Latin America

2009/2010 Allocation: NZ$5.5 million

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Snapshot

Latin America is a region of acute inequality. 8.2 percent of the population live on below US$1.25 per day, and 17.1 percent live on below US$2 per day (2005 World Bank figures). Poverty is particularly high amongst indigenous people and those living in rural areas.

The new millennium began seeing poverty rates fall in South America , up until as recently as 2007 when food prices escalated rapidly. Prior to this, Latin America was on track to meet the Millennium Development Goal of poverty levels at 11.3 percent or less by 2015. The global economic crisis is likely to reverse the trend of the early 2000's, and poverty levels are predicted to rise from 2009. The first half of 2009 has also seen uprisings by indigenous peoples in Peru , Ecuador , Chile and Uruguay protesting against multinationals' activities in the Amazon region.

NZAID priorities

NZAID's work in Latin America is guided by a regional strategy, the Latin America Development Programme strategy 2004-2010. As this strategy is coming to an end in 2010, it is currently being evaluated. The evaluation will form the basis for recommendations to the New Zealand government on future engagement in the region. The goal of the Latin America Development Programme (LADP) is to contribute to the reduction of poverty. NZAID works in partnership with civil society groups, non-government organisations and multilateral organisations to help achieve this goal.

The LADP focuses on three sub-regions in Latin America :

Central America ( El Salvador , Guatemala , Honduras , Nicaragua )
Andean Bolivia , Ecuador and Peru
Brazil and the Southern Cone (predominantly Brazil , Chile and Argentina but including Uruguay and Paraguay).

NZAID is a small player in Latin America in comparison to many donors. Rather than spreading itself thinly across a number of areas, NZAID focuses support on areas where New Zealand 's assistance can have the greatest impact . For this reason NZAID's contributions concentrate on sustainable rural livelihoods and governance:

sustainable rural livelihoods

This includes strengthening agriculture, eco-tourism, agribusiness development, market chain interventions, natural resource management and assisting landless communities to gain access to resources. Support for sustainable rural livelihoods is targeted to Central America, Andean Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia .

governance

This includes strengthening government institutions' capability, transparency, policy work and responsiveness to diversity; improving poverty analysis and reporting systems; and strengthening civil society. Support for governance is targeted to Brazil and Southern Cone.

NZAID on the ground

NZAID's work with the Latin American Centre for Rural Development (RIMISP)

RIMISP – the Latin American Centre for Rural Development is key partner for NZAID in the region. It has been operating in seven Andean and Central American countries since 2005.

RIMISP coordinates the Learning Network of Rural Indigenous Municipalities, which seeks to improve capacity in rural areas by sharing knowledge gained from practical experiences that inspire good governance and sustainable rural livelihood strategies, and promoting participatory budgeting. Participatory budgeting allows local citizens to gain access to public funding for projects that respond to their needs and priorities, while also encouraging transparency and accountability at the local government level.

There have been positive results to date. A few years ago, Limatambo, a small rural municipality in the indigenous Quechua region of the Southern Andes of Peru , had no electricity or connecting roads. Lack of support from the central government and the modest local government budget for infrastructure projects made providing even basic services very difficult. Through participatory budgeting, Limatambo now has an electrical grid and 90 percent coverage in water and sanitation services, and inter-community access roads. The community was instrumental to achieving these outcomes, not only in setting the infrastructure priorities, but also in providing labour to complete the projects.

Strengthening governance and sustainable livelihoods

The International Potato Centre (CIP)

NZAID funds the CIP to work with farming organisations to identify, utilise and manage market opportunities. The CIP also links farmers to new sources of technology, and promotes biodiversity and the use of the root and tuber cropping system.

The CIP has worked with multinational food companies to encourage corporate social responsibility in the native potato market chain. Companies now support farmers to access viable markets and undertake marketing of native potatoes. As a result it is now possible to buy native potato products from retail outlets in Latin America.

World Wildlife Fund (WWF)

NZAID is supporting a three year project (2007-2010) managed by World Wildlife Fund which is helping to address governance and livelihoods issues in the Huilliche Territory of Mapu Lahual in Chile. The territory includes nine of the most isolated and poor coastal communities in Chile , who live in an area of temperate rainforest south of Bahia Mansa, Osorno.

The initiative in Mapu Lahual builds on several years of work by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Chile , Mapu Lahual Indigenous Association (AIML), public agencies, and, more recently, NZAID, to assess and improve the rural livelihoods and governance capacities of the Mapuche-Huilliche communities.

The project aims to contribute to sustainable development and environmental conservation through three main outcomes: increasing governance capabilities and resources of the Mapu Lahual territory, improving sustainable livelihoods with a particular emphasis on small business development, and a strong communications and promotion programme that enhances these two approaches.

The project has already been recognised as a noteworthy contribution to reach Chile 's vision of social and environmental harmony by the Chilean President Michelle Bachelet. And in early 2009 it was announced that the project had been selected as an exemplary case in the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization's ‘In Search of Sustainable Forest Management Exemplary cases in Latin America and the Caribbean ' project. For more information read a recent edition of NewZAID.

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