Bolivia: participatory disaster risk management and food security in the Rio San Pedro watershed, lessons learned

The Río San Pedro watershed is one of the poorest regions in Bolivia. Agriculture forms the population's main source of income, although farming can only be practiced on a limited scale due to the altitude. Every year, extreme natural events inflict significant damage on agriculture, and thus on the population's livelihoods. Through the project ”Disaster Risk Management and Food Security in the Río San Pedro Watershed, Bolivia (PGRSAP)”, GTZ and two municipal associations supported people in the region in developing an appropriate strategy for disaster risk management, and thus in protecting their livelihoods. As a first step in strategic development the project, the population and the municipal administrations jointly analysed hazards, vulnerabilities and risks in the Río San Pedro watershed. The actors identified the risk of disaster induced by drought, erosion or landslide as being especially high. These events provoke food crises, cropland is lost and infrastructure is destroyed. To reduce these disaster risks, PGRSAP combined disaster risk management with food security measures.

The present publication is one of a series in which project experiences are systematically analysed. It describes and analyses disaster risk management and food security measures that GTZ successfully and sustainably implemented - on behalf of the German Government - in cooperation with its national partners and the local population concerned in North Potosí, one of the poorest regions in Bolivia. It also identifies the difficulties that a project can encounter.