Risk management at the local level in Andean highlands and building up of livestock against droughts and frost for vulnerable communities

Increasingly, cold waves recurrently affect the Peruvian and Bolivian Highlands. Extremely low temperatures hit the Andean highlands notably in Bolivia and Peru in 2002, in Peru in 2004, and in 2008 in both countries, causing a deterioration of livelihoods for most vulnerable rural people. Since 2007, Peru and Bolivia have been affected by extreme cold temperatures and hailstorms affecting populations living in high altitude areas. The ability of highland communities to cope and response to disasters is weak. In the majority of the municipalities in the Andean region, there is a lack of competence to manage their own local budget, particularly under emergency circunstances; additionally, the budget is not enough to execute preventive actions and risk assessment of known threats. The Andean communities do not have access to local weather reports, neither to information centers in direct communication with the regional offices of SENAHMI, which hinders their capacity to take preventive actions towards climate related emergencies. Additionally, the infrastructure to receive accurate and updated weather information it is almost inexistent. The interventions proposed were to reduce vulnerability of selected Andean communities through the establishment of a local risk management plan linked to the municipal participatory budget. And stock piling in the form of basic seeds, tools and emergency stock of veterinary supplies for emergency situations.

Project code: OSRO/PER/901/EC