Resilience to climate variability: the role of perceptions and traditional knowledge in the Colombian Andes

ABSTRACT

Adaptive capacity and transformation to climate variability not only depend on the environmental conditions of a farm, but on the way in which farmers are able to face and change factors related to structural political, economic, and cultural dynamics. The objective of this research is to analyse how perceptions and traditional knowledge influence the resilience of farmers in the Colombian Andes, in the face of climate variability, through a set of qualitative methods. The main identified perceived causes of climate variability were deforestation and pollution, while greater solar radiation intensity was the most mentioned effect, linked to crops and biodiversity loss. The most extended adaptation strategies consisted of on-farm, short-term agricultural measures, which favour a certain degree of adaptation but are limited in their potential to build up resilience. This research provides insights on the feedback between the perceptions and traditional ecological knowledge of peasant communities and the social-ecological factors that enhance or hamper their resilience towards climate variability. It is argued that successful strategies must respond not only to climatic conditions, but to the transformation of unequal economic and political factors that hinder resilience. Including these factors in research and policy-making is fundamental if resilience is to be achieved.

KEYWORDS:

• Resilience
• traditional ecological knowledge
• perceptions
• climate variability
• Colombia

Acknowledgments

The authors want to express their gratitude to the Institute of Environmental Studies and the Jesús Antonio Bejarano Research Grant (Faculty of Economics, Universidad Nacional de Colombia), for their financial support which contributed to the completion of this research.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Limitations

Due to geographical conditions and the consequent limited access to farms, it was difficult to visit a greater number of people and places, and face-to-face meetings with farmers implied considerable expenses and time. Therefore, the case study was chosen as the most suitable research approach. Its main limitation is the high degree of specificity in the analysis, and little room for generalizations.

Ethical procedure

The community of peasants of Anolaima was involved in the planning and development of the methodology, as well as in the analysis and discussion of the results. The ethical procedure included informed consent on the use of their testimonies in interviews and surveys. This involved specifying that the use of the information has an exclusively academic purpose and that they could stop participating at any time. The peasants of the municipality contributed and benefited from the research by participating and discussing the study topics. The methods applied in this research were approved and endorsed by Universidad Nacional de Colombia in the framework of the Ph.D. Thesis “Resilience and Climate Variability in Coffee Agroecosystems in Anolaima (Cundinamarca, Colombia)” (Record No. 013, 28^th May 2012).

Notes

1. Soils that form quickly and with little horizon, that have no accumulation of organic matter, iron oxide, aluminum oxide or clays.

2. For the purposes of this research, the ecological production systems are those that use rustic systems or traditional policrops (according to the classification by Moguel and Toledo 1999), and do not employ chemical fertilizers for agricultural production.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the Jesús Antonio Bejarano grant (Faculty of Economics, Universidad Nacional de Colombia), a financial support available for postgraduate students.