EL PAÍS openly offers the América Futura section for its daily and global information contribution to sustainable development. If you would like to support our journalism, subscribe here.
Seven of Bolivia’s nine departments are already suffering from the severe drought and lack of rain afflicting this country, where authorities say more than 200,000 families have already been affected. The situation has threatened access to water and food supplies, especially in the Andean regions, where agricultural production is being lost and livestock is dying due to this water crisis exacerbated by climate change. Meanwhile, the government is trying to address the emergency with millions of dollars in measures and investments to face a 2024 that looks even drier due to the El Niño phenomenon.
“Faced with this drought, my biggest fear is that I will run out of food and water,” said María Eugenia Chuquimia, who lives with her husband and five children in Lorocota, a community of about 250 people about 15 kilometers north of La Paz. In order to survive, his family devotes themselves to farming. He says since there is no rain, authorities have rationed water so he cannot irrigate his fields and only has access to raw spring water for two hours at his home.
“We cannot open the tap to get water as is the case in the city. We rationed it. We can only wash our clothes in the river, which is polluted by mining. We suffer a lot from access to water,” says Nora Condori, 37 years old and resident of Lorocota. Both women grow lettuce, potatoes and oca – an Andean tuber – which they sell at markets in La Paz. Their products are organic, they do not use chemical pesticides, but other natural products for pest control. “If it doesn’t rain, there won’t be any planting, the potatoes won’t bloom. If you don’t irrigate the field, the number of pests increases, the land dries out and there is nothing to produce. If we continue like this, Bolivia will suffer from hunger,” complains Chuquimia.
Isabel Apaza and Gabriel Flores steer their boat through the low waters of Lake Titicaca in Huarina, La Paz department, on August 3.CLAUDIA MORALES (Portal)
The Andean departments, which have hardly been affected by a decrease in rainfall since at least 2016, are the most affected by the situation: according to the Bolivian Vice Minister of Civil Defense, Juan Carlos Calvimontes, Oruro was declared “catastrophic” in a recent press conference, during La Paz, Cochabamba and Chuquisaca are in an “emergency situation”. Potosí and Tarija are also severely affected. And in Santa Cruz, the largest department with more than four million inhabitants, rationing has already begun in some communities. This region is considered Bolivia’s economic engine. 61% of food is produced there, the majority of it for export.
According to a recent report from the National Statistics Institute (INE), the amount of rain in Bolivia has decreased by 28% in the last five years, from 9,941 millimeters per year in 2018 to 7,192 millimeters in 2022. According to the same report, between January and August this fell Annual rainfall is 4,882 millimeters.
In La Paz, the seat of the Bolivian government, where more than two million people live at an altitude of 3,600 meters, authorities decided not to ration water, even though the city’s dams have reached less than 50% of their capacity of the population, for example using less water for washing clothes or showering and also using gray water to irrigate parks.
Potosí, with about 850,000 residents, has been declared a state of emergency due to water shortages and is already experiencing rationing. The 27 lagoons that serve the city can only provide water until December. Drinking water distribution fell by 50%, while irrigation of parks and gardens was stopped.
The Vice Ministry of Civil Defense reported that 200,871 families in 144 of Bolivia’s 336 municipalities were affected by the drought. The government allocated $17 million to address the current drought. In addition, more than 800 water, sanitation and irrigation projects are being implemented, as well as emergency programs to deliver 1,200 and 5,000 liter tanks to hundreds of drought-affected communities.
Production and access to food
“More than half of Bolivia’s population currently suffers from food insecurity, especially in rural areas. “Food insecurity in the country will continue to worsen as extreme weather events become more severe and frequent, decimating agriculture and livestock production,” Save the Children said in a statement. The production of the main food products in Bolivia, such as soybeans, sorghum, corn, wheat or sunflower, exceeded 4.5 million tons in 2022, 5% less than production in 2021 (4.7 million tons), according to data from the Oilseed and Wheat Producers Association (Anapo).
“Climate change caused by drought, frost and lack of water for irrigation is complicating food production in Bolivia,” explains Carla Cordero, social policy analyst at the Jubilee Foundation. According to him, 60% of the agricultural production of the drought-affected Andean regions is used for local consumption. The lower production impacts the market as higher prices and a decline in the quantity and quality of food affect food security.
“This leaves families in extreme poverty unable to obtain food in the quantities and qualities required for adequate nutrition,” the analyst adds. According to the Ministry of Rural Development and Land, the drought has affected 25,143 hectares of crops and 163,000 livestock so far this year.
“We need rain!”
Desperation over the rain has led farmers and religious communities to make pilgrimages to the hills and dams of La Paz, where they pray and ask Pachamama (Mother Earth, in the Aymara language) and the Catholic God for the rain to return may. “Father, we need rain, we need water!” they shouted as they knelt at the Incachaca Dam on October 6 last year.
A woman prays at the Incachaca Dam on the outskirts of La Paz on October 6. CLAUDIA MORALES (Portal)
For the first months of 2024, meteorologists expect that the occurrence of the El Niño phenomenon in the region will exacerbate the climate imbalance, with rainfall in the Andean areas below normal levels, while drought will continue and high temperatures will be recorded . Australian summer temperatures.
Bolivia has experienced unusually high temperatures in recent months. According to the National Service of Meteorology and Hydrology (Senamhi), La Paz recorded 27.5 degrees Celsius in September, the highest temperature since 2010. In addition, the Bolivian city of Villamontes in the south recorded 45 degrees Celsius in August, the highest winter temperature the southern hemisphere.
“Unfortunately, humans are one of the most destructive creatures on the planet. “Our pollutant emissions are quite high and have a direct impact on climate behavior and impact on a global scale,” says Michelle Vásquez, head of the Senamhi Agriculture Unit. Experts agree that addressing the water crisis requires short, medium and long-term government measures under the joint responsibility of the authorities and the population. If no action is taken, social vulnerability will worsen.