Climate change and crop diversity: farmers’ perceptions and adaptation on the Bolivian Altiplano

Gennifer Meldrum (), Dunja Mijatović, Wilfredo Rojas, Juana Flores, Milton Pinto, Grover Mamani, Eleuterio Condori, David Hilaquita, Helga Gruberg and Stefano Padulosi
Additional contact information
Gennifer Meldrum: Bioversity International
Dunja Mijatović: Platform for Agrobiodiversity Research
Wilfredo Rojas: Fundación PROINPA
Juana Flores: Fundación PROINPA
Milton Pinto: Fundación PROINPA
Grover Mamani: CARE
Eleuterio Condori: Cetha Tupac Katari
David Hilaquita: Samaritan’s Purse
Helga Gruberg: Bioversity International
Stefano Padulosi: Bioversity International

Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, 2018, vol. 20, issue 2, No 11, 703-730

Abstract: Abstract Crop diversity is central to traditional risk management practices on the Andean Altiplano and may find renewed importance in adapting to climate change. This study explored the role of crop diversity in farmers’ adaptation actions in eight Aymara communities on the northern Bolivian Altiplano. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, including multifactor analysis and a community resilience self-assessment, we investigated how farmers’ use of diversity in adaptation is related to their perceptions of crop and variety tolerances and other environmental, social, and economic factors. Few crops and varieties were perceived as tolerant to increasingly intense and unpredictable drought, frost, hail, and pest and disease outbreaks. Some local crops and varieties were perceived as vulnerable to emerging conditions (e.g. oca, papalisa, isaño), whereas bitter potatoes and wild relatives of quinoa and cañahua were perceived as highly stress tolerant and provide food in harsh periods. A total 19% of households surveyed (N = 193) had introduced new crops or varieties—often disease resistant or early maturing—as an adaptive action. Introduction of commercial crops was a common adaptation action, reflecting farmers’ response to warming temperatures and changing economic opportunities, but greater sensitivity of the introduced crops may cause maladaptation. Despite intensification of cropping systems, households continue to maintain a median four potato varieties with different tolerance traits, yet this risk management practice was not perceived as adaptation. Strengthening resilience will require a combination of actions, including maintaining and expanding crop portfolios and restoring soil and ecosystem health, using both traditional and innovative approaches.

Keywords: Resilience; Traditional knowledge and practices; Agrobiodiversity; Andes; Stress tolerance; Pests and diseases (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10668-016-9906-4

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