1.1. Characteristics of the target populations of the transference

Two different locations were selected to develop the transference actions: the village of Antofagasta de la Sierra and the settlement Los Bajos in Valle Viejo.

Antofagasta de la Sierra: the county is situated between 3200 and 4400 m above sea level in the western part of the province. The limit to the north and east is the province of Salta, and Chile to the west, Fig 1. This county is the largest, but with the lowest population density in the province of Catamarca — covering 28,000 km2 it has only 1,282 inhabitants, 70% of them concentrated in the capital of the county.

The weather is cold and dry, with a minimum temperature below 0°C, a daily thermal amplitude above 30°C, and rains below 200 mm a year.

The village of Antofagasta, the county capital, is 582 km far from San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca; however, it is difficult to reach due to the rough geographical features of the region, so that it takes approximately 9 hours by car to get to the village. The population strongly maintains their rituals and traditions; men are mostly shepherds and women spin and knit wool. The main buildings are a municipal lodging house, a private inn, a chapel, a primary school, a secondary school, and private houses all built with adobe bricks.

“Los Bajos” settlement, Valle Viejo county: this county is situated in the central valley of Catamarca at 520 m above sea level, and it covers 540 km2. It is considered the fourth county among those with the largest population and is 9 km away from the capital of the province. The settlement “Los Bajos” is next to Del Valle river bank.

This social space shares structural poverty characteristics and deficit in the possibilities to have access to goods, services and social rights.