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Adaptation Strategies of Andean Pastoralist Households to Both Climate and Non-Climate Changes

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Abstract

Pastoralist households in the Andes have always had to cope with climate uncertainty. Recently, however, due to a combination of a weak asset base, large inequalities in land and livestock access, and the prevalence of multiple non-climate-related stressors, they are being pushed beyond their range of adaptability. However, the complex, forward-looking and site-specific features of these adaptation strategies remain insufficiently addressed. This article identifies the diverse adaptation trajectories pursued by pastoralist households in the Central Andes. Accumulation of livestock and adherence to the traditional economy are the strategies most often followed by wealthier households, while less well-off households seek further integration into the market economy and asset diversification. Measures aimed at promoting textile manufacturing, favouring the preservation of certain grassland areas, and reducing land fragmentation, seem particularly appropriate for enhancing the livelihoods of Andean pastoralist households.

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Notes

  1. Historically, pastoralism in the Central Andes was characterised by the raising of camelids – alpaca and llama. However, today sheep and cattle husbandry, introduced by the Spanish in the seventeenth century, is widespread. Cattle are generally fed all year round on the farm, since above 3500 m.a.s.l. they are susceptible to pulmonary oedema. There are larger numbers of sheep in the region despite their poor adaptation to the local vegetation and to cold and altitude stress (Westreicher et al. 2007). Livestock provide most importantly fibre and meat, but also milk, hide, manure for fertilizer and household fuel, and draught power, and also serve as wealth storage to be bartered or sold when necessary.

  2. These plots are not usually enclosed.

  3. Head of household is the person, either male or female, who took the leading role in the interview.

  4. It should be noted that while out-migration of a member of a family is perceived as irrelevant, the out-migration of the whole family to the city is judged as harmful for the rest of the community.

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Acknowledgments

Financial support was provided by the project CAMELSIMP funded by BBVA Foundation in the Fifth Call of Grants for Research in Ecology and Conservation Biology (BIOCON08-059). FLG has a Juan de la Cierva postdoctoral contract financed by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, and financial support by SUR and Departament d’Economia i Coneixement of the Catalan Government.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Agro-food Economy and Development - CREDA-UPC-IRTA, Parc Mediterrani de la Tecnologia, C/ Esteve Terrades 8, Edifici ESAB, Castelldefels, 08860, Spain

    F. López-i-Gelats

  2. Department of Veterinary Medicine and Husbandry, Universidad Nacional de Micaela Bastidas de Apurímac, Patibamba Baja, Abancay, Peru

    J. L. Contreras Paco, R. Huilcas Huayra & E. C. Quispe Peña

  3. Department of Animal Husbandry, Universidad Nacional de Huancavelica, Huancavelica, Peru

    O. D. Siguas Robles

  4. Department of Animal and Food Science, Ruminant Research Group, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, 08193, Spain

    J. Bartolomé Filella

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  1. F. López-i-Gelats
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  2. J. L. Contreras Paco
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  3. R. Huilcas Huayra
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Correspondence to F. López-i-Gelats.

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López-i-Gelats, F., Contreras Paco, J.L., Huilcas Huayra, R. et al. Adaptation Strategies of Andean Pastoralist Households to Both Climate and Non-Climate Changes. Hum Ecol 43, 267–282 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-015-9731-7

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