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Micro-narratives on People’s Perception of Climate Change and Its Impact on Their Livelihood and Migration: Voices from the Indigenous Aymara People in the Bolivian Andes

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Rebuilding Communities After Displacement

Abstract

Millions of people are being forced to migrate involuntarily due to extreme weather events and anthropogenic climate change each year. Climate-induced human migration is now contemplated as a colossal humanitarian challenge. Climate migration is an emerging issue that has long been neglected for political reasons. Most recent works in this field are primarily linked to defining or estimating climate migrants and constructing theoretical frameworks on the potential drivers of population mobility. However, the miseries of the marginalised people and climate migrants are still overlooked and insufficiently researched, especially in the front line indigenous communities residing in high-altitude regions of South America. To overcome such limitations, we studied Aymara, an indigenous people in the northern Bolivian Altiplano. We collected thirty micro-narratives from some selected case study areas through in-depth interviews and conducted two focus group discussions. The fieldwork was conducted between April and May 2021. We aimed at understanding the impact of climate change on livelihoods, local economy, and the migration pattern of the Aymara people and their adaptation strategies in the face of global warming and extreme weather events. The participants stressed that climate change adversely affects the Aymara community despite their inherited traditional knowledge. They face severe water scarcity, weather variability, glacier melting, changes in precipitation and farming seasons, loss of biodiversity, and environmental degradation. Climate change exacerbates pre-existing vulnerabilities associated with livelihoods, poverty, people’s health, and food security. Consequently, young Aymara adults predominantly migrate to larger cities or sometimes even cross borders, searching for alternative occupations and better living standards. We recommend that high-level intergovernmental and local policy-makers recognise climate migrants and take urgent steps to protect them and rebuild communities by safeguarding their human rights, cultural heritage, and dignity.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by UCL Global Engagement Funds (2020–2021). We are indebted to the local people for their active participation and support during the fieldwork. We thank Alejandro Mamani for assisting us in conducting surveys and Cecilia Skarne for translating the micro-narratives into English.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. La Paz, Bolivia

    Ximena Flores-Palacios

  2. Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction (IRDR), University College London (UCL), Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK

    Bayes Ahmed

  3. Institute of Advanced Development Studies (INESAD), La Paz, Bolivia

    Cloe Barbera

Authors
  1. Ximena Flores-Palacios
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  2. Bayes Ahmed
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  3. Cloe Barbera
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bayes Ahmed .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Risk Management and Societal Safety, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

    Mo Hamza

  2. Global Disaster Resilience Centre, School of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, UK

    Dilanthi Amaratunga

  3. Global Disaster Resilience Centre, School of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, UK

    Richard Haigh

  4. Global Disaster Resilience Centre, School of Arts and Humanities, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, UK

    Chamindi Malalgoda

  5. Global Disaster Resilience Centre, School of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, UK

    Chathuranganee Jayakody

  6. Global Disaster Resilience Centre, School of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, UK

    Anuradha Senanayake

Appendices

Appendix 1: Guiding Questions for In-Depth Interviews

Demographics

Age (years):

Gender:

Marital status:

Number of children:

Source of income:

Place of residence:

Background Information

  1. 1.

    How long have you/your family lived in this community?

  2. 2.

    What crops do you grow? Are you also involved in livestock and fishing?

  3. 3.

    How have agriculture and livestock changed in the last ten years? Do you produce more crops today than in the past? Compare how it is today and how it was ten years ago.

  4. 4.

    How has the weather changed in the last decade, e.g. temperatures, rainfall, frost? Are droughts more frequent? Compare how it is today and how it was ten years ago.

  5. 5.

    Have you noticed that the glaciers are melting? Why? How does it affect you?

  6. 6.

    Do you think these changes in climate and melting glaciers will continue in the future?

Impacts of Climate Change and Disasters

  1. 7.

    Are you concerned about climate change?

  2. 8.

    Do you think your family has been affected by climate change?

  3. 9.

    How are the changes in climate affecting your health?

  4. 10.

    How are the changes in climate affecting your work? Agriculture, livestock, and fishing?

  5. 11.

    How are changes in climate affecting your food consumption? Are you producing less food?

  6. 12.

    What do you (or your family) do with your crops? For your consumption, for sale?

  7. 13.

    How are changes in climate affecting your income? Do you have to look for other jobs besides agriculture, livestock, or fishing?

  8. 14.

    Does your family have ways of dealing with climate change? Could you give examples? Do they move to other places?

  9. 15.

    Do you think climate change has also affected other families in your community?

  10. 16.

    Is there anything else you would like to say about climate change?

Migration

In the past ten years

  1. 17.

    Have any of your family members migrated to other places? Where (internal movements, abroad)? Why?

  2. 18.

    What is migration like in your community? Do people migrate for short periods or stay permanently in other places? Or do they come and go? How often?

  3. 19.

    Who leaves? Young people (men and women)? Adult men/women? The elderly? Who stays?

  4. 20.

    How many people have migrated from this community to another place? What percentage, more or less? Where do they go?

  5. 21.

    Are changes in the climate a reason to migrate to other places? Since when have people been migrating because of changes in the climate?

  6. 22.

    Do you plan to migrate because of climate change or for other reasons?

  7. 23.

    Do you think more people will migrate in the future? Why?

  8. 24.

    Do you or your family receive financial support from your family or friends who have migrated?

COVID-19

  1. 25.

    How has COVID affected the community?

  2. 26.

    Have people from the community migrated because of COVID? Or have people returned to the community?

Appendix 2: Guiding Questions for Focus Group Discussions (FGDs)

Climate Change

  1. 1.

    Have you heard the words climate change? What do these words mean to you?

  2. 2.

    Why do you think climate change is happening and is becoming “worse” today?

  3. 3.

    Do you think your family/community has been affected by climate change? How?

  4. 4.

    Do you have ways of dealing with climate change (examples)?

  5. 5.

    Anything else you would like to say about climate change?

Migration

In the last ten years

  1. 6.

    Have any family members moved out of the village (any idea of the number)? Where have they gone? What would be the main reasons they moved (school, work, other reasons)? Who is leaving? (Men/women)? (young/adult)?

  2. 7.

    Do you think they have moved because of climate change (Yes, No)? Reasons (% related to climate change?)

  3. 8.

    Do they keep in contact with you? Do they come back to the community on occasion? Do they support the community?

  4. 9.

    Do you think family members who have moved influence family and community life? How?

  5. 10.

    What are the effects of this emigration on the community?

Future

  1. 11.

    Do you think you will move away from here shortly? Why?

  2. 12.

    Where would you go?

  3. 13.

    Would you say that climate change would be a reason to leave? Or would it force you to move?

  4. 14.

    If you migrate, what would you miss most about the community?

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Flores-Palacios, X., Ahmed, B., Barbera, C. (2023). Micro-narratives on People’s Perception of Climate Change and Its Impact on Their Livelihood and Migration: Voices from the Indigenous Aymara People in the Bolivian Andes. In: Hamza, M., Amaratunga, D., Haigh, R., Malalgoda, C., Jayakody, C., Senanayake, A. (eds) Rebuilding Communities After Displacement. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-21414-1_2

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