Rural territories lag significantly behind in areas of healthcare, education and employment opportunities, says a new report published by the Latin American Center for Rural Development (RIMISP). The report highlights the harsh inequalities facing Latin America's poor rural people.

Latin America has the highest inequality in the world, and nowhere is this more evident than in the poorest rural territories in the region, according to the Poverty and Inequality 2011: Latin America Report released in April 2012 by the Latin American Center for Rural Development (RIMISP). In Mexico for instance, nearly 60 per cent of the nation’s extreme poverty is concentrated in rural areas, according to the report, and the rural illiteracy rate is 15.6 per cent, while it’s only 4.3 per cent in urban areas.

The report – made possible through funding from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the International Development Research Centre -, Canada (IDRC) – highlights the causes of extreme inequality, territorial achievement gaps and lack of opportunities in Latin America’s rural sector, analysing socio-economic indicators in health, education, economic dynamism and employment, income and poverty, citizen security, and gender equality from ten Latin American countries, including Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua and Peru.
The in-depth study paints a picture of a region of extreme haves and have-nots, of nuanced territorial differences – even within the rural sector – and of failed and successful national policies for rural poverty reduction that have both contributed to overall poverty reduction and – in some cases – exacerbated the issue.

According to the report’s analysis, Mexico’s public policies of the last 20 years have actually served to increase poverty and inequality in rural Mexico. For example, in Mexico’s ten richest municipalities, the average per capita earnings are around 32,000 US dollars (USD), while in the poorest they are just USD 603 per year.

The study also reveals two noteworthy challenges that concentrate differently on the urban and rural territorial level. Urban areas in the region are primarily facing challenges of inequality, security and economic dynamism, according to the report, while rural areas show lags in access to services and basic rights such as health and education. Gender equality is also a major issue in rural territories. And the poorest territories are often those with the highest concentrations of indigenous and afro-descendent peoples. 

The Latin American Report shows how some social indicators and policies that are managed on a national level may not take into account the large differences that exist between territories and regional contexts. In Mexico, for example, the highest level of spending on rural development programmes is concentrated in the richest states. 

Download summary

Author: IFAD/ile