Changes in the characteristics of the economically active rural population in the North of Patagonia

Abstract

Some changes in the economally active rural population of Argentina have intensified over the last decades. Not only is it no longer characterized only in terms of overall economically active population decrease, but also in terms of a change in place of residence, i.e. by a growing urbanization of the rural labour force. This "urbanization", or in some cases this greater concentration of economally active rural population in urban areas is taking place in all regions in the country with varying intensity, and leads to population draining in low-density rural areas. An instance of this situation is Northern Patagonia, where agriculture and cattle raising are affected as a result of loss of productivity, the trend towards multiactivity of small and medium-size producers, the incorporation of new intensive cultivation areas and marked regional asymmetries as some areas supply labour force for other more prosperous ones.