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The shifting limits of drought adaptation in rural Colombia

2019; Elsevier BV; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/b978-0-12-814820-4.00006-7

2542-8403

Brianna Castro,

Climate change impacts on agriculture

This chapter explores an El Niño drought in the subsistence farming region of El Carmen de Bolívar, Colombia. Specifically, families with greater resources migrate temporarily as an adaptation in the early stages of drought while the most vulnerable families adapt in situ, migrating permanently as drought drags on if in situ adaptations fail. These findings nuance our understanding of migration during drought by exploring how families weigh their own adaptive capacities. In El Carmen de Bolívar, households' perceptions of their risks and resources are critical to the adaptation strategies they deploy. For the most vulnerable households, adapting in situ during drought depletes families' capital, thus entrenching existing inequalities. As climate change increases drought frequency and severity, each drought intensifies households' social vulnerability to future environmental stressors. In similar droughts in developing areas, basic humanitarian aid, including potable water and food for consumption, could be key to allaying drastic capital depletion and, in some cases, even preventing desperate migrations of last resort.