SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE OUTREACH IN A MARGINALIZED FARMING VILLAGE IN SOUTHERN CHILE: OBSERVATIONS FROM A RURAL SOCIOLOGIST

Abstract

I briefly describe the creation of a demonstration garden and several workshops given on ecological gardening techniques in a small, marginalized agrarian community in southern Chile, as part of a larger rural sociological research project. Community response to the garden and workshops suggested a paradox: villagers were eager for lessons on ecological gardening and composting, despite being agriculturalists for many generations. I offer three observations from the point of view of a rural sociologist that speak to this paradox. I close with a commentary on the political and structural roots of the community’s impoverishment and the implications for extension agents working with marginalized agricultural communities worldwide.