Outlook on climate change adaptation in the Tropical Andes mountains

Food security, disasters and climate change vulnerability in the Tropical Andes region

their nutritional properties, they require cold temperatures (Ortiz, 2015). Many farmers in the high Andes are pushed upward to maintain favourable temperatures for their crops. One study shows that potato farmers in the region have moved their crops upward by about 150 m in the last 30 years (Shaw and Kristjanson, 2013). Reduced frost in the high Altiplano also threatens the production of Chuño, freeze-dried potatoes, which for centuries have been a source of food security (Valdivia et al., 2013). Chuño is still an important food component for many in the region. Investment is needed to preserve the genetic resources of the Andean potatoes as well as to find substitutes capable of coping with the changing climate. Pastoralism is an important part of the agriculture of the grasslands of the high Andes. Here alpacas, sheep and lamas graze all the way up to the snowline. Moving upward in elevation, agriculture generally shifts to mixed farming and pastoralism gives way to mainly pastoral communities. Pastoralists are sometimes more resilient to change due to the mobility of their herds. However, when disaster strikes their wealth is alsomore concentrated. Climate change is also threatening high mountain grasslands important to pastoral communities (López-i-Gelats et al., 2015). The southern Tropical Andes are also home to two wild species of camelids, vicuñas and guanacos. Both provide significant income for local farmers through their fine wool, which is the most expensive in the world. The animals are caught, sheared and then released back to the wild. However, sustainable ecosystem management is required to prevent pastoralism of domesticated animals from pushing these wild animals out of their grazing areas or infecting them with diseases. Being able to interpret seasonal changes in the natural environment has been important to cope with the

Caracas

VENEZUELA

COLOMBIA

Bogota

GUYANA

ECUADOR

Quito

BRAZIL

PERU

Lima

BOLIVIA

La Paz

Low Medium High Very high Severe

Vulnerability Probability of climate change Vulnerability to disaster risk Level of food insecurity

Sucre

Source:World Food Program, Food Security, Disasters and Climate Change in the Andean Region, 2014 Analysis has been conducted starting from national sources at different administrative scales. Although presented together, maps of each country should be interpreted separately as the indicators used to construct the maps differ between countries.

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ARGENTINA