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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
Vulnerability
Low Medium High Very high Severe
Source:World Food Program, Food Security, Disasters and Climate Change in the
Andean Region, 2014
Probability of
climate change
Vulnerability
to disaster risk
Level of food
insecurity
Sucre
Lima
Quito
Bogota
Caracas
La Paz
Food security, disasters and climate change
vulnerability in the Tropical Andes region
GUYANA
BRAZIL
ARGENTINA
PERU
BOLIVIA
ECUADOR
COLOMBIA
VENEZUELA
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.