The levels of Poverty in the Puna of Argentina

PAOLASSO, PABLO

Ecología en Bolivia

Instituto de Ecología - Universidad Mayor de San Andrés

Lugar: La Paz; Año: 2007

1605-2528

RationaleIn the northwest edge of Argentina is an imposing plateau, which is known like “Puna”. This elevated plateau, surrounded by high mountainous chains, is the continuation of the same formation that covers part of Bolivia. From the environmental point of view it can be subdivided in a “Puna Seca” (Dry Puna) in the north and a “Puna Salada” (“Salty Puna”) to the south, much more dries and characterized by the presence of the “salares” (great salt extensions).The Puna was one of the places of the present Argentina of earlier occupation by the man. There are vestiges that go back to 11,000 years BP (Yacobaccio, 1997). Throughout history that space was occupied by different human groups (Gil Montero, 2004). According to the last census data (2001), the population of that region was of 55,264 inhabitants, on who almost half lived in rural areas. According to recent studies (Bolsi et. al., 2006), this is the poorest region of Argentina.Objectives and MethodologyThis paper is intended to characterize the poverty levels in the Puna, understanding that the sames are the result of the forms of territorial construction that were developed there. In order to measure the poverty, are used data coming from the Population Census of 2001, employing the intensity of the Index of Material Deprivation of Households (IPMH), which considers the structural and the conjunctural poverty. The intensity of the IPMH is calculated as the total of convergent poor people (with conjunctural and structural deprivations) on the total of people with deprivations, and varies between 0 and 100.ResultsThe intensity of the poverty fluctuates between 29.2% and 76.6%. The average was of 53.0%. 45.9% of the homes had convergent deprivations; the 36.1 structural ones; 4.6% conjunctural and only 13.4% did not have deprivations. They were possible to be distinguished, in addition, four levels of poverty: I) between 29.2%-40%; II) between 40%-60%; III) between 60%-70%; and IV) between 70%-76.6%. It is verified that exists a great heterogeneity in the conditions of poverty in the Puna, and thats depend on the particular relationships between the society and the environment.