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Identifying Emerging Issues in Disaster Risk Reduction, Migration, Climate Change and Sustainable Development pp 231–247Cite as

Building Farm Resilience in a Changing Climate: Challenges, Potentials, and Ways Forward for Smallholder Cocoa Production in Bolivia

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Abstract

Migration from the Bolivian Altiplano to the Amazonian lowlands poses a number of challenges related to climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. Alto Beni, located in the Bolivian Yungas at the interface between two altitudinal zones, is a critical area in this respect. Unsustainable land use practices are leading to soil erosion, shallow landslides, as well as forest and biodiversity loss. Settlers from the Altiplano see themselves confronted with an ecosystem that does not support the agricultural systems they were once used to. Soil degradation and government incentives have promoted migration further into the rainforest, creating pressure on local indigenous groups and biodiversity. The best-suited land use system for the fragile soils and ecosystems in Alto Beni is diversified agroforestry, which is often combined with a cash crop such as cocoa or coffee. Many farmers practising such a system have organic certification and achieve a premium price for their cash crops. However, cocoa farmers in Alto Beni face many challenges. Prolonged droughts, heavy rains, floods, increased heat, and plant diseases are mentioned most by cocoa farmers. In this study we compile results from a research project on the resilience of organic and nonorganic cocoa farms to external risk factors and discuss them in the context of climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and migration. Cocoa farmers who belong to a cooperative and had organic certification achieved higher resilience indicators than others, because they tended to cultivate cocoa in diversified agroforestry systems. Cooperatives fostered agroforestry through capacity-building, knowledge exchange, extension services, and awareness-raising. They also provided social insurances and enhanced mutual support among their members. Challenges within established cooperatives such as lack of technical support to farmers and knowledge exchange within and between organizations can hamper resilience building. Finally, the inclusion of new farmers into cocoa cooperatives seems critical to reducing outmigration and the reproduction of non-sustainable practices in other fragile areas. Multiple challenges remain to be addressed, however, including the enhancement of solidarity economy networks and their extension sectors other than export crops.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Vivir bien is a concept included in the Bolivian constitution that means “good life” or “living well”—and not “living better,” as is often stressed (Choquehuanca 2009). The concept is widely understood as an alternative to Western growth-oriented principles.

  2. 2.

    IFOAM homepage for more information: http://www.ifoam.org.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Development and Environment, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Johanna Jacobi & Stephan Rist

  2. Faculty of Geosciences and the Environment, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Patrick Bottazzi

  3. Faculty of Agronomy, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (UMSA), La Paz, Bolivia

    Maria Isabel Pillco

  4. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, Frick, Switzerland

    Monika Schneider

Authors
  1. Johanna Jacobi
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  2. Patrick Bottazzi
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  3. Maria Isabel Pillco
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  4. Monika Schneider
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  5. Stephan Rist
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Johanna Jacobi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Risk-group - Institute of Earth Sciences Faculty of Geosciences and Environment, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Karen Sudmeier-Rieux

  2. Institute of Geography and Sustainability Faculty of Geosciences and Environment, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Manuela Fernández

  3. Geological Survey of Norway, Trondheim, Norway

    Ivanna M. Penna

  4. Risk-group - Institute of Earth Sciences Faculty of Geosciences and Environment, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Michel Jaboyedoff

  5. School of Environment, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    J.C. Gaillard

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Jacobi, J., Bottazzi, P., Pillco, M.I., Schneider, M., Rist, S. (2017). Building Farm Resilience in a Changing Climate: Challenges, Potentials, and Ways Forward for Smallholder Cocoa Production in Bolivia. In: Sudmeier-Rieux, K., Fernández, M., Penna, I., Jaboyedoff, M., Gaillard, J. (eds) Identifying Emerging Issues in Disaster Risk Reduction, Migration, Climate Change and Sustainable Development. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33880-4_14

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