Social or rural development programs are lacking for rural workers. Rural work is regulated by specific resolutions passed by the National Commission for Agricultural Work ( _Comisión Nacional de Trabajo Agrario_ , CNTA) and approved by the National Congress. CNTA is an autonomous agency composed of representatives of the national government, employers, and employees. In 1999, the National Congress passed the “rural workers’ license” law (Law 25,191), aimed at regulating different aspects of the hiring process of permanent, temporary, and harvest workers. Law 25,191 filled a vacuum in the agricultural labor legislation, because the previous law (22,248) only regulated labor conditions for permanent workers. Law 25,191 also established unemployment insurance for rural workers funded by employers’ contributions. Before the act/law, rural workers lacked unemployment benefits because they were not included in the labor law that regulated other sectors of the economy. In 2001, the National Congress established the National Records Office for Rural Employers and Workers (RENATRE), which in charge of issuing rural workers’ licenses. The objective has been to combat informal employment and increase the protection of workers. Brondo and Luparia (2001) estimate that 1.5 million agricultural workers are engaged in the informal sector, but they recognize the difficulties of obtaining accurate data. Neiman (2003) finds that for a sample of five provinces, more than half of the rural workers have salaries 30 percent below the minimum salary established by law, about 25 percent receive salaries according to the maximum and minimum legal levels, while 20 percent earn salaries above the maximum legal threshold.<sup>23</sup> The RHS reveals that only 17.5 percent of workers in the agricultural and livestock sector were engaged in formal employment in dispersed rural areas.

Argentina has 17 indigenous peoples’ groups distributed throughout the country. The most important indigenous peoples are the Kolla, Mapuche, Toba, and Tupi-Guarani. The National Population Census of 2001 included a specific question on self-identification of ethnicity. Preliminary figures indicate that 3.5 percent of households recognize the presence of an indigenous member. Thus, nearly 100,000 households have at least one indigenous member.

There is little information available about indigenous people in Argentina. There have been done very few surveys to address this in Argentina. The population census of 2001 included, for the first time, a question on ethnicity by self-identification. Findings based on the survey show that 2.8 percent of households have least one person considering him/herself indigenous. The estimated number of indigenous people is 402,921 based on a

> 22 For example: _Programa Ganadero del Noroeste_ (Livestock Program for the Northeast) aimed at improving the socioeconomic status of 700 small goat farmers _, Proyecto Apícola_ (Beekeeping Project), and _Programa de Desarrollo de la Producción Láctea_ (Dairy Development Program) focused on medium-scale producers. The latter contemplates the construction of one model dairy farm and investments in 80 dairy farms and two milk factories. It is also aimed at building six farmyards to hold livestock during emergencies. _Programa de Manejo de Aguas Superficiales en Campos de Pastoreo_ (Program for Surface Water Management in Pastures), and _Programa de Pastoreo Racional Intensivo_ (Intensive Grazing Program).

> 23 This does not mean that approximately half of rural workers are formal (i.e., paying contributions to social security).

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