At the end of June, Ambassador Christian Frutiger, Head of Global Cooperation, and Pierre-André Cordey, Deputy Head of the Climate Change and Environment Division of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) visited Peru. They held meetings with Peruvian counterparts of the Resilient Andes project and made field visits. The mission began with a meeting with Yamina Silva, Deputy Minister of Strategic Development of Natural Resources of the Ministry of the Environment (MINAM); Milagros Sandoval, Director of Climate Change and Desertification, and Cristina Rodríguez, Director of Adaptation to Climate Change and Desertification at MINAM. They described the environmental and climate change policies, especially Peru’s agenda for tackling climate challenges and the contribution of Resilient Andes in providing technical advice on services focused on inclusive climate change adaptation, promoting resilience in Andean family farming.
The mission continued by visiting the district of Ácora in the altiplano area of Puno to learn about the experience of the Agroclimatic Management Platform (PGA), led by the Department of Agricultural Policies (DGPA) of the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Irrigation (MIDAGRI) and the National Service of Meteorology and Hydrology (SENAMHI) of MINAM, and the Puno Regional Government through the regional Agricultural Department and the Ácora Municipality. The day began with a meeting in the Ácora District Municipality, with Rigoberto Coico, Director of Agricultural Policies, and Carolina Ramírez, Director of Economic Studies of MIDAGRI; Vidal Collanqui Martínez, Municipal Director; and Gilda Carcausto Segura, from the Regional Agricultural Department (DRA) of the Puno regional government. The participants recognized the importance of the conformation and operation of the Ácora PGA, the second climate governance platform installed in Peru. The PGA holds local and regional activities, articulating with the Ácora District Municipality, the Puno Regional Agriculture Department (DRA), the Regional Agriculture Management Committee (CGRA), the SENAMHI Zonal Department in Puno and the decentralized MIDAGRI offices. To date, it has a steering committee composed of 35 representatives of community organizations, peasant communities, the Agriculture Agency, local government and altiplano institutions.
The visit provided an opportunity to learn about the activities for strengthening governance and capacities for using agro-climatic data, which are carried out as part of the Ácora PGA management plan. The PGA not only shares agroclimatic information but also promotes practices for adapting to climate variability and strengthens the capacities of men and women farmers for using and producing agroclimatic information for better decision-making in agricultural activities, leading to improved productivity and local competitiveness.
The delegation accompanied the third day of workshops on Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA), organised by the National Service of Meteorology and Hydrology of Peru (SENAMHI) in the Caritamaya village centre. The day concluded with a visit to the potato, quinoa and kañiwa seedbed of Mrs. Jacoba Aquilar Alave, from the Culta peasant community. The producer, who is part of the Ácora PGA Steering Committee, described her experience with the PGA and how useful the agro-climatic information is for her crop-farming activities.
The PGA’s are a policy measure of the National Plan for Competitiveness and Productivity to 2030, whose objective is to have 12 PGAs nation-wide to avoid or reduce agro-climatic risks in agriculture, and is one of the commitments of the agricultural sector for tackling climate challenges.
The delegation visited the Illpa Agricultural Experimental Station (EEA-Illpa) of the National Institute for Agricultural Innovation (INIA), attached to MIDAGRI, with Dr. Carlos Amasifuen, Director of the INIA Genetic Resources Department. It learned about INIA’S in situ and ex situ agrobiodiversity conservation activities at the EEA-Illpa , part of the Agrobio national project which collaborates with Resilient Andes and which focuses on Agrobiodiversity Zones (ZABD).
The Agrobio project proposes to establish 17 ZABDs as a strategic action to safeguard in situ and ex situ agrobiodiversity as part of the strategy to address Peru’s climate challenges.
The delegation also visited the quinoa, kañiwa and broad bean crop germplasm bank, and finally it visited one of the SENAMHI automated stations installed within the EEA-Illpa, which provides hydro-meteorological information for the Puno region and for the station’s research activities.
Switzerland, through the SDC, is supporting the Climate Resilient Andes project, which is facilitated by the Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation – Fundación Avina consortium. The project focuses on strengthening and articulating the capacities of public and private stakeholders to provide services for improving the climate resilience of rural Andean communities living in poverty and high vulnerability, in order to improve their food and water security, promoting joint action in the face of climate change in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru.
Source: Andes Resilient to Climate Change
For further information:
Regional Brochure: Climate Resilient Andes Regional Project (spanish)
FS Climate Resilient Andes Regional Project
Facebook Climate Resilient Andes
FS Strategic Plan for Peru – Climate Change Resilient Andes Regional Project (spanish)
