Alarming drought in Bolivia push Aktion Amazonas to implement climate resilience and emergency support projects
Record temperatures, failed harvests, and wildfires are three of the main consequences that severe drought has had on communities living in the forests of Central and South America since 2021. The Bolivian government in particular declared a drought emergency both in 2022 and 2023, yet municipalities continue to declare their territory under the state of emergency, with the latest reports dating May 2024.
Planting of trees is essential in combating drought, as they provide shade, reduce temperatures in their surroundings and retain moisture
Moreover, in 2023, the effects of the drought were exacerbated by the El Niño phenomenon, further explained at the bottom of this article. Hence, Aktion Amazonas – AKAM, in partnership with Fundación para la Conservación del Bosque Chiquitano - FCBC, decided to initiate two different projects to help confront this ecological challenge.
Stemming from the Bolivian state’s declaration of emergency in October 2023, AKAM and FCBC implemented an immediate relief humanitarian assistance initiative (DERF) in 21 communities. This initiative was a direct response to the emergency and consisted in the rapid delivery of clean water and basic nutritious food packages, as well as large water tanks, gutters for water harvesting, and drought resistant seeds. The emergency packages were distributed from October to December 2023, when the intervention concluded.
FCBC staff distribute packages of basic food, water and seeds to the indigenous community of San Rafael de Velasco in December 2023. // CREDIT: FCBC
The other initiative is the Climate Change Adaptation Modality (CCAM), a long-term intervention focusing on water management, which aims to build a lasting commitment to sustainability and resilience to climate change. The project focuses on 20 villages located in the Bolivian municipalities of San Ignacio and San Rafael in the Santa Cruz department, one of the most affected by the extreme dryness.
The CCAM Project’s Initiatives
Aside from securing water through various water storage techniques, the CCAM has a strong focus on the reintroduction and collection of drought-resistant seeds and tree cultivation. Knowledge of native crop varieties are gathered in the communities and these varieties are introduced in “chacos” (family or communal cultivation plots) through climate-smart agriculture techniques.
Seedling production is likewise based on ancestral knowledge and is centered around small community-driven nurseries. This altogether ensures that reforestation and revitalization of native crops are anchored in the communities.
The planting of trees is also essential in combating drought, as trees provide shade, reduce temperatures in their immediate surroundings, retain moisture, and provide families with local fruits for their own consumption or as a source of economic income.
150,000 families across 200 of Bolivia’s 337 municipalities are affected by the changing climate
Crops native to the region previously formed part of the everyday diet but, due to a general modernization of the Bolivian society and to globalization, native crops have been replaced by more water-demanding fruits, as well as cattle breeding, as it is more lucrative.
Reviving traditional knowledge on nutritious and drought resistant flora is a central adaptation strategy of the project, including the recollection and refining of diverse seeds.
The project, which started in May 2023 and and is scheduled to continue until April 2025, also involves training community members in water committees to ensure they manage the water resources, as well as promoting empowerment among the local population, so that they can exert influence on municipal environmental policies and regulations.
Although the focus of this article is on the dryness and drought Bolivia is in, it is important to note that, parallelly, Bolivia faces heavy rains and deadly floods in other parts of the country. This led to another declaration of state of emergency in March 2024, which highlights Bolivia's extreme vulnerability to climate change. In fact, 150,000 families across 207 of Bolivia’s 337 municipalities are affected by the changing climate.
The El Niño phenomenon is a naturally occurring climatic phenomenon that includes fluctuation of ocean temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific, combined with changes in the atmosphere. It can induce extreme weather phenomena, such as prolonged droughts, forest fires, tropical cyclones and heavy rainfalls. In a 2021 study, it was found that the most severe drought events generally occur during El Niño years. It its confirmed that El Niño since 2023 has been affecting Latin America and its effects are forecasted to continue.
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