Adaptation for Smallholders to Climate Change

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Peru is third in the list of countries which are most affected by climate change. The agricultural sector is seriously endangered by those effects: The melting of glaciers minimizes the availability of fresh water, the delay of the rainy season affects the cycle of maturation and massive rainfalls provoked by the phenomenon "El Niño" eliminate partially the production and cause erosion.

The producers are already suffering from the consequences of climate change and are loosing their incomes. The damages are due to the high vulnerability of the population, their practices to cultivate coffee and to the vulnerable coffee plant itself.

Implementing a strategy for adaptation to climate change with CEPICAFE

In February 2008 AdapCC started the Risk and Opportunity Analysis (ROA) together with the pilot group CEPICAFE. Therefore several meetings with key actors and local / regional workshops were carried out. As a result of the participatory local ROA workshops, held with the coffee producers of CEPICAFE, the following risks, threatening their agricultural cycles, were identified:

There is often observed a high complexity between the diverse hazards which could have direct impacts on plants as well as indirect effects on the yield. Among them the loss of fruits' quantity and quality as well as the loss of plants and farmland is possible.

Mainly the poor management of natural resources and the lack of investments in infrastructure increase the farmers' vulnerability enhancing the negative impacts of climate change. Especially the high deforestation rate in the Andean region Alto Piura is affecting ecosystems and agricultural production.

As results of the analysis process links between activities of public and private politics in this sector were identified. Moreover the following three working areas for adaptation to climate change in Piura's coffee sector were identified and already partly implemented:

1.) Capacity building and technical assistance on implementing adaptation measures

Based on an AdapCC seminar, held in March 2009 in Nicaragua, the trained promoters designed various training modules and a capacity building programme to be implemented with CEPICAFE member cooperatives. The main objective of the trainings is to raise awareness for climate related risks, to reach a better understanding of their own vulnerabilities and to define appropriate measures to strengthen farmers' resilience and mitigate risks.

Besides tools to implement the ROA process and training modules on integrated coffee management are carried out so that each community will be able to develop its own adaptation plan. Training seminars to instruct 10 technical advisors at CEPICAFE level are already being implemented, aiming to train over 50 promoters at cooperative level and 200 farmers.

Prevention measures being executed on 60 coffee farms include the installation of agro-forestry nurseries to improve shadow management. 138 farmers received financial support to realize a fertilization scheme. Another 40 coffee growers were technically assisted to improve their pest control methods. Additionally, woodlots and living barriers are being installed at 20 coffee plantations to prevent soil erosion and landslides. The construction of 30 sun-drying units to improve the coffee drying process is being planned.

2.) Reforestation

Due to the high rate of deforestation in the area, the coffee eco-system is threatened by environmental degradation and biodiversity loss, what makes it highly vulnerable against changing climate conditions. Hence, the second component contains measures to reforest degraded community land. Currently a reforestation plan is being developed, which includes the installation of tree nurseries in various communities. The selected communities will be able to reforest degraded community land and improve suitability for coffee growing, what will have a positive effect on the local ecosystems.

3.) Carbon sequestration/ carbon mitigation

Part of the adaptation strategy is the development and implementation of carbon sequestration and climate mitigation measures. Up to now, feasibility studies for a climate friendly coffee certificate have been carried out and a CO₂ project is being planned to generate carbon credits at voluntary carbon market. Cafédirect will buy up-front CO₂ credits to offset their own emissions over the next 10 years. There is also an agreement between Cafédirect and CEPICAFE to reinvest 10% of the income from the pre-sales in implementing adaptation measures on coffee farms.

Climate change scenarios for the focus region Piura / Peru

Peru is already suffering from floods, droughts, cold snaps, landslides, etc. With the increase of global warming those effects will accelerate during the next years. The impacts of climate change are as well perceived by the coffee farmers in the region of the pilot organization CEPICAFE in Piura. The future scenarios of climate change are predicting:

• more frequent and more intense events of the "El Niño" phenomenon
• an increase of temperatures up to 2,2 °C until 2050/ declined and prolonged droughts
• changing precipitation patterns / more intense, prolonged or delayed rainfalls

The climatic variables that will have the major impacts especially on coffee production are the increasing temperatures and the changing precipitation patterns.

• ROA Systematization of Peru
  Download PDF-Document (0.5 MB, spanish)
• Operation Plan for Piura
  Download PDF-Document (0.4 MB, spanish)
• Agreement with CEPICAFE
  Download PDF-Document (0.1 MB, spanish)
• Estrategia de la Adaptación al Cambio Climático para Productores Cafetaleros en el Perú
  Download PDF-Document (0.2 MB, spanish)

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