionals and the Program for Training of Farm Management Professionals, which were launched in 2004 jointly by the MAG and MEC.98 The Program for Training of Agricultural Professionals is a newly designed program in which students can learn technical knowledge and skills through teaching and practice on agriculture and livestock, in addition to ordinary subjects. Students practice technical knowledge and skills at the farms near schools under supervision of agricultural professionals and farmers, and thereby promote rural development. This program is aimed to provide students an opportunity to have an image of success in modern agriculture.
Some new actors to be involved in rural development in the future are private universities. Currently, most of private universities offer courses on law, economics, management, and education. However, they do not offer activities directly linked to agriculture or rural development, and rather focus on education to prepare young people for urban workplaces.
There is a need to involve universities, especially those that have programs related to rural issues, in the new strategy for DSTR, and work on them to play an important role (commitment) under the new strategy, so as to avoid isolated and discontinuous initiatives. It is also suggested to utilize professional expertise of business administration at university, in particular for the analysis of production chains and the exploration of local and regional markets (through consumer surveys and preferences for agricultural products, detecting potential markets).
$ %# " #
Rural social organizations have participated in various projects and initiatives, such as: Improving productivity; land reclamation; diversification of production; post-harvest management; and collective collection and shipment of products. Levels of achievement and success have been limited, however, since they took sectorial approaches and faced extreme 98 Iniciación Profesional Agropecuaria (IPA), Iniciación Profesional de Técnico en Administración de Finca.
95 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development of Rural Territories Final Report difficulty to generate concrete and visible achievements in the process. Since the markets for them to sell their products have not been developed, they could not fully achieve outcomes as desired.
The conventional relationship between small producer organizations and support agencies in projects has been built around the search for specific gifts and benefits from the projects. Culturally there are tendencies that small producers try to avoid organizations and cooperation with public institutions and private organizations. Individualism and undemocratic leadership are the main factors that inhibit the success of development initiatives. In reality, rural social capital is largely based on blood and friend relationships rather than formal institutions or organizations.
At the same time, it is suggested to understand the operation of territories by identifying key partners, urban markets at vicinity, sources of funding and support. This will help achieve intended impacts by ensuring that the scope of activities is extended to cover from farms to the end of the value chains of market. This in turn will require technicians who can analyze regional issues that transcend agricultural dimension as an entire whole. ppp &
"
Looking at the socio-demographic characteristics of rural women, a significant decrease of population above 10 years old is observed between 1991 and 2008. As shown in table 3.3-1, the number of women decreased by 27% more than men (25%). The difference of population between men and women has also declined by more than 10% from 1991 to 2008.
The main causes of the decline of rural population are the migration from rural to urban areas and the international emigration (particularly women) escalated sharply between 2005 and 2008. Many leave for urban cities lured by its modern image of urban life. In particular, this tendency is notable among young people who are able to catch information of urban life style, aided by rapid development of telecommunication technology.
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Female migration has been having negative impacts on rural families, such as the weakening system of social reproduction and the decline of workforce. The emigration from rural areas means for many women to break out of the traditional rural life that favors men. The increased enrollment of women in universities and higher educational attainment seem to reinforce this hypothesis. Urban cities offer them space with freedom and diversity, as opposed to traditional rural communities where men have much better access to those benefits.
& The traditional roles and responsibilities of women in rural areas of the Eastern Region are predominantly housekeeping activities and parenting, spending several hours preparing family meals from breakfast, lunch and dinner, and washing clothes. Washing clothes is usually carried out as a community, with other women, in the nearest stream.
The household works of women vary among household, depending on the family structure. The number of children and their age are crucial to understanding the situation of women in rural areas. For instance, if a family is young and their children are less than ten years, they require women much more household work and time; while when the children grow and reach adolescence, women gain more autonomy, somewhat reducing their burden.
Once children start living outside the household, the roles and tasks of women on child raising decline, and yet they must carry out all household works by themselves.
! Nowadays, rural women are actively involved in agricultural activities, and take part in the discussions and decision making on production with male. The socio-economic environments in the Eastern Region have been changing gradually and yet substantially. One of those changes is that an increasing number of women start working on agricultural activities. In fact, the departure of children from family, migration of local workforce to urban areas, and fragmentation of production plots contribute to a growing presence of women in productive activities.
97 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development of Rural Territories Final Report
In traditional Paraguayan society, agricultural activities used to be carried out almost exclusively by men (father and sons), and hire outside labor (men) in planting and harvest seasons. These days, women are mobilized as part of important labor force in agricultural activities, in addition to traditional household work. The entry of rural women into the production system is particularly increasing in the areas where value chains have been established and need unique skills and temporary labor service, particularly in the production of stevia, cassava and sugar cane.
In short, although having been underestimated, rural women are increasingly loaded with agricultural activities in recent years, in additional to household work for which they need to spend a lot of time and effort. The role of women in productive activities is not necessarily new and their contributions are substantive, and yet their importance has not been recognized fairly.
According to Campos, women work between 12 and 14 hours depending on agricultural activities for the period.99 Sometimes, they work up to 16 hours in new settlements due to poor living conditions and infrastructure. On the other hand, men work from 8 to 10 hours and their work increase up to 12 hours in busy farming seasons, although they receive support from women in those seasons. Even if women help men in agricultural activities, household work is viewed as part of the works of women, and therefore put extra burden on women’s shoulders.
Finally, the key problems of rural women are summarized below: • Low visibility and recognition of contribution and relevance of women • Difficulty in access to public services (health, education and justice) • Work overload • Crisis of rural culture and an increase of migration in urban areas
( The Secretariat of Women is the only public institution that works on specific gender issues, safeguards the rights of women, and assists them. The government set out the functions of the Secretariat in rural areas, and established branch offices in respective departments from which policies on women are implemented. There are no differentiated policies between urban and rural areas. Structural weaknesses and poor coordination with other institutions have been limiting its impact on tackling problems that affect women.
Several NGOs are directly or indirectly involved in issues of rural women, but they are particularly active in Caazapá department.100 The vast majority of the NGOs is linked to the
99 Campos, Celsy. 2008. Situación de las mujeres rurales en Paraguay. FAO. 100 For example, Action against Hunger, Manos Unidas, Cectec, Cideal, Kuña Aty, Altervida.
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Spanish cooperation and incorporates the human rights approach, focusing mainly on issues related to reproductive health and domestic violence.
# # " " Some NGOs do not work explicitly on gender issues, but include them through a cross-cutting approach. They insist on improving the living conditions of women within the context in which they operate.
The work of institutions, both public and private, has been actively conducting discussion on problems of rural women, and made progress in tackling the difficulties and challenges. However, these efforts have failed to reverse weak positions and prevent abuse against women, because their influence is limited, they have not been fully adopting participatory methods, and local governments and others have limited capacity to seize and sustain the process with ownership. ppq ! )
" "
An increased number of young people with ages between 15 and 30 years have been migrating to urban areas. This has become a factor that influences the change in demographic structures.
As in table 3.3-3, the rural population between 15 and 34 years has declined significantly by about 34% between 1991 and 2008, as a result of a trend of rural-urban migration that can be observed in other countries.
The trend of rural-urban migration is pronounced in small producers with less than 20 hectares of land, and particularly in farms with less than 5 hectares of land. This is not surprising because of poor living conditions of rural areas, the fragmentation of land (production units), and very limited availability of land for agricultural production.
The central problem of contemporary rural youth results in the production system and life styles in rural areas that contrast sharply with those of urban areas. This is not merely a rejection to an old style of rural life by rural youth. This is about a new need for education and entertainment services and new career opportunities that urban areas can offer to the youth.
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The view of rural youth about farmers is highly influenced by observing their parents who are involved in heavy work in agricultural fields, and yet can earn only meager income. In addition, the desire for upward mobility in social strata among the youth is heightened due to the improvement in educational level. This also contributes to the increased migration into urban areas.
Particularly, large increases occurred in the last six years with the rapid expansion of mobile telephone services and the access to motorcycles. The wave of modernization did not stop in rural cities, but penetrated into even the isolated rural areas, and changed the relationship between urban and rural areas that used to be very weak.
The recent emergence of urban dynamism in almost all areas of the Eastern Region has been creating new opportunities for production, commerce and jobs, and enabled rural youth to have access to services such as education. Until recently, the rural youth who could go to universities used to be limited only to those who live in the cities universities are located, and whose parents could afford the costs of university tuitions.
The educational level of Paraguayans has significantly improved among recent generations. The generations between 50 and 70 years old received only basic education (up to 6 years), while those between 30 and 50 years old received basic and secondary education (up to 12 years). Among the young generation between 15 and 30 years old, many of them received advanced
100 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development of Rural Territories Final Report education at the college level.
The current formal education at each level is very disconnected from the reality of rural life in which young people live. The curricula and educational philosophy do not present tools oriented to address different problems and challenges of rural areas. Thus, the education that orient rural youth toward subjects other than rural areas appears to have ended up promoting their emigration to urban areas.
The crisis situations facing the rural areas affect the worldview of rural youth, promote their migration to urban areas, weaken availability of rural labor force, and put extra workload onto other family members, especially women.
The increasing levels of rural income by production chain and intensification and diversification of agricultural products are allowing many families to send their children, both boys and girls, to study at near towns. The increasing use of motorcycle is also a key to reducing the relative geographic distance between urban and rural areas.
The main issues of rural youth are summarized in the following: • A crisis of rural life and rural-urban migration as a response and solution • Search for university education appears to be a response to the rural crisis, but the university education is unrelated to the reality of rural areas, which result in accelerating depopulation of rural areas • Limited access to the labor market, including those with college degree • Possible disappointment about urban life and education
%# #
In the last several decades, agricultural schools used to be the only institutions that provide professional intermediate education for rural youth. The agricultural schools have four modalities, among which 9 schools are managed by MAG, 5 by department governments, 21 by private schools, and 74 by MEC.
In the agricultural schools, students are trained to understand the linkages among science, technology and society as the basis of development, and strengthen the linkages between science and production by introducing technology and scientific process in the production processes.
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# # "
Most rural development projects, mainly with support of international cooperation, typically incorporate the youth as targets, but in practice it is treated tangentially. Gender issues are more pronounced than issues on youth.
To reverse the situation of fragility and crisis in which rural youth live, there is a need of “programs for re-discovery of rural territories,” in which negative images of rural areas such as isolated and archaic, and therefore unattractive should be removed, and rural areas are changed into a place where people can enjoy services and “modern” life, and a place that allows people to earn higher income without ruining culture and local characteristics. To do so, there is a need to improve educational curricula that neglect local characteristics, and introduce courses related to production in respective rural environments. ppr ' +
Paraguay’s indigenous population has grown from 38,000 in 1981 to 49,000 in 1992 and 87,000 in 2002 (2002 National Census). Although increased, its population occupies only 1.7% of total population in Paraguay. About a half of the indigenous population, 44,135 live in the Eastern Region, whereas the remaining 42,964 live in the Western Region. Historically, indigenous population used to be concentrated in the Chaco region.
The departments in the Eastern Region with large indigenous populations are Amambay (12.1%), Canindeyú (11.1%) and Caaguazú (8.0%). The departments that do not have any communities of indigenous populations are Cordillera, Misiones, Ñeembucú, and Paraguarí. The indigenous populations in Asunción and Central departments are very small, 0.1% and 1.2% of total populations, respectively, according to 2002 data. Almost entire indigenous population live in rural areas, although in the last 4 years indigenous communities have been emerging in in some urban areas (in particular, Ciudad del Este, Asunción, and other cities in the metropolitan area).
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The groups whose members speak Tupi-Guarani language and live in the Eastern Region, make a living out of agriculture and other supplementary activities such as hunting, fishing and gathering fruit.101 The following groups are characterized by sharing the Guarani language and culture – Mbyá Guaraní, Ava Chiripá, Pai Tavytera and Ache.
Figure 3.3-1 shows the distribution of indigenous population in the Eastern Region. The largest indigenous groups in the Eastern Region are Ava Guaraní, Mbyá, and Pai Tavytera, and their populations fall between 2,500 and 3,000, comprising the most representative indigenous communities.
101 Tupi Guaraní.
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The situation of indigenous peoples has been characterized by exclusion and vulnerability of their basic living conditions. While indigenous issues have gained visibility, they are still far from articulating specific actions to reverse the situation.
Indigenous communities face many challenges that hinder the maintenance of their traditional life styles.
Structural marginalization in general spheres of social life (identity, health, education, infrastructure)
The indigenous population in general, with no major group differences or location, is in a state of structural marginalization. It is also the population with the least political support. Indigenous groups have extremely limited access to quality public services adapted to their needs. Education is poorly adapted to the culture, and moral and philosophical values of the different indigenous groups. A further problem is that they are often neglected in public policies toward poverty reduction.
A large proportion of the indigenous population is young. 47% are under 15 years of age, and 26% are between 15 and 29. Indigenous women have high fertility with the average number of 6.3 children (the national average is 3.9).
Social fragility and vulnerability of indigenous peoples is also observed in infant mortality. Children under one year of age have a rate of 109 deaths per 1,000 live births (the national average is only 40). In some Ñandeva Guarani and Toba communities, this rate is doubled.
The indigenous peoples’ access to health services, drinking water, sanitation and infrastructure is much less than that of the rest of the non-indigenous population.
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Crisis of the cultural system due to changes in the economic structure from forestry to agriculture The pressure of the surrounding society with its artifacts, customs and “modern” values (individualism, possession of personal items, social advancement, political leadership) presses directly to indigenous communities to change their traditional cultural patterns. Economic and cultural systems of indigenous groups are built and maintained in vast forest, which provided shelter, food, artifacts and especially a complete and necessary worldview that support their daily life.
The reduction of available natural resources in the forest has been forcing indigenous people to abandon their traditional ecosystems and join the Western society that is organized under other cultural patterns very different from those of indigenous groups. These changes of life patterns are not desired by them.
Several indigenous groups in the Eastern Region are now involved in agriculture (cassava, maize, sweet potato) to supplement the diet from animal hunting if they have areas to do so.
As their traditional work areas such as hunting, fishing and gathering have been reducing systematically, opportunities have been growing for indigenous people to engage in cultural exchange and interaction with non-indigenous people, mainly through agricultural activities.
Under these pressures and through facilitation of international cooperation through various NGOs, several indigenous communities in the departments of Caazapá, Guairá and Amambay have initiated and been intensifying agricultural activities. In these communities that have begun these new economic activities, indigenous people have increasing opportunity to receive various support and cooperation. On the one hand, the forest that produces food has been reduced, but there are new bodies such as NGOs, churches, and rural development projects that replace the forest as a provider of food for indigenous people, if not complete.
Special meaning of land for indigenous people Most communities do not have secure ownership of the land they occupy. There are many different situations, for example, communities with a little more than 50 families have 3,000 hectares of its own, while other communities have more members with much less land. However, for indigenous communities of all ethnic groups, land is an asset they inherited from their ancestors and a bond among indigenous groups. Indeed, the land for them has meanings beyond the concept of property rights in the Western culture. Article 20 of the Indian Statute stipulates that every Indian family must have at least 20 hectares.
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The Indigenous Census of 2002 indicates that 44% of the land occupied by indigenous communities belongs to the state, 34% to large producers, 5% to Catholic churches, 1% to NGOs, 10% to others, and 6% unclear. From the perspective that land is the basis of community development, the minimum conditions for survival of indigenous communities are threatened without any security.
Since indigenous people do not own property rights of land they occupy, they are under vulnerable positions in front of businesses, agricultural enterprises aiming to expand their cultivated land, and individual farmers.
In the modern agricultural area, indigenous people are seen as outdated existence. For this reason, there are movements to put economic pressure on indigenous communities to hand over their land for agricultural production. The influential social actors such as producers of soybean, wheat and corn pay rental fees for indigenous groups to avoid conflict with them. In this case, the land of indigenous groups is used for agricultural production, and indigenous groups receive important revenues. However, there are cases in which only leaders of indigenous groups receive rental fees for land. As a result of their contact with external society, indigenous groups have been gradually incorporated in the low strata of socio-economic systems. There are also cases in which small producers use land of indigenous groups, as in the cases of large producers mentioned earlier.
Public institutions such as the Paraguayan Indigenous Institute (INDI 102 ), the General Directorate of Public Registries (DGRP103) and the Institute of Rural Development and Land (INDERT) have not been sufficiently successful to regulate, manage and defend indigenous communities under disadvantage in protecting and negotiating for their interests. In addition, it is difficult for most indigenous groups who live far away from Asunción to proceed with land registration that is already inefficient. Departmental and district governments do not intervene in the problems of occupational rights or use of resources in indigenous lands.
The NGOs and international cooperation agencies, especially the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, play the mediating role of conflicts over indigenous land. This Court requires the state of Paraguay to provide property rights of land for indigenous people. This is a clear sign of helplessness of indigenous groups and the lack of interest and commitment of the Paraguayan State to recognize their rights.
102 Instituto Paraguayo Indígena (INDI). 103 Dirección General de los Registros Públicos (DGRP).
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Insufficient integration and entry in the rest of Paraguayan society The interaction between indigenous communities and other social and institutional actors becomes deeper, the weaker the positions of indigenous communities become. Facing this challenge, indigenous groups are re-defined as those who have been integrated in the western civilization with unique culture.
It has been difficult to include indigenous groups in the general Paraguayan society, especially in the current framework of public policy. This has been generating serious issues in the traditional functions of indigenous communities.
The interactions between indigenous communities and other stakeholders often take place without mediation of public policy or state institutions that ensure equal conditions. For this reason, Paraguayan society often uses the concept of cultural integration of indigenous peoples to their society, forcing fragmentation of their culture and subordinate integration within economic interests and environments.
Under the circumstances, indigenous communities face serious internal problem, i.e., they cannot maintain traditional culture and customs, whereas they cannot integrate themselves in the Paraguayan society or re-define their own cultural heritage.
#
The indigenous groups have different cultural traits which are closely linked with natural resources. Since they make a living out of the extraction of natural resources, their survival and reproduction of groups are closely linked with them.
There are indigenous groups that retain their traditional cultural worldview, since natural resources are sufficient to sustain their life and interactions with the surrounding society are limited. On the contrary, when population pressure is high and the stock of natural resources is low, communities are required to diversify their sources of food production. As indicated in the Atlas of Indigenous Communities in Paraguay, most indigenous groups in all departments routinely practice agriculture and in some cases, they improve traditional agricultural methods, update their cultural worldview as a result.
Many indigenous communities organize cultural events such as dance and initiation rite (a coming-of-age ceremony) routinely. Those cultural events are critical factors to unite members of communities.
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Culture changes always. There are no recent studies that indicate a change in the worldview of each group, but there is strong evidence that daily contact with Western society introduces new elements to traditional culture. The discovery of money as an object of exchange and access to the artifacts of the surrounding society appears to be one of the factors relevant to the process of incorporating new values and technologies. Some behaviors not compatible with the traditional worldview, such as rental of Indian land (i.e., forest that directly affect food stock of communities) for mechanized crop producers, are indications of such changes.
Corruption is another challenge that public policy management faces. For example, the INDI hand over cash and objects (building materials, farm implements, food, blankets) to indigenous leaders, but there are cases that that the leaders sell them in local markets. Political parties see indigenous communities as a source of vote that they can buy out with petty cash, favors and gifts.
Indigenous communities possess land title to community property in perpetuity. They are governed by customary law, protected by Law 904 which governs the Indian Statute. Indigenous lands cannot be divided, leased, borrowed or used as collateral or loan.
$ +# Indigenous communities have been insisting on autonomous governance of indigenous communities, in particular the respect for unique organizational forms. However, this has not been taken seriously in public policy arena.
There are some organizations of indigenous communities. The main organizations104 in Chaco region and the Eastern Region form a coordination organization for autonomous governance of indigenous communities.105 Besides, there are informal, small-scale organizations that acquire land use rights and land property rights to protect tradition of indigenous communities. These organizations also request department and district governments for support. 104 Asociación Teko Yma Jee’a Pavë – San Juan de Nepomuceno, Ava’i y Tava’i (Caazapá), Asociación Che Irö Ara Poty – Campo 9 (Caaguazú), Asociación de Comunidades Indígenas de Itapúa (ACIDI), Asociación Ava Guaraní Alto Canindeyú, Asociación Paï Reko Pavë– Capitán Bado (Amambay), Asociación de Comunidades Guaraníes Alto Paraná (ACIGAP), Asociación de Maestros Indígenas de Caaguazú, Organización del Pueblo Enlhet Norte (Boquerón), Federación Indígena del Chaco Central (FRICC) – parte de Presidente Hayes y Boquerón, Unión Nativo Ayoreo del Paraguay (UNAP ) – Boquerón y Alto Paraguay, Comisión de Pueblos y Comunidades Indígenas del Chaco Paraguay (CPI) – Chaco ParaguayoCoordinadora de Líderes Indígenas del Bajo Chaco (CLIBCH) – Presidente Hayes, Organización Payipie Ichadie Totobiegosode (OPIT)– Alto Paraguay, Asociación Angaite de Desarrollo Comunitario (ASADEC), Organización del Pueblo Guaraní (OPG) – Boquerón. 105 Coordinadora por la Autodeterminación de los Pueblos Indígenas (CONAPI).
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0 *
Besides INDI, there are national plans and programs that have components to respond to the needs of indigenous people.
* iggubighpc* d This plan aims to implement integrated agrarian reform and revival of family agriculture in order to promote establishment of social and cultural identities of indigenous people. It has differentiated policy and strategy for respective indigenous groups, such as preservation of former colonies, infrastructure of basic services for indigenous communities, and development of a production system according to their characteristics and cultural orientations.
$# * ighgbigig This plan includes actions aimed at indigenous communities, primarily on the issue of ownership and use of land of indigenous communities.
Furthermore, this plan indicates the premises for overall social policies aimed at indigenous communities: • Establish a comprehensive policy for indigenous people using participatory methods. • Respect indigenous organizations and community representation, and promote participatory methods in order to strengthen a policy to defend sovereignty of indigenous people. • Establish mechanisms and actions to restore ancestral land rights of indigenous people that they have inherited from their ancestors. • Promote and recognize the sovereignty of indigenous people, the rights to education in their languages, health services, and access to all goods and social services identified in this policy.
/ * # 0 / c*/d This national plan consists of six main activities, among which is a National Program for Food Security and Agricultural Development and Indian Economy (PRONSADAI), in coordination with MAG. The objectives of this program are to promote family and community production of nutritious food, protect traditional products, technologies and ancestral knowledge, and promote handicrafts and services.
* ( '+ The MAG has established the “Program for Agriculture and Indigenous Economy” under the Directorate of Agricultural Extension (DEAg).
109 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development of Rural Territories Final Report
The overall objective of this program is to promote settlement, development and advancement of indigenous people, through sustained interventions according to the cultural and traditional attributes of respective indigenous groups. The specific objectives are:
a) Strengthen family and community production of nutritious foods (quality) in indigenous communities in both regions of the country through the application of integrated technologies and management systems, and the establishment of know-how to ensure food security and sovereignty through participatory approaches. b) Increase production, productivity and competitiveness of production units through the development and transfer of appropriate technologies and implementation of organizational systems for the production, storage, processing and preparing food for the production and marketing of products for the increase in income. c) Encourage self-management and strengthen basic skills for administration and management of resources according to the cultural attributes and traditional concepts. d) Strengthen management and technical capabilities of interagency coordination at the central, departmental, and district levels to implement the program.
110 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development of Rural Territories Final Report
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106 Source: Atlas of Indigenous Communities in Paraguay, 2004.
111 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development of Rural Territories Final Report
In addition to public institutions there are NGOs which work on indigenous issues. A majority of them in the Eastern Region, however, promote sustainable rural development with small producers and indigenous groups, and therefore do not specialize in issues of indigenous people. By contrast, NGOs working on indigenous issues of Chaco are mostly specialized in indigenous issues, and in some cases they work on individual indigenous groups.
All NGOs for indigenous communities insist on solving the problem of property rights of land. They provide support for agricultural production efficiently and effectively, taking advantage of their ample experience and capabilities. This contrasts with cumbersome and time-consuming procedures of land titling administered by public institutions.
International cooperation agencies are implementing projects focusing on indigenous communities through Paraguayan NGOs, such as Altervida, Cectec and others. In some cases, Spanish organizations collaborate with Paraguayan to work on indigenous issues.
In recent years the INDI with support of the UNDP has been implementing projects and programs aimed at reducing poverty and inequality. They include activities such as greater access to education and health, creation of employment, restoration of property rights of ancestral lands, and respect for self determination of indigenous people.
There are also joint working experiences between indigenous and non-indigenous producer organizations107, assisting some indigenous communities in the department of Alto Parana to produce soybean. The various public policy efforts through institutions such as INDI and MAG as well as NGOs are not yet sufficient to reverse the exclusion and poverty experienced by indigenous communities. Public institutions have a great responsibility in the fight against poverty of indigenous communities. Efforts must be multiplied and the various institutions should be better articulated to meet the growing needs.
While NGOs and international cooperation make efforts, they cannot greatly modify the conditions of poverty, marginalization and exclusion, because they lack political strength to intervene. In fact, since indigenous issues are related to the structure of the state, the prime responsibility to solve the problem, specifically the management of the titling of land, falls on the state. NGOs and international cooperation can contribute little unless the state is committed to enforcing its policies.
107 Coordinadora Agricola del Paraguay.
112 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development of Rural Territories Final Report
Two types of measures can be taken. First measure is concerned with organizational and institutional issues. There is a clear need to strengthen the land titling processes, although it is uncertain how far this would proceed in short-and medium term. Strengthening the INDI should also contribute to addressing some of organizational issues. Second measure is concerned with enforcement on the ground with concerned organizations and institutions. The role and function of indigenous communities should be clarified and strengthened. Activities to improve living environments are also important, such as strengthening agriculture and improving access to clear water and sanitation. pps 5 ##
The property rights of land has been one of the most serious problems in Paraguay particularly in the last thirty years, characterized by many confusions in various aspects such as administration, registration, management and policies. The slow pace of occupation and the availability of vast land for small population have created a wrong image about land in Paraguay, as represented by a common phrase “the sea of land,” implying that land supply is unlimited. The great weakness of the state to manage land and other productive resources through documents, laws and procedures has left wide discretion to private actors.
It is not until recently that the land property issue is recognized as an inhibitory factor of rural development. Indeed, the state did not have effective institutions for regulation and management of land throughout the nineteenth century and almost until the last decade of the twentieth century, although rural communities needed legal support to obtain property rights of land. The public policy of access to basic health services, education and infrastructure were not linked to the legal status of land. The issue of property rights of land was taken up as a development issue for the first time when the official credit system to agricultural enterprises (CAH and BNF) was established and operational. The male head of household during this period was the only beneficiary of land transfer policies.
The state has been providing free land to settlers through the agrarian reform policy. In the last fifteen years, however, various economic actors (large farms and corporate farms) have been expanding agricultural land, and the shortage of land has become a serious problem.
In the last two decades, the problem of access to land for small producers has experienced two different and apparently contradictory processes. The first is the migration of rural youth to cities after selling their agricultural land. The second is the fragmentation of agricultural plots, a
113 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development of Rural Territories Final Report phenomenon mainly in the departments near the capital and in areas without much migration. In this case, parents gave some of its plots to their newly married children who use the plots not only for farming but also for housing. In both cases, low profitability and vulnerability of agricultural production system appear to cause those problems.
The state implemented policies to correct this market failure by increasing agricultural productivity and income and selling new plots to those who need land, but their impact was very limited. Much of youth migration to urban areas alleviated the pressure on the demand for land, but did not solve the problems of management, access, ownership and use of land. The vicious circle of rural poverty is directly linked to the availability of land and the size of it, as well as the available labor for rural farms. On the one hand, the shortage of labor force in rural farm implies an increase of cultivable land per labor force. On the other hand, they cannot effectively utilize their land due to various inhibitory factors, including: the aging of agricultural labor force; decreasing potential of labor; the structural difficulties of production; loss of soil fertility; and especially the extreme difficulty to access markets in fair conditions.
Some key elements to understand current situations of farmers are summarized below: • The percentage of farms with officially certified land titles decreased in the past 15 years (1991 to 2008). The percentage of farms with officially certified land titles is 46.7%, less than half of total farms in the country; • Among farms with land less than 10 hectares, those that have officially certified land titles is less than half. A significant number of farms hold only temporary titles, which indicate that the acquisition of officially certified land titles is in progress. Excessive bureaucracy makes it difficult for them to obtain officially certified titles. • The category of “occupier” among farms is identical to “official owner.” This indicates that in the last twenty years there has been no substantial progress in the formalization of the occupation of farms.
Below are some key observations from an analysis of land ownership by department: • The departments with many old settlements, close to Asuncion, such as Paraguarí and Cordillera have high percentages, greater than 50%, of farms with land titles. However, the production of these departments is not high. • In the departments with many farmers such as San Pedro, Caaguazú, and Caazapá, the percentages of farms with land titles are below 50% of total farms. • The second largest category of land ownership is “occupier” with 27%.
Table 3.3-5 shows the situation of land application by farmers and land handover by the INDERT, the public institution responsible for administering the settlement and granting of land
114 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development of Rural Territories Final Report to farmers. According to the table, it can be observed that the demand for land is the highest in three departments – San Pedro, Caaguazú and Itapúa.
Even in the departments of Cordillera, Central, Paraguari and Guaira where many old settlements are located, many farmers which use national or communal properties do not possess officially certified land titles.
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Due to the limited capacity of institutions that regulate land ownership, irregularities have been tolerated and even accepted. However, this rather lenient attitude toward irregularity has deepened and accelerated inequities of access to land and land ownership forms. The limited capacity of administrative institutions of land ownership and transfer has also become a source of problems of the use and occupation of land by various actors such as farmers, indigenous people, and corporate farms.
8
The experiences of settlement projects inspired by successful cases of agrarian reform are very limited. The key issues facing settlements are noted below:
• Weak pioneering spirit of rural Paraguayans • Insufficient government support through the provision of basic services that promote settlement in their land • Sense of isolation among settlers due mainly to long distances and poor infrastructure that make it difficult for them to link with other areas
115 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development of Rural Territories Final Report
• Recent development of a dynamic and disorderly land market that allowed farmers to make profit from selling the plots they had received from the state • Insufficient technical support on agricultural technology, credit and market access
' 9 *
The main problems of access to land in Paraguay are summarized in the following: • The presence of two polarized production systems that operate with different logics (large agribusiness corporations and small producers). Agribusiness corporations aim to expand their land and enhance productivity and profits through inputs of technology and capital. On the other hand, many small producers organize agricultural production for self-consumption and therefore, not interested in expansion of their land. • The absence of effective government programs to promote land acquisition (correcting market failures as previously pointed out) has become a critical problem on land. • The vulnerability of public institutions and the absence of a cadastral system that is necessary to record accurately the number, location, situations and characteristics of all farms are key factors that inhibit equitable access to land. ppt hgu Education is a key factor in determining human development and improving living conditions of the population.
The National Constitution of 1992 and the General Education Law No. 1264, enacted in 1998, constitute the legal framework underpinning the structure of the Paraguayan educational system. The Articles 73 to 76 of the Constitution establishes the framework of educational policy which recognizes that everyone has the right to comprehensive and continuous education. It also establishes the responsibility of society, and particularly the family, the municipality (district) and the state in education, compulsory basic schooling and free education in public schools, noting the essential responsibility of the state in the organization of the national education system, with the participation of various educational communities. The General Education Law establishes the general principles and goals should inspire and guide education.
108 The data in this section is based on information from the National Education Plan 2024 and “Education Statistics and Indicators 2008 Data on Education” of the MEC.
116 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development of Rural Territories Final Report
Access to education/Years of schooling According to the National Census of Population and Housing of 2002, approximately 15% of the population of 15 years old and older received between 1 to 3 years of schooling, while 52% between 4 to 9 years, 16.5 % between 10 and 12 years, and only 10% received more than 13 years of schooling. Although this data reveals the low level of education, the economic sector is increasingly demanding skilled labor force. There is a considerable gap between regions, as well. In urban areas, 57% of the population received schooling more than 7 years, compared with 24% in rural areas.
) ()2 # () # ( # ! ') # &2( ' ! &&0 &&2 &) ! ! %3& ! & ! ! ! %'1 %() %) %& ! % 1& 1& '( &3 ) ! # ! ! !# % ' ( 0 1 3 %$ %& %' /1)B9' aRaS` '2"A1D' &1@A91$BA154 5( A0' /1)B9' aRaSa '2"A1D' &1@A91$BA154 5( A0' 757B2"A154 ")'& Yc "4& 52&'9 $G G'"9@ 5( 757B2"A154 ")'& Yc "4& 52&'9 $G "9'" "4& @AB&G Ygg`S`XX` G'"9@ 5( @AB&G `XX` The average of years of schooling of the population aged 15 and older is low, regardless of age cohort. The national average is less than 9 years of compulsory schooling. However, the impact of the expansion of education since the 1990s is notable, considering the significant difference between the average years of schooling of the population aged 15 to 34 years on the one hand, and those of the population aged over 35 years old on the other.
During the period 1992 – 2007, the average year of schooling increased by 1.6 years, and the biggest increase occurred in rural areas from 4.5 years to 6.3 years. However, despite this increase there is a marked gap between the average years of schooling of the population in urban and rural areas, as those living in urban areas received on average 3 more years of schooling than those living in rural areas. The gap occurs between different ethnic groups, too. The average years of schooling of the indigenous population aged 10 and over are 2.2 years, a remarkable difference compared to the national average. Urban indigenous population received slightly more years of schooling than their peers who live in rural areas (3.2 years vs. 2.1 years).
117 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development of Rural Territories Final Report
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Illiteracy rate The illiteracy rate of the national population aged 15 and older decreased from 9.7% to 5.4% in the period 1992-2007. This trend of decline is observed in both urban and rural areas, although there is a sharp contrast between the illiteracy rates in rural areas (8.1%) and urban areas (3.8%). The literacy problem is more prevalent among the indigenous population. According to the 2002 Census, 51% of indigenous population aged 15 and older is illiterate, although the data from the Survey of Indigenous Households (EHI) 2008 shows a decrease in this rate to 40%.
A major progress is observed in the enrollment in the period 1994-2006. The school enrollment rate doubled from preschool up to the 3rd cycle, and tripled in secondary education.109 The progress was less notable in the 1st and 2nd cycles in basic school education (BSE). This is perhaps because basic school education was already required before implementation of educational reform.
The increased enrollment rate is largely due to the expansion of educational opportunities especially in rural areas. Indeed, the growth rates of school enrollment rates in rural areas are: 429% in preschool; 282% in the 3rd cycle of basic school education; and 632% in secondary education. The growth in enrollment in rural areas helped to reduce inequality between regions. However, there remains a large gap between urban and rural areas, particularly above the 3rd cycle of BSE. As for enrollment by gender, no significant differences can be observed.
109 The basic school education (BSE) in Paraguay is divided into three cycles: 1st cycle (primary school 1-3 grades); 2nd cycle (primary school 4-6 grades); and 3rd cycle (secondary school 1-3 grades).
118 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development of Rural Territories Final Report
Next, the gross and net enrollment rates are analyzed.110 The gross enrollment rate increased from 38% to 85% in preschool, from 50% to 77% in the 3rd cycle, and from 28% to 55% in secondary education over the period 1994-2008.
The net enrollment rate accounts for the percentage of the population that is registered in the official age for a grade or a cycle of education. This rate increased in the period 1994-2006, 37 points in preschool, 21 points in the 3rd cycle, and 19 points in secondary education. However, net enrollment rate shows a different tendency in the 1st and 2nd cycles of BSE, since these were already required before the education reform.
The net enrollment rate reveals clearly that a high percentage of those enrolled exceed the official ages set for each grade and cycle, especially in the 3rd cycle of BSE and secondary education. This has been caused by repetition or enrollment at older ages. Although the over-age111 has been declining, this remains one of the challenges in both the BSE and secondary education. This rate is higher in public schools in rural areas.
In short, it is clear that the gaps of educational attainment have been declining between rural and urban areas. However, the access to education is lower in rural areas than in urban areas, particularly among children in the poorest stratum.
(
Repetition rate Repetition rate has decreased considerably in all grades of the education system. This is particularly pronounced in the 1st and 2nd cycles of BSE (especially the 1st cycle). This trend has been continuing for more than a decade. The 2006 data shows that more than 46,000 students (4% of total enrollment) repeated some year of BSE, of which 34,000 are enrolled in the 1st cycle. In figure 3.3-6, the / !" # $ # percentage of repeaters in rural areas exceeds 6 %&''() 110 The gross enrollment rate is the population enrolled in a given course of education level (regardless of age) as a percentage of the population of school age for that grade or cycle. The net enrollment rate considers the percentage of the population at a particular age cohort to complete a grade or cycle that actually reaches this grade or cycle of education (Ministry of Education and Culture, Education Statistics 2008, Education Indicators data). 111 Registered students who are two years old or older than the officially determined age for the grade/cycle in which they are enrolled.
119 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development of Rural Territories Final Report that of the urban areas. The main reason for repetition in BSE is the failure to pass the grade. The repetition rates due to failing grade are similar in urban and rural areas in the 1st and 2nd cycles, but the repetition rate in the 3rd cycle is higher in urban areas than in rural areas. Repetition due to drop-out (i.e., the students left a grade in a certain year and re-register the same grade in the next year) is a characteristic of the 3rd cycle, mainly in rural areas.
The repetition rate in secondary education is 0.6%, and the higher percentage is observed in urban areas than in rural areas. The main reason was the failure to pass grade examination.
Drop-out rate School drop-out is another major issue throughout the education system. This is worse in the 3rd cycle of BSE and secondary education. This is worrisome, considering that the enrollment rates are still low at these grades. T he dropout rate is higher in public schools than in private schools, and higher among male students in rural areas.
The problem of drop-out is more serious in secondary education not only because enrollment rate is already low, but because approximately 11% of enrolled students drop out before completing a school year. According to the Basic School Education Directorate of MEC, the high repetition and drop-out rates has strong influence on illiteracy rates or poor literacy rates.
Over-age Over-age for BSE and secondary education refers to the percentage of students two or more years older than the official age to pursue a particular grade/course. This is caused by arious factors such as late entry, high repetition rates or temporary drop-out. Over-age implies the possibility of repetition and subsequent drop-out. Both in BSE and secondary education, over-age is higher in rural areas than urban areas at all grades and cycles.
In summary, the improvement of internal efficiency has not been of the magnitude expected to achieve compliance with the goals established in the education sector. Moreover, despite considerable improvements in rural areas, there remains a marked difference between urban and rural areas.
120 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development of Rural Territories Final Report
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$ %# # The MEC is the body responsible for the formulation, supervision, leadership, coordination and supervision of educational policy that govern public schools, private schools with or without subsidy from the state. Some of the ongoing programs and projects of MEC are listed below:
Escuela Viva Program II: The objective is to improve opportunities for access, retention and completion of the basic school education, especially for the population living in the most vulnerable regions in the country. Technical Measurements for Learning of the 3rd Cycle and Secondary Education: The objective is to transform traditional school library into resource centers for learning, help raise the quality of education, and strengthen ties with the community Improvement Program of Pre-School and Initial Education: The objective is to improve the education of children under 6 years old, expand its coverage, quality and equity criteria, and strengthen institutional management through participation of family and community
It should be noted that besides the MEC, there are other ministries and institutions that conduct activities related to education, such as: MAG; MJT; MSPyBS; MRE; Defense; MI; MOPC; Ministry of Women. Also there are public sector entities in the education sector: National University of Asunción (UNA); National Telecommunications Administration (ANTELCO); National Electricity Administration (ANDE); and municipalities.
121 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development of Rural Territories Final Report ppu 5 Ensuring healthy living conditions and quality health services for all people are essential prerequisites for human development and improving the quality of life. The Article 68 of the Constitution stipulates that the state promote health as a fundamental human right and for the interest of the public, and establish the national health system that provide comprehensive health services. The National Health System has been established with the primary goal, that is, to provide health services to all people fairly, promptly and efficiently, without discrimination of any kind, by means of promotion, recovery and integrated rehabilitation of patients.
5
The health service in Paraguay is provided by public, private, semi-public-semi-private institutions, and there is mixed institutions like the Red Cross Paraguay. The public health institutions are responsible for providing universal health care nationwide.
Public health policy112 aims to promote equity in health and the quality of life, and establish an integrated national health system through health and medical services networks, in order to solve health problems of individuals and groups, from simple to complex diseases.
The service network consists of: Primary health care network Network of specialty hospitals Emergency medicine network Hospitals network
These networks are articulated through a system of communication between health service facilities, and a coordination system to match supply and demand of health services (that is, a highly coordinated system that assesses the needs of patients and refers to appropriate health institutions in a timely manner).
Other networks such as pharmaceutical sector, health monitoring, rehabilitation (orthotics and prosthetics), and diagnostic support networks complement those service networks. 113 The MSPyBS defined the community that shares common geographical, social, historical and cultural attributes as a “social territory.” This social territory is considered as a living space
112 Public Policies for Quality of Life and Health Equity, Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare, 2009
122 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development of Rural Territories Final Report where people produce and reproduce actively. The MSPyBS is working on the basis of these territories, aiming to provide equitable health services that respond to the needs of people, paying due attention to social vulnerability.
In this context, since 2008 the MSPyBS has been promoting the creation of health centers called “Units of Family Health114,” particularly in the areas with high poverty rates. These units are located closest to the population to provide health services throughout life, in order to ensure continuous and unimpeded access to health care for everyone, from children to seniors and elderly. Through these units, it is aimed to ensure the access to, and the quality of, health services. Health diagnostics are carried out in some social territories to identify the current situation and the needs of the population, and develop a participatory community health plan. This will enable the collection of timely, accurate information and respond to the needs in a timely manner. By late 2010, 503 units in 210 municipalities have been established.115
! 9 Although there has been a significant improvement in the coverage and the access to qualified health services, there remain considerable inequality by geographical location, and socio-economic environments.
According to the Permanent Household Survey 2009 (PHS 2009), 23.7% of the population has health insurance (33% in urban areas and 10.5% in rural areas), either the IPS or other types of insurance (individual, work, family, military, police, local, etc.), while 76.1% has no health insurance. The percentage of the population with some type of insurance increased by more than 5% compared with the same figure in 2007. However, there is still a marked difference between urban and rural areas.
According to the PHS 2009, approximately 71.8% of the population reported that they had consulted some health facility when they were sick or injured, a percentage much improved compared with that of 2004 (52.2%).
According to the WHO, however, nearly 40% of the population had no access to health services.116 On the other hand, according to the UNDP report, between the years of 1997 and 2007, consultation services of the state were more than doubled for the poorest 20% of the
114 Unidades de Salud de la Familia. 115 According to the “Special Bulletin: Primary Health Care” of the Directorate General of Primary Care, Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare. 116 Strategy of alliance with the Republic of Paraguay 2009-2013, World Bank
123 Guideline to Formulate the Strategy for Sustainable Development of Rural Territories Final Report population.117 However, public health covers only a fifth of the most deprived population without health insurance or resources to purchase drugs. Despite improved access to skilled health services (public and private) between 1997 and 2007, the gaps by both residential area and income stratum remain high. The access to health services in urban men, rich and Spanish-speaking is four times greater than that of rural women, poor and Guarani speakers.
'
Infant mortality in the last 20 years shows a downward trend. According to the information from the MSPyBS, the infant mortality rate in 1990 was 30.4 per thousand live births; in 2009 it was 15.4. This means there was a decrease of 15% in the above period. However, according to World Health Statistics of 2010118, Paraguay ranks as the third-highest mortality within the 12 South American countries.119
Maternal mortality rate also shows a downward trend, and yet is not sufficient to meet the target set in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The maternal mortality rate of Paraguay is still high compared to that of other South American countries. According to the information from MSPyBS, maternal mortality reduced from 153.5 in 2004 to 125.3 in 2009.
Infant and maternal mortality are closely related to socioeconomic environment. Their rates tend to be high in low income strata, low literacy rate, and low years of schooling. Regional gaps are also large. The infant mortality rate in rural areas is twice higher than the national average, and three times higher than that of Guaraní-speakers.120 Regarding maternal mortality rate, a study reported that rural mortality rate is approximately 2.5 times higher than urban mortality rate.121 According to this study, the higher maternity mortality rate in rural areas is caused by the greater number of pregnant women living in poverty in rural areas. In addition, the access to health services is also hampered by insufficient and inefficient health services and inadequate health services to pregnant women in rural areas.
117 “National Human Development Report, Equity for Development”, UNDP, 2008 118 World Health Statistics 2010. 119 Argentina, Bolivia, Brasil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Perú, Surinam, Uruguay y Venezuela. 120 “National Human Development Report, Equity for Development”, UNDP, 2008. 121 Paraguay Health Sector Report JICA, “Promotion and Health Improvement (PROMESA)”2007.
124