Elsa, Emilia and Cristina live in the Peasant Community of Moquegache Japo, in the highlands of Puno in Peru. Although their stories are different, they have things in common: they are leaders in their communities and share a constant concern about water scarcity in their territories.
"The effects of climate change are noticeable in the highlands of Puno, there is an intense drought. We lack drinking water, water for our animals or for irrigating our pastures", says Elsa Mamani, small farmer who due to the lack of rain in the region has not yet been able to start planting quinoa and other grains, risking the food security of her family and community.
Photo: Nuria Angeles Tapia / UNDP Peru
According to CEPLAN, by 2030, 58% of the Peruvian population will live in areas with water scarcity as a result of the global water crisis. A scenario that seemed even closer when this year the government declared State of Emergency linked to the El Niño phenomenon, an event that elevates ocean temperature and causes droughts in the southern Andean region of the country, affecting crops and therefore, food and income. Elsa is facing this situation firsthand, as the Lihuichaco lagoon, which for years supplied her with water and happiness, now gives way to a dry and eroded soil where the Pachamama (mother earth) lays suffering.
Walking along the sun
According to UN Climate Change, extreme weather events due to the climate crisis affect women and girls in a greater proportion. Evidence shows that in the aftermath of a climate catastrophe there is an increase in gender inequality, including violence against women.
For example, in rural settings, tasks such as water collection are traditionally the role of women, which means that when water is scarce, they must travel farther from their homes to obtain it. These longer trips reduce the time they can devote to other activities (such as education) and increase their exposure to violence. Likewise, the impacts of droughts on economic and subsistence activities of vulnerable communities push them to seek other means of survival, making women more vulnerable to finding themselves in informal jobs with precarious working conditions.
Addressing the effects of climate change is therefore a necessity for reducing inequalities and ensuring the exercise of women's rights. Although women suffer the brunt of climate impacts, they are also great agents of change when they have equal access to opportunities. As in the case of Emilia Limachi, a nature healer who, thanks to her knowledge of medicinal plants, found a way to overcome the early loss of her parents. Today she is dedicated to maintaining the health of her community. This practice, which for many people may seem mystical, is the result of knowledge that has endured and passed through generations until reaching Emilia. Ancestral knowledge related to agrobiodiversity is today at risk of being lost due to the crises the southern Adean region is facing.
One out of every four Peruvians lives from agriculture and depends on rain or irrigation generate food and income. That is why, in the face of the scarcity of rain and water, the ingenuity of women is present in Emilia's home, where something wonderful happens.
"The sun provides our lives. God gives us with the solar panel a lot of life, joy and happiness..." says Emilia, who along her colleagues of the "Women Association of Milk Producers Santa Rosa", installed an irrigation system that pumps groundwater with solar energy. They can now sustainably extract a resource that would otherwise be inaccessible to them. This has allowed them to irrigate their crops such as oats, potatoes, quinoa and cuchucho, the Andean root of longevity, during severe drought conditions. With the cuchucho, the women of the association prepare flour, bread, infusions and yogurt.
This community initiative counts with the support of the Puno Peasant Training Center (CCCP) and is one of 24 projects in the current portfolio of the GEF Small Grants Program (SGP) in Peru. SGP Peru is led by the Ministry of the Environment (MINAM) and implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). SGP provides financial and technical support to community projects that conserve and restore the environment and mitigate climate change, while enhancing people's well-being and livelihoods.