Revitalizing ancestral techniques. Sierra Azul: Sowing rain to face the drought

On September 20, the government launched its Sierra Azul Program. One of its components – the sowing and harvesting of water – is a technique fostered by the PACC Peru Project of the Swiss Cooperation, as a measure for adaptation to climate change.

With the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, SDC, the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation has begun, through the PACC Peru Project, the formulation of the National Public Investment Program, which highlights the importance of water security for family farming in the Andean Highlands and the tall evergreen forest, as well as for the population settled in the medium and low valleys of the basin that also benefit from these interventions.

The formulation of the National Public Investment Program is based on 15 local experiences from different regions of Peru, among them, those implemented by PACC Peru, to capitalize the knowledge developed in the country regarding rainwater sowing and harvesting practices and technologies, underscoring the different conditions by type of measures related to the achieved rainwater sowing and harvesting processes and which have shown the value of these ancestral practices, highlighting the opportunities to strengthen these measures in the climate change context through the National Program.

The Sierra Azul Program will cover initially 11 Andean regions: Puno, Cuzco, Ayacucho, Huancavelica, Apurímac, Arequipa, Huánuco, Lima provinces, and others and it is estimated that the benefited population will come close to 10 000 000 persons, especially in the Andean áreas.

In turn, the Program for Climate Change Adaptation – PACC PERU is being implemented in Cuzco and Apurimac since 2009; and in its second phase, it aims at promoting scale up and sustainability of adaptive responses, seeking expansion and replication of good practices and policies that may increase the adaptive capacity of the rural Highland populations. It addresses issues such as water and agriculture building upon the action of national, competent actors, academia, civil society and the national government, with the key players being the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation. For further information, we invite you to watch the following video.

Video (Spanish)

Related News:
Noticia Report in Diario El País: The Andes sow rain to face drought
Noticia Towards a National Investment Program to promote the execution of projects related to rainwater sowing and harvesting.

Relevant links:
PACC PERÚ Project, Fact Sheet, Swiss Embassy, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC.

Compartir en:

También te puede interesar...