Diverse farmer livelihoods increase resilience to climate variability in southern Colombia

Angie Paola Bernal Núñez, Isabel Gutiérrez-Montes, Héctor Eduardo Hernández-Núñez, David Ricardo Gutiérrez Suárez, Gustavo Adolfo Gutiérrez García, Juan Carlos Suarez, Fernando Casanoves, Cornelia Butler Flora and Nicole Sibelet ()
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Angie Paola Bernal Núñez: Universidad de la Amazonia
Isabel Gutiérrez-Montes: CATIE - Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza - Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center
Héctor Eduardo Hernández-Núñez: Universidad de la Amazonia
David Ricardo Gutiérrez Suárez: Universidad de la Amazonia
Gustavo Adolfo Gutiérrez García: Universidad de la Amazonia
Juan Carlos Suarez: Universidad de la Amazonia
Fernando Casanoves: CATIE - Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza - Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center
Cornelia Butler Flora: ISU - Iowa State University
Nicole Sibelet: UMR Innovation - Innovation et Développement dans l'Agriculture et l'Alimentation - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement

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Abstract: Climate variability affects agricultural production systems and rural communities, generating risks to food security and increasing rural poverty. Therefore, improving the capacity of rural households to adapt to climate variability has become one of the greatest challenges for international and national institutions. The objective of this study is to analyze the impact of rural households' livelihood strategies with regard to their vulnerability and adaptation to climate variability. We systematically selected 162 rural households from 10 municipalities in the department of Huila (Colombia). Households were grouped according to their livelihood strategies, using 13 variables representative of their productive characteristics. Subsequently, three indices related to climate vulnerability were determined: a. exposure (climate variability between 1990 and 2012), b. sensitivity, and c. adaptive capacity. For the latter two, the community capitals framework was used. Using the three indices above, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's proposed vulnerability index was determined. We found seven livelihood strategies: i. Cattlemen-Cocoa Farmers, ii. Livestock-Cocoa Farmers, iii. Employees-Cocoa Farmers, iv. Cocoa Farmers, v. Diversified Farmers, vi. Landlords-Cocoa Farmers and vii. Coffee Farmers. Degree of vulnerability to climate variability was related to the livelihood strategy of rural households: those best endowed with capitals and with the most diverse livelihood strategies were the least vulnerable (Cattlemen-Cocoa Farmers and Livestock-Cocoa Farmers). While it is necessary to maintain a balance between capitals in the process of adapting to climate variability in rural households, at the community level it is essential to strengthen political capital, which will make it possible to construct and reinforce strategies for adapting to climate variability.

Keywords: Colombie; diversification des moyens d'existence; système de production; conditions rurales; communauté rurale; résilience; changement climatique; adaptation aux changements climatiques; polyculture élevage; Theobroma cacao; vulnérabilité; Community capitals; Climate Change; Cocoa; Coffee; Livestock; Agriculture; Farmers' strategies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Published in Land Use Policy, 2023, 131, pp.106731. ⟨10.1016/j.landusepol.2023.106731⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05180639

DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2023.106731

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