Peru

Local Capacity Development for Disaster Risk Management

Experiences of the “Disaster Risk Management for Food Security in Arequipa” Project

Division State and Democracy

List of Contents

Published by: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH P.O. Box 5180 65726 Eschborn, Germany T +49 61 96 79-0 F +49 61 96 79-80 1115 E info@gtz.de I www.gtz.de/disaster-reduction

Sector Project “Disaster Risk Management in Development Cooperation“

Experiences of the “Disaster Risk Management for Food Security in Arequipa” Project

A Development-oriented Emergency Aid Project of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ – German Technical Cooperation) GmbH, on behalf of Division 213 of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ – Bundesministerium für Wirtschaftliche Entwicklung und Zusammenarbeit).

Responsible: Jörg-Werner HaasConcept: Philipp Buss, Dr. Michael Siebert

Author: Mario DongaEditors: Philipp Buss, Jens Etter, Thomas Lennartz, Julia Rehmet, Hanna Sabass, Dr. Michael SiebertTranslator: John D. Cochrane (Frankfurt)Contact person at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development:

Kerstin Fährmann, Division 213Layout: www.die-basis.dePrinted by: Photographs: GTZ (cover left, pp. 2-4, 6, 8-10, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 26-28) Guillermo Figueroa

(pp. 5, 21-23), Thomas Joachim Müller (cover background, cover right and p. 28)Published: Eschborn, August 2008

Imprint

Foreword 3

Summary 5

1 Content and Aim of the Brochure 8

2 The Uplands of Arequipa – a Particularly Vulnerable Region 10

3 The Disaster Risk Management for Food Security in Arequipa Project (PGRD-COPASA) 13

4 Results and Conclusions 15

4.1. Integrating disaster risk management into planning processes 15

4.2. Integrating disaster risk management into the education system 19

4.3. Disaster preparedness 20

4.4. Earthquake-resistant adobe construction 22

4.5. Irrigation 24

4.6. Agricultural innovations – two examples: Tara tree cultivation and alpaca rearing 26

4.6.1. Tara tree cultivation 27

4.6.2. Improved alpaca rearing 28

5 Lessons Learned 30

Further Literature and Project Materials 32

ANNEX:

List of Figures 33

List of Acronyms and Abbreviations 34

The Sector Project 35

We are witnessing a rise in the number and scale of natural disasters worldwide. Th is is also the case in southern Peru, where the “Disaster risk management for food security in Arequipa” (PGRD-COPASA) project worked for over fi ve years.

Yet what can be done to respond to this increase in disas-ters? Experts are studying the causes and eff ects. Preventive measures such as earthquake-resistant construction methods or the mapping of risk zones are quickly identifi ed. Yet how are these measures fi nanced, implemented and fed into the political debate? Although compulsory standards and laws do create a binding legal framework at various levels, these can only be enforced through a process of negotiation with vari-ous interest groups. Is there perhaps a need to improve the administration of the relevant organisations, and their mutual interplay? In disaster risk management, expertise is needed from a wide range of fi elds, including the natural sciences, law, communications and organisation development.

However, this alone is not enough. Sustainable results can only be achieved if the activities and strategies within these various fi elds are coordinated and steered effi ciently. If a com-munity or region is to be able to help itself on a sustainable basis, then it must be able to organise such complex proc-esses self-reliantly. Capacity development – as understood by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH – strengthens these capabilities of individuals, organisations and societies. People increase their capacity to learn, and acquire skills that enable them to participate in the life of the society in which they live. Organisations must be-come more effi cient and eff ective by improving their culture of organisation and management. Th e enabling political and social frameworks must be designed such that they create the necessary scope for action.

Th is also applies to projects for disaster risk management and development-oriented emergency aid. How these complex and diffi cult challenges can be tackled in a project of only fi ve years´ duration, what diffi culties arise and what solutions emerge, are questions that the present brochure will address. Th e lessons learned from the “Disaster risk management for food security in Arequipa” project provide important answers, and demonstrate that projects for development-ori-ented emergency aid and disaster risk management cannot achieve sustainable results without capacity development.

Our thanks go to all those involved in the preparation of the study, and we hope that all readers will fi nd the information it contains useful.

Foreword

4

Southern Peru is one of Latin America´s most disaster-vulnerable regions. Time and time again the region around Arequipa has been the scene of natural disasters. In 2001 a severe earthquake destroyed most of the houses and the infrastructure. One year later the Andean uplands experi-enced a devastating cold wave. The poor rural population are particularly hard hit by these events.

The project

Th ese two disasters led Germany´s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) to launch emergency interventions, which were implemented by GTZ. Following that it was agreed to initiate a disaster risk management project. By the end of 2007 the “Disaster risk management for food security in Arequipa” project (PGRD-

COPASA) was to have completed a smooth transition from emergency aid to stable, sustainable development, and to have secured the livelihoods of those sections of the popula-tion most threatened by natural hazards. Th e project aimed to reduce the vulnerability of the poor population to extreme natural events, thus placing their livelihoods on a sustainable footing. Alongside the regional government of Arequipa, the municipal administrations were the key project partners. Th ese institutions are also making a key contribution toward ensuring that the project results remain sustainable, now that the project has been completed.

Summary

Figure 1 The project region covered eleven municipalities in the dry

Andean uplands of the provinces of Castilla and Condesuyos.

Philipp BussDisaster Risk Management for Food Security in Arequipa (PGRD-COPASA – GTZ Peru)

Dr. Michael SiebertSector Project “Disaster Risk Management in Development Cooperation“(SVKV – GTZ Eschborn)

Th e population in the project region live almost exclusively from agriculture. Th ey suff er a high degree of extreme pov-erty1, closely linked to the high level of vulnerability of the region. Crop failures caused by drought, the death of a large proportion of alpaca stocks due to cold waves, and severe damage to infrastructure caused by earthquakes are just the most acute risks faced by the population in the project region.

Project results

To sustainably reduce vulnerabilities of the poor rural popula-tion in the project region the project implemented various measures. Th e results are summarised briefl y below.

One key result was the successful integration of disaster risk management into planning processes. At the local level, all eleven municipalities in the project region prepared disaster-sensitive municipal development plans with the help of spe-cially trained municipal technicians. Consequently in 2007 the proportion of their budget oriented toward disaster risk management criteria was on average twice as high as it had been just two years previously. Th e project was also active at the superordinate levels. Together with the national GTZ-sup-ported “Sustainable rural development” programme (PDRS), national non-governmental organisations and international Technical Cooperation (TC) institutions, it succeeded in getting disaster risk management incorporated as a binding component into the construction guidelines for public invest-ment projects. As a result, disaster risk management projects were also included in the regional budget for 2008.

To help incorporate local needs even earlier, at the stage of school education, PGRD-COPASA supported the initiative of a number of teachers to integrate disaster risk manage-ment into the education system. Information events and school pupils´ projects succeeded in arousing major interest among the municipalities. Th is ultimately resulted in the local education offi ces in the project region acknowledging disaster risk management as a relevant component of the curriculum. Teachers and PGRD-COPASA jointly prepared a set of teach-ing guidelines and teaching aids, thus ensuring the sustain-ability of the measure after completion of the project.

To improve disaster preparedness, the existing disaster risk management committees were trained further and the corre-sponding disaster risk management plans updated or – where necessary – redrafted. Th e committees´ activities were also secured fi nancially by incorporating them into the respective municipal budgets.

Following a severe earthquake in 2001, it seemed logical to promote earthquake-resistant construction using adobe bricks. PGRD-COPASA developed three diff erent earth-quake-resistant methods, which were used in the erection of 42 model houses. In three municipalities with a particularly high earthquake risk, elements of these new techniques have since been used in around half of all new buildings. Specially trained craftsmen and a set of brief building instructions are helping ensure the sustainability of the measure. Together with Swiss and Japanese TC (SDC and JICA), the project succeeded in persuading Peru´s Ministry of Transport, Com-munication, Housing and Construction to launch a govern-ment programme promoting housing construction in rural areas that explicitly includes the construction of earthquake-resistant houses made from adobe bricks.

6

In the fi eld of irrigation management the project aimed to improve the effi ciency of water distribution and utilisation. Activities focused on cooperation with the water user associa-tions. In fi ve selected irrigation schemes these associations now have rules and regulations for improved water distribu-tion, as well as infrastructure maintenance plans. Th is helped reduce confl icts between water users, and bring down irriga-tion intervals from 40 to 22 days. Ultimately it also resulted in improved crop yields and an increase in the land area that could be irrigated using the same volume of water, thus mak-ing a direct contribution toward improved food security.

In the agricultural sphere PGRD-COPASA promoted six risk-reducing, innovative measures2, the two most important of which are described in the present study: the cultivation of tara trees and improved alpaca rearing. To disseminate tara tree cultivation, a small tree nursery was established in cooperation with committed farmers. Th e seedlings produced there were planted on an area of 11 hectares. Th e drought-re-sistant trees help stabilise slopes, and their pods off er farmers an additional source of income. Th rough the construction

of 35 simple stables, fodder storage and veterinary care, the alpacas´ birth rate was increased by a factor of 2.5, while the mortality rate among the particularly vulnerable dams and their young was halved. As a result of a newly established col-lecting station, the farmers are also profi ting from an increase in the market price of the alpaca wool they produce. Th anks to joint marketing, prices have been more than doubled.

Lessons learned from the project

Important conclusions were drawn from the project that can also show other projects in similar contexts how proc-esses and activities might be managed in order to ultimately achieve the objective.

A comprehensive approach to capacity development, sup-porting both the integration of disaster risk management into planning processes and the development of new institutional capacities, proved particularly important here. It was also crucial that the methods and technologies employed were of simple design, enabling municipalities and farmers to continue applying them self-reliantly. It also emerged in the course of the project that despite the focus at local level, some problems require activities and alliances at a higher level. Th e higher costs of earthquake-resistant construction for instance required external subsidisation, which is why cooperation with the Ministry of Transport, Communication, Housing and Construction was pursued. Strategic alliances at vari-ous levels also proved extremely valuable for diff usion of the experience gained. Overall, it was noted that especially pre-ventive measures generating perceptible added value for the population met with strong acceptance, i. e. those that helped not only to secure income, but also to raise it. To ensure the sustainability of the measures it was eminently important to sensitise the population to the need for disaster risk manage-ment. In rural areas in particular the population are often left to fend for themselves. Furthermore, under the given change-able political frameworks only they can call for disaster risk management to be integrated into development processes.

7

Figure 2 Demonstration house made from adobe bricks (Ruruca, Castilla Media).

2 As well as the measures described here, further innovations

in dairy production, plot irrigation, and potato and fruit

cultivation were also supported.

Figure 3 Simple gravity-fed plot irrigation

1 According to the World Bank defi nition, people are “ex-

tremely poor” if they have a local purchasing power of

less than one US dollar a day. The Millennium Development

Goals focus on the fi ght against this extreme poverty.

Peru is one of the countries hardest hit by natural hazards in South America. Many people remember only too well the earthquake at Ica in August 2007, or the devastating fl oods and landslides in northern Peru in the wake of the El Niño phenomenon in 1997–1998. Reports of drought disasters also appear regularly in the media. And images of melting Andean glaciers make us realise that the challenge of provid-ing adequate water supply will become more acute in the future.

Yet it is not only the shocking “major disasters” that rob the country of much of its energy for development. It is rather the “minor disasters” that occur almost daily in rural areas that have devastating impacts on the population. Th ese people often have to survive crop failures, reconstruct de-stroyed bridges or houses, and rehabilitate damaged irrigation schemes without external support. All too easily the causes of this are assumed to be clear: climate change, the susceptibil-ity of locations along plate boundaries to earthquakes, or the susceptibility of slopes to erosion.

Th e crucial factor, though, is inappropriate management of the risk posed by extreme natural phenomena. Th e impacts of extreme natural events could be reduced signifi cantly through effi cient disaster risk management. Th e population are inadequately prepared for such events, however, and to date the planning and implementation of preventive meas-ures against extreme events has all too often been neglected. Th e low planning capacity of the usually weak institutions,

a population affl icted by poverty, and inappropriate farming methods are factors that signifi cantly increase the vulnerabil-ity of the population to the aforementioned natural hazards. Th is is why the southern Andean uplands are the scene of dramatic disasters time and time again. On 23 June 2001 an earthquake cost 83 human lives and made 220,000 home-less. It razed over 25,000 houses, destroyed many kilometres of irrigation channels as well as large areas of cropland, and damaged the traffi c and energy supply infrastructure of large parts of the region. In the following year an unexpectedly long and fi erce cold wave led to the death of a large propor-tion of the alpaca stock, thus destroying the base for many herdsmen´s livelihoods. To this day, a large proportion of the rural population are still suff ering from the eff ects of these two extreme natural events.

On behalf of the German Government, GTZ supported those aff ected through two emergency aid projects that secured the population´s basic needs in the short term. People´s livelihoods can only be secured in the long term, however, if the disaster risk is reduced signifi cantly by preventive measures. Th e urgent need to pursue a long-term approach of this kind is also underlined by the growing extent to which farming families are being aff ected by climate change. Th ey are already noticing a change in the precipi-tation regime today. Rainfall is becoming more and more irregular, and is increasingly assuming the form of torrential downpours that cause major damage to infrastructure and agriculture. Furthermore, the melting of the Andean glaciers

1 Content and Aim of the Brochure

8

has now already reached dramatic proportions, threatening the viability of the entire Andean biosphere and its economy. Without the summer meltwater from the glaciers, agriculture will lose a vitally important source of water.

To reduce the impact of disasters in the long term, Germany´s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development commissioned GTZ to implement the “Dis-aster risk management for food security in Arequipa” project – also abbreviated to PGRD-COPASA3. Th e project began its work in October 2002. Th e project partner was the regional government of Arequipa. Financed through development-ori-ented emergency aid (DEA) funds, the project was designed to build a “bridge” between the then current emergency situ-ation and more long-term development processes.

By the time the project was concluded at the end of 2007, key steps had been taken toward integrating disaster risk management into the way of life and the economy of the population in the project region. Th e results are documented in the present publication. While sections 2 and 3 describe the framework conditions and the project strategy, section 4 describes what results the respective activities succeeded in achieving. Th e discussion is confi ned to the most impor-tant measures: the integration of disaster risk management into planning processes and the education system, disaster preparedness, earthquake-resistant construction, improved irrigation management and agricultural innovations. Th e fi fth and fi nal section concludes by presenting the general lessons learned from the project.

Th e publisher’s intent is to present the results and lessons learned in a manner helpful to ongoing or new projects working on the same theme or in a similar context. Th e present publication shares this aim with the others already published by the Sector Project “Disaster Risk Management in Development Cooperation” that describe experiences of disaster risk management projects in El Salvador, Mozam-bique, Honduras and Bolivia.

9

Figure 4 Time and time again earthquakes – like this one in Ica

in August 2007 – cause hundreds of traditional adobe houses to collapse.

Figure 5 Cold waves are a constant hazard for farmers´ herds in the Andean uplands.

3 “PGRD-COPASA” stands for the Spanish title

of the project, which is Proyecto Gestión de

Riesgo de Desastres con Enfoque de Seguri-

dad Alimentaria de la Cooperación Peruana

Alemana de Seguridad Alimentaria). This

translates as “Disaster risk management for

food security – a food security project of

Peruvian-German cooperation”.

Implementation of the PGRD-COPASA project was con-fi ned to eleven municipalities in the Andean uplands in the two provinces of Castilla and Condesuyos, located in the department of Arequipa in the south of Peru. Th is project region of around 5,500 km² is characterised by a very steep relief. In the southwest the region rises from an elevation of 1,700 to 6,450 metres (summit of the Coropuna glacier), and then falls in the northeast to approximately 3,900 me-tres. Th ese sharp diff erences in elevation within a relatively small area lead to highly diverse climatic conditions within that restricted zone. Annual precipitation fl uctuates between 150 and 600 mm, falling mainly in the summer months from December to February. During this season tempera-tures reach levels of 25 degrees Celsius, whereas in the winter months between June and August they can sink as low as minus 15 degrees Celsius, depending on the elevation.

Th e project region is a rural zone, whose inhabitants (approx. 26,000) eke out a living primarily from subsistence agricul-ture. Absolute poverty, chronic undernourishment, a high il-literacy rate, poor infrastructure and very poor access to basic services (health posts, schools, energy supply) are ubiquitous in the region. Furthermore, the project region is characterised by a complex scenario of various natural hazards.

Time and time again the entire project region is shaken by major earthquakes. However, the population possess neither adequate fi nancial resources nor the knowledge needed to minimise the risk of damage by implementing earthquake-resistant construction methods. Th e widespread, traditional houses made from air-dried adobe are particularly vulnerable to earthquakes. Furthermore, many houses and irrigation schemes are built on steep slopes, which increases the risk of earthquake shock.

2 The Uplands of Arequipa – a Particularly

Vulnerable Region

10

In agriculture, water scarcity is playing an increasing role, causing crop losses more and more often. In recent decades, advancing climate change has already caused major alterations in annual precipitation volumes. Particularly aff ected by this change are the Andean glaciers. Th e Coropuna glacier located in the centre of the project region is the key water source for the perennial rivers, and thus for farmland irrigation. According to the most recent studies carried out by the project, the glacier will already have melted completely within 30 to 50 years.

As well as the absolute reduction in the volume of precipitation, changes in the distribution of precipitation over the year are also being recorded. Torrential rain is becoming more frequent, caus-ing immense damage to crops, soil cover and infrastructure.

In agriculture, water scarcity is playing an increasing role, causing crop losses more and more often. In recent decades, advancing climate change has already caused major alterations in annual precipitation volumes. Particularly aff ected by this change are the Andean glaciers. Th e Coropuna glacier located in the centre of the project region is the key water source for the perennial rivers, and thus for farmland irrigation. According to the most recent studies carried out by the project, the glacier will already have melted completely within 30 to 50 years.

As well as the absolute reduction in the volume of precipitation, changes in the distribution of precipitation over the year are also being recorded. Torrential rain is becoming more frequent, caus-ing immense damage to crops, soil cover and infrastructure.

Th is is compounded by the fact that the irrigation infrastructure is old, and water distribution is oriented less toward criteria of effi ciency and more toward old power structures. Furthermore, lack of experience means that many farmers are unfamiliar with drought-resistant crops. As well as water scarcity, rapid glacial retreat is also causing a further problem: chiefl y in the summer, when insolation peaks, the abundant meltwater picks up large amounts of erosion material. Th is blocks drinking water supply lines and irrigation channels, leading to problems in crop terrace irrigation and drinking water supply.

Th e occurrence of sustained cold waves also impacts severely on agriculture. Th e breeding and keeping of alpacas4, which is practiced up to an altitude of 5,500 metres, is particularly badly aff ected by this. Th e situation is exceptionally hazardous when

11

Figure 6: Natural hazards in the Arequipa region (source: INDECI).

Figure 7 The absence of precipitation and meltwater caused the Chachas lagoon to dry out completely.

Figure 8 Extreme rain downpours cause rivers to suddenly swell, threatening infrastructure like this bridge in Chachas.

Figure 9 On steep slopes, earthquakes can easily cause rockfalls or landslides.

4 The alpaca is a domesticated form of camel (similar to the

llama) originating from the South American Andes that is

reared primarily for its wool.

legend

provincial capital

project region

natural hazards

drought

landslide

fl ood

erosion

cold wave

prolonged periods of cold weather coincide with snowfall. In June 2002, for instance, many young animals and pregnant females perished when an unusually prolonged blanket of snow prevented the animals from grazing. Th e alpaca herds-men are either unfamiliar with protective measures such as shelter for the animals, fodder storage and the provision of emergency medication, or lack the fi nancial resources to implement them.

Landslides, mudslides and rockfalls are further hazards in the project region. Th ese are triggered by heavy rainfall or earth-quakes, and can destroy roads, irrigation channels, fi elds and houses.

Th e complexity of the disaster risk in the project region described here called for a project strategy that would include all the hazards as far as possible. Existing capacities for preventive action against all the hazards described were inadequate.

12

Th e PGRD-COPASA project, which was fi nanced by BMZ, took place within the framework of the Peruvian-German cooperation in the Arequipa region that has been ongoing for more than 20 years. Since 1987, several joint projects for food security and rural development have already been implemented in the Andean zones of Arequipa. In 2001 and 2002 the regional government and GTZ implemented emergency aid measures to support those sections of the population hardest hit by the earthquake and the cold wave. Th e idea for the project described in this brochure grew from the realisation that such emergency aid interventions can in future only be averted through preventive measures for stable and sustainable development.

Th e project aimed to sustainably secure the livelihoods of the poor population by reducing their vulnerability to extreme natural events. To achieve this the project strategy built on a general analysis of the hazards and vulnerabilities in the project region. Various factors for vulnerability emerged:

• A weak institutional structure at the local and regional levels combined with a lack of knowledge and personnel for sustainable planning processes, as well as organisa-tional defi cits among community-based organisations, municipal administrations and the regional government, kept leading to poor decision making and planning defi -cits.

• Institutions and the population lacked knowledge on how to minimise potential damage through structural or organisational measures.

• Due to their dependence on climate, farming systems proved particularly vulnerable to extreme natural events such as droughts and sustained cold waves.

Th e project activities were defi ned on the basis of these concretely identifi ed defi cits, and broken down into three components:

Component 1: Integrating disaster risk management into development planningTh is component aimed to integrate disaster risk management into local and regional development planning. Activities fo-cused on incorporating aspects of disaster prevention into the key processes and instruments of regional, development and municipal budget planning. Th is was designed to establish disaster risk management as an integral element of sustaina-ble local and regional development. As well as reducing exist-ing risks, there was also a focus on preventing the creation of

new vulnerabilities (e. g. by refraining from building in risk zones or through laying down construction conditions for new projects). Th e positive results of these activities can only be secured through sustainable behavioural change. Hence major importance was attached to raising the population´s awareness and integrating disaster risk management into the education system (see sections 4.1 and 4.2).

Component 2: Earthquake-resistant construction, drinking water supply and disaster preparednessTh e second component pursued the aim of reducing the vul-nerability of houses and rural drinking water supply systems to extreme events. To this end, appropriate and earthquake-resistant housing construction methods and the structural protection of drinking water systems were promoted in the project region. At the same time, the disaster preparedness of the population was to be improved. Th is required above all capacity development for local and regional disaster manage-ment organisations (see sections 4.3 and 4.4).

13

3 The Disaster Risk Management for Food

Security in Arequipa Project (PGRD-COPASA)

Defi nitions:

The term disaster risk denotes the scale of the anticipated damage and losses that a natural event can cause in a region. It is calculated as the product of the factors hazard and vulnerability.

A hazard results from an anticipated extreme natural event (e.g. fl ooding). It is calculated and defi ned accord-ing to the nature of the extreme natural event, its scale and intensity, the probability of its occurrence, and its duration and frequency.

Vulnerability refers to the inability of a section of the population to resist, avoid or rapidly overcome the effects of an extreme natural event. Vulnerability can be caused by politico-institutional, economic and/or socio-cultural factors.

Disaster risk management in Technical Cooperation encompasses programmes, projects and/or measures and instruments designed to help reduce the disaster risk in endangered regions and reduce the impact of disas-ters. Activity areas of disaster risk management include “risk analysis“, “disaster prevention and mitigation” and “disaster preparedness”.

The risk analysis determines the existing hazards posed by natural events, and the vulnerability of the local population and the vital resource base on which their livelihoods depend. On this basis potential losses can be estimated and measures to be taken can be identifi ed.

The term disaster prevention /mitigation denotes activities designed to cushion the impacts of disasters in the medium and long term or to prevent their occurrence. These include both political, legal, administrative and infrastructural measures to reduce the hazard, and measures to encourage the population at risk to modify their lifestyles and behaviours so as to reduce their vulnerability.

Disaster preparedness comprises all measures that can be put in place so that, in the event of a disaster, swift and effective evacuation can be carried out, human lives can be saved, losses and damage can be re-duced and emergency aid can be delivered. Comprehensive preparedness includes inter alia early warning sys-tems, contingency and emergency plans, coordination structures, storage of emergency supplies, and training. Figure 10 Only minor modifi cations to traditional construction

designs are needed in order to increase the resistance of adobehouses to earthquakes.

Figure 12 All disaster risk management measures had to be based on participatory risk analyses.

Component 3: Reducing the vulnerability of farming systems to natural hazardsIn the third component the objective was to reduce the vul-nerability of agriculture to natural hazards. One focus was to improve water management effi ciency in order to secure the supply of this scarce resource. Production methods were also disseminated to minimise potential losses caused by extreme natural events. Th e project for instance supported farmers in planting slope-stabilising and drought-resistant tara trees, and in improving alpaca rearing (see fi gures 4.5 and 4.6).

In all three components the key partners were the respective municipalities and the regional government of Arequipa. Institutions at both levels are playing a key role in securing the sustainability of the project results now that the project has been completed. Th e graphic below (fi g. 11) provides an overview of the key partner institutions.

14

Within the project term of a good fi ve years, key results that sustainably reduced the population´s vulnerability to natural events were achieved. Th e capacities of the participating or-ganisations were strengthened, and communication between them was improved. Enabling frameworks were created, and key institutions strengthened. At the same time, local and regional organisations are now assuming ownership, and are implementing concrete disaster preventive measures. Th e key activity areas of the project are presented below, along with the results achieved. To facilitate the transferability of the experiences gained to other project contexts, conclusions regarding the success factors and constraints for each of the themes are drawn and highlighted at the end of each section.

4.1. Integrating disaster risk management into planning processes

“Integrating disaster risk management into planning process-es” was the core activity area of the PGRD-COPASA project, because this theme formed a link between the various project components. Th e objective was to mainstream disaster risk management in budget planning, municipal and regional de-velopment planning, regional policy planning processes and the planning of public investment projects on a sustainable basis. Th is aim was based on the conviction that disaster risk management can only be mainstreamed in the long term if it is accepted by the relevant planning authorities. Th e theme must also be formally integrated into the various operational planning procedures and administrative structures, in ad-dition to which the capacities needed to implement these procedures must also be further developed.

To achieve a sustainable increase in the quality of planning processes it was fi rst of all necessary to create an awareness of the relevance of disaster risk management among deci-sion-makers and the population. Th is was achieved through numerous information events and awareness-raising cam-paigns at which locally acknowledged personalities were also increasingly employed to communicate knowledge. Participa-tory risk analyses were also very helpful in the context of the awareness-raising measures. Th eir main purpose, though, was to collect information on existing hazards and vulnerabilities, and determine risk reduction priorities. On the basis of these analyses, existing instruments and processes – such as budget

15

4 Results and Conclusions

”Disaster Risk Management for Food Security in Arequipa” Project (PGRD-COPASA)

Women´s organisations

Schools and health posts

Figure 11 Overview of the project components and the partner institutions at various levels

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vel

int

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unic

i-

regi

onal

lev

el

nation

al lev

el

pa

l le

vel

or regional planning – could be revised together with plan-ners and technical experts5, and supplemented with disaster risk management criteria. It was crucial here to respond to the institutional weaknesses and lack of planning capacity by delivering comprehensive support for capacity development. It would not have been suffi cient merely to transfer knowl-edge on aspects of disaster risk management. Th is is because in order to be able to conduct risk analyses professionally it is crucial for municipalities to have access to staff trained in planning methods. Hence the PGRD-COPASA sup-ported the establishment and training of local planning units (equipos técnicos municipales, ETMs). Since then the staff of these ETMs have been supporting and advising the mayors and municipal councillors on local planning processes to implement concrete development measures.

5 These revision processes are described and analysed in detail

in the Spanish publications PGRD-COPASA (2007a) and PGRD-

COPASA (2007b) (see literature list).

Ministry of Ecocomy and Finance (MEF)

National Environment Council (CONAM)

International DC organisations (SDC, SNV, EU)

National NGOs (PREDES, ITDG)

GTZ “Sustainable rural development“ programme

Regional Government of Arequipa (departments of planning and budget, environment and NRM, education and regional planning)

NGOs in the region (LABOR, AEDES, etc.)

Offi ce for Meteorology and Hydrology (SENAMHI)

Provincial Government

Offi ce for Education (UGEL)

Municipal associations (Castilla Media and C. Alta)

Component 1:

Integrating disaster risk management into development planning

Component 2:

Earthquake-resistant construction, water supply and disaster preparedness

Component 3:

Reducing the vulnerability of farming systems

Ministry of Construction

International aid organisations(SDC, SNV, JICA)

Regional agency for disaster risk management (reporting to the National Offi ce for Disaster Risk Management, INDECI)

Organisation for formation of the construction industry (SENCICO)

Irrigation associations

Alpaca rearers´ association (AALPACOR)

Municipal administrations

Local civil defence committees

Irrigation committees

Farmers´ organisations

Integrating spatial risk analysis into planning processes

Spatial risk analysis

Spatial plan

Development plan

Budget plan

Project design

Integrating the risk analysis into investment processes

Development and prioritisation of projects

Project-specifi c risk analysis

Using the further developed planning instruments and meth-ods, municipalities are now able to identify development measures that must incorporate disaster risk management aspects. Th ese are then integrated into the development plan, to which new measures are added on an annual basis. Th is forms the guiding framework for municipal planning, and is ultimately implemented through corresponding budget

management. When the participatory municipal budget is being drawn up, the individual measures proposed for fi nanc-ing are reviewed by the population once again with respect to their potential for minimising the disaster risk. Cooperation with local community-based organisations was particularly important here, because these groups play an important role in preparing the participatory budget.

16 17

Risk analysis – The basis for disaster risk management activities

The risk analysis systematically identifi es the natural hazards (earthquakes, cold waves, water scarcity etc.) and vulnerabilities of the population concerned and relates these to each other. On this basis the ex-isting risks can be identifi ed, and measures to reduce them defi ned. The risk analysis thus forms the basis for all further disaster prevention measures.

PGRD-COPASA actively involved the population in the risk analyses. For those types of natural hazard involving the severest impacts, previous natural disasters were analysed with respect to their intensity, scope of damage, location and frequency. The results were recorded in a risk zone map. The causes of the disasters were then jointly discussed with the local population, which allowed local weaknesses, i. e. vulnerabilities, to be identifi ed. In a further analytical step it was established which potentials of the local population had already been mobilised, and which elements should be utilised, in order to minimise these defi cits. This resulted in concrete measures being identifi ed in the fi elds of physical infrastructure, disaster risk management training and municipal planning.

To this geographical approach to risk analysis, which focuses on the territorial dimension of the exist-ing risk, PGRD-COPASA then added its project-specifi c approach. The project-specifi c approach focused on analysing the design of a planned or existing construction measure. (Where and how should buildings be constructed or improved in order to avoid future disaster risks?) The comparison of several alternatives enabled planners to prioritise the most economical solutions.

Together with local and regional actors the project also analysed the risk of natural disasters at the regional level. In cooperation with the regional government, universities located in the region and agencies operating in this sectoral area (SENAMHI, CONAM, etc.), a methodology was developed to identify types of hazard, vulnerability and risk for common hazards in the region such as earthquakes, droughts and cold waves.

Results:All municipalities in the project region now have municipal development plans that also include aspects of disaster risk management. Furthermore, the planning units (ETMs) have been formally recognised by the municipal administrations and trained in planning processes by project staff members. Th is means that the basic preconditions for sustainable development incorporating disaster risk management are now in place. Th e success of activities in the planning sector

is refl ected by the fact that municipalities now orient on average more than 50% of their budget toward disaster risk management criteria. Prior to the intervention of the project, these criteria were only applied sporadically. Th e positive experiences in Castilla and Condesuyos led a regional NGO in the neighbouring region of Moquegua to also apply the “risk analysis” instrument and advise two municipalities on integrating preventive elements into development planning.

Figure 13 Integrating disaster risk management into planning processes

As well as operating at the municipal level, the project was also active at the regional and national levels. In cooperation with the national GTZ-supported programme “Sustainable rural development“6 as well as national non-governmental organisations, the project advised the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) on developing the “Guidelines for inte-grating disaster risk management criteria into public invest-ment projects“7. Th e preparation of these guidelines was the product of a participatory process in which the regional government of Arequipa was closely involved. In 2007 the responsible offi cers of the regional government as well as various provincial governments were trained in using the new methods. Working groups were also formed at the regional level to perform regional risk analysis. Th is work has now resulted in a regional risk zone map for the key hazards. High priority measures were also identifi ed that were put forward in the form of project proposals for the regional budget.

Conclusions:• Capacity development is key to effi cient disaster risk

management. To this end training, organisation consul-tancy, the strengthening of ownership and the promotion of political and legal frameworks must be closely linked. It is crucial to avoid creating parallel structures and processes serving the exclusive purpose of disaster risk management.

• Th e complexity of instruments and processes must be commensurate with the actual frameworks in place. In the PGRD-COPASA project region, where both the politico-institutional and the economic frameworks were very diffi cult, the processes and instruments applied had to be simple, so that they could be incorporated into municipal planning as a standard. Th e risk analysis was therefore adapted to local conditions together with community planners.

• To institutionalise disaster risk management in municipal and regional administrative structures and planning proc-esses on a sustainable basis, i. e. despite political change and the rotation of personnel, it proved important to mobilise the population directly. At the local level, village development is especially dependent on the incumbent mayor, who in turn depends on the support of the popula-tion.

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4.2. Integrating disaster risk management into the education system

To achieve sustainable behavioural change and build up a “culture of prevention“, the project cooperated closely with the education sector in promoting integration of the theme into the formal education systems. Here, the aim was not only to raise school pupils’ awareness, but also to use the chil-dren and teenagers as multipliers who would transfer their disaster risk management knowledge to their families.

With this basic idea in mind, information events were organ-ised for teachers, parents and pupils. Th is aroused a general interest in the theme, and participants took the view that the subject should also be taught at school. Th e further process was initiated by a group of committed teachers from Castilla and Condesuyos, who set themselves the goal of integrat-

ing disaster risk management into the curricula of the two provinces. It was they who took the initiative of utilising the scope in the curricula and convincing the relevant offi ces for educational aff airs in the two provinces of the importance of the theme. Th e responsible offi ces approved the applica-tion for incorporation of disaster risk management into the curriculum. Commissioned by the offi ces for educational aff airs, several teachers together with the PGRD-COPASA project then produced a set of methodological guidelines. Th ese guidelines show teachers clearly how and when they should deal with disaster risk management in their lessons. Here, PGRD-COPASA considered it important not to treat disaster risk management as an isolated topic, but to make clear its cross-cutting relevance. As the guidelines were being prepared, the teachers were provided with corresponding training. In 2007 the education offi ces of Castilla and Con-desuyos supported by the project, published four workbooks for primary school children on the themes of disaster risk

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Figure 15 The project profi ted from a group of especially dedicated teachers who put enormous energy into developing teaching guidelines.

6 The Spanish title is Programa Desarrollo Rural Sostenible

(PDRS): http://www.gtz-rural.org.pe/

7 The Spanish document can be dowloaded by clicking

on the following link:

http://www.gestiondelriesgo.org.pe/Documento3.pdf

Figure 14 Average inclusion of disaster prevention criteria in municipal budgets in the project region (data: PGRD-COPASA, 2007).

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

25,2 35,34 57,06 Percentage of investment projects that take preventive criteria into account

2006 2007 2008

management and climate change adjustment. In the same year the theme was also tackled by the Peruvian Ministry of Education. Upon the recommendation of its Directorate for Municipal and Environmental Education (DIECE), the Ministry issued a decree in 2007 stipulating that the two themes be incorporated into the curricula for primary educa-tion throughout Peru.

Results:Th e joint initiative of several teachers and PGRD-COPASA laid a key cornerstone for locally appropriate school educa-tion. Th e formal recognition of the relevance of the theme within the curricula, the methodological guidelines and the newly prepared teaching aids have enhanced the likelihood of sustainable mainstreaming of the theme in the classroom. One highly positive aspect was the fact that a number of teachers took action on their own initiative. Th ere is justifi -able hope that the activities and objectives of the project will also be continued after project completion. Together with pu-pils and with the support of PGRD-COPASA, these teachers organised information events and projects in which the pupils were not only taught theoretical knowledge, but were also actively involved in awareness-raising activities and the preparation of risk maps. Th is aroused the interest of entire municipalities. As had been hoped, the school pupils proved to be key multipliers of information within their families.

Conclusions:• Disaster risk management was integrated into the educa-

tion system at a point in time when interest among both teachers and parents and the superordinate administration was strong. PGRD-COPASA was able to utilise this devel-opment and respond fl exibly to this demand, even though “education” was not a focal theme of the project strategy.

• To respond to the initial resistance to the new theme encountered among sections of the teaching profession, training events were off ered to the individuals concerned. Teaching and learning aids were also prepared, in order to banish feelings of insecurity and gain acceptance for the inclusion of the theme in school teaching.

• It proved important that the pupils not only dealt with the topic in the classroom, but also became active themselves. Th eir involvement in awareness-raising measures for other target groups and their participation in the mapping of risk zones played an extremely important role in commu-nicating the practical relevance of the issue.

4.3. Disaster preparedness

Anticipated losses and damage can be reduced through appropriate preparedness for extreme natural events. Espe-cially in the PGRD-COPASA project region, where extreme poverty places constraints on people´s options for foresighted investment in preventive measures, knowing how to act correctly in hazardous situations can become a key factor for survival.

Th e project measures therefore sought to promote the existing municipal disaster preparedness committees. Th ese committees are mandated to prepare the population for emergencies, and in the event of a disaster to initiate primary aid measures. Th ey are comprised chiefl y of representatives of community-based organisations, and staff members of the municipal administration, the police force and health posts. As the disaster risk management committees in the eleven municipalities are forced to act almost entirely independ-ently of the regional disaster risk management structures in Arequipa due to their remote location, and receive only modest support in the form of capacity building, training or the provision of work materials, these committees were promoted by the project. Nevertheless the project attached major importance to close coordination of the activities with the superordinate agencies. All activities were based on the risk analyses prepared jointly with the members of the respec-tive communities.

PGRD-COPASA helped the committees to prepare and update local emergency plans. Th e committees were also supported in monitoring and implementing their work plans. One important component of these work plans is the conduct of disaster preparedness exercises. Th e project also supported the committees through training measures to help them better perform their tasks. Th e training focused on the following issues:

• How can human capacities and material resources for emergency aid activities be surveyed?

• How can damage be evaluated and high-priority measures be defi ned after disasters occur?

• How can communications and logistics be secured during disasters?

• How are emergency aid measures implemented?

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One important body of the disaster preparedness committees is formed by the civil defence brigades (brigadas de defensa civil). During a disaster it is their task to guarantee emergen-cy aid, i. e. to save lives, secure access routes, assess damage and establish communication with those aff ected and the relevant authorities. Given the importance of these functions, special emphasis was placed on activating and training the existing brigades.

Results:Th e implemented measures strengthened the disaster pre-paredness committees of the eleven municipalities. Th ese committees now perform their allotted tasks and implement their work plans. To ensure the sustainability of these results it was important that the municipalities made provision in the respective municipal budgets for institutional capacity development of the committees and the fi nancing of their activities.

Conclusions:• Th e devastation caused by the earthquake in June 2001

placed the issue of preparedness in a new light. Th e quake exposed very many weak points, and the aff ected population were receptive to improving preparedness for earthquakes. Th e project responded to this openness by sensitising the population and the authorities to issues of “disaster preparedness”.

• Although it was relatively easy to implement earthquake disaster preparedness, it proved less easy to transfer this idea to other natural hazards. People were persuaded to respond to droughts, for instance, by stockpiling supplies, rationing water and delaying seeding, but this demanded of each individual that they accept major restrictions in advance, and show a strong will to compromise on using scarce water resources. Th is could only be achieved after intensive awareness-raising work together with the water user associations and the local disaster preparedness com-mittees.

• At the regional level, discordance between the regional disaster risk management structures (defensa civil) and the regional government of Arequipa did prove to be an obstacle. Both claimed to be responsible for disaster risk management. Consequently, both institutions were inte-grated into the work of PGRD-COPASA.

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Figure 16 In realistic emergency exercises the necessary manoeuvres became second nature.

4.4. Earthquake-resistant adobe construction

Given the immense destruction caused by the earthquake in 2001, it seemed logical to promote simple earthquake-resist-ant construction methods. Reconstruction activities aimed to utilise preventive techniques to avoid recreating the vulner-abilities that existed when the earthquake struck. An emer-gency aid project for reconstruction that ran for just under a year, in which 360 houses were rebuilt, laid the foundation for the subsequent implementation of PGRD-COPASA over fi ve years.

Engineers of the Pontifi cal Catholic University of Peru (PUCP) developed and tested an earthquake-resistant adobe construction method that PGRD-COPASA had adapted to the various local conditions in the course of the project. Finally, three diff erent techniques of earthquake-resistant construction using local building materials were dissemi-nated. All three techniques use air-dried adobe as the basic material. By mixing in certain additives (cactus sap, hay etc.) and adhering to precisely calculated ratios, these materi-als gain greater solidity. Th e stability of the houses is also increased by reinforcing the walls and corners, the addition of a wooden or cement ring beam, and strong foundations. Th e diff erences between the three models involve the selection of the reinforcement material. Whereas one model uses locally available and therefore particularly inexpensive bamboo, the other two use industrially manufactured elements (galvanised wire mesh and polyethylene matting). Th e latter materials are not available in the project region and have to be transported, which generates additional costs. Th e two latter models did, however, prove particularly resistant.

In awareness-raising measures, PGRD-COPASA made both the mayors and the interested population aware of the existing technological possibilities. Where individuals or the municipal administration expressed an interest, the terrain on which a construction project was planned was jointly inspect-ed, and its suitability as a building site established. As well as providing advice on the new technologies, PGRD-COPASA also helped prepare the construction plan, supported some of the owners of the buildings under construction with mate-rials, and put them in touch with expert craftsmen. Th ese craftsmen were trained in each province. Th ey will ensure that earthquake-resistant construction also remains sustain-able now that the project has been completed.

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Results:During the life of the project 42 model buildings were erected for demonstration purposes. At least some of the preventive methods demonstrated were then incorporated into other new buildings, though not completely. In the three municipalities most threatened by earthquakes, a good half of new houses were built using both the improved adobe bricks and other preventive elements. To achieve this the municipal administrations had at their disposal a good 30 craftsmen trained by PGRD-COPASA. Documentation and building instructions remain available to interested parties for infor-mation and training purposes.

When the new techniques were being developed, major importance was already attached to keeping these as inexpen-sive as possible. Nevertheless the use of these methods does involve additional costs, which makes their dissemination extremely diffi cult. Consequently, in 2006 the project joined forces with Swiss and Japanese TC (SDC and JICA) as well as Peru´s Ministry of Transportation, Communication, Hous-ing and Construction to support a mass dissemination and promotion of the construction methods. Th is cooperation resulted in the development of a government programme to promote housing construction in rural areas that explicitly includes the construction of earthquake-resistant adobe hous-es. Th e lessons learned from the various pilot programmes were utilised in optimising the overall design of the buildings and incorporated into the management model of the national promotion programme “Mi Vivienda”.

Conclusions:• Using earthquake-resistant construction materials has its

price. Although the additional costs are relatively low, they are an obstacle to the mass dissemination of the methods. For this reason, from today´s perspective only public sub-sidies or international aid programmes can guarantee that the poorest families also have access to safe housing.

• It also emerged that only those models are likely to succeed that can be implemented using mainly local materials, are aff ordable, and can be built by specially trained local craftsmen.

• Municipalities and organisations that integrate earthquake-resistant elements into their administrative buildings play an important lead role. It is therefore important to main-stream the corresponding knowledge, will and capacities within the municipal structures on a sustainable basis. Th is is best achieved through awareness-raising and training in development planning and regional planning processes, and by integrating “earthquake-resistant construction” into disaster risk management plans.

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Figure 17 The corners of houses are particu-larly vulnerable to earthquakes. Reinforcing

them (shown here using polyethylene matting) makes the building much more stable.

Figure 18 Specially trained craftsmen will ensure that

the new construction technology does not fall out of

use now that the project has been completed.

Figure 19 PGRD-COPASA only invested in irrigation infrastructure where the user communities declared themselves willing to also review their rights of use.

4.5. Irrigation

Th e inhabitants of the Andean uplands in southern Peru are being hit by droughts with increasing frequency. In the project region the growing variability of precipitation and the retreat of the Coropuna glacier are exacerbating the already longstanding confl icts between water users. Mainly respon-sible for these disputes are inequitable water rights inherited from the former big landowners, poorly functioning irriga-tion committees, low effi ciency in the delivery and utilisa-tion of water, and the vulnerability of the infrastructure to disasters.

Th e project aimed to demonstrate to the rural population on a model basis that it is possible to distribute and utilise water more effi ciently, and therefore also at lower cost. Th e focus was on cooperating with farmers organised into water user associations. Th ese associations play a key role in the delivery and utilisation of water. PGRD-COPASA therefore promot-ed the capacity development of these organisations, and sup-ported them through training in construction, maintenance and administration. Th e irrigation infrastructure that had either fallen into disrepair or been destroyed by earthquake was jointly improved and maintained. Disaster preventive criteria were also incorporated into the planning of the con-struction measures. For instance, the irrigation channels were secured against landslides and earthquakes. PGRD-COPASA did however pay special attention to one of the most urgent problems: improved water distribution. Th e project mediated between the various interest groups in order to increase the effi ciency of the system as a whole. To this end, new agree-ments on the duration of irrigation were incorporated into the committee rules, and reviewed. Th e farmers were also trained in improved plot irrigation, in order to utilise the water more effi ciently and avoid erosion damage. To exhaust potential savings at the fi nal “link in the irrigation chain” too, PGRD-COPASA supported the cultivation of plants that consume less water. For instance the project supported the conversion of animal fodder production from alfalfa to oats.

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Results:Under the water distribution regulations hitherto in place, some of the farmers were allocated water only every 40 days. In the irrigation schemes in which the project was working toward a more just distribution of resources, an average ir-rigation interval of 22 days was achieved. As a result, potato harvest yields, for instance, rose by 30 %. It was also possible to increase the area of land under agricultural use, as water also became available for land that had previously been left fallow. Th ese positive results evolved from the institutional capacity development of the irrigation committees. Th ey now have rules and regulations for improved water distribution, as well as infrastructure maintenance plans. Th anks to clear structures transparency was achieved, which helped reduce the confl icts between water users, and improved the capabil-ity of the committees to act in case of drought. By raising a small water charge, the project laid a key foundation for a business management mindset among the farmers, thus in-directly promoting the market capability of rural areas. One positive secondary eff ect of the improvement in the dilapi-dated irrigation infrastructure was a reduction in landslides, which had previously often been caused by leaking water.

Conclusions:• PGRD-COPASA made its material and technical support

for infrastructure improvement dependent on a willingness to distribute the water according to criteria of effi ciency (plot size, crop needs etc.). Where no compromise was possible, basic criteria for support were not met. Th e key to success was thus a systemic approach linking water delivery and water use.

• In order to avoid becoming a part of the confl ict over wa-ter resources itself, PGRD-COPASA confi ned its activities to in-process facilitation and consultancy. Only this made it possible to act as an independent mediator in cases of dispute.

• It proved extremely important to facilitate close support of the process by local irrigation technicians. Th e technicians are also continuing to advise the irrigation committees as needed now that the project has been completed.

• Th e change processes from weak to modern and capa-ble irrigation committees should be seen as a long-term development that can only be achieved through sensitive advisory and consultancy inputs. Th e irrigation methods employed must also be adapted to local conditions. Instead of promoting sophisticated high-tech solutions, PGRD-COPASA supported an improved irrigation model based on the traditional form of gravity-fed plot irrigation that avoided complex technology.

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Figure 20 Even without high-tech solutions, new irrigation methods led to a signifi cant increase in effi ciency.

4.6. Agricultural innovations – two examples: Tara tree cultivation and alpaca rearing

PGRD-COPASA supported six risk-reducing, innovative agricultural measures. Th ese agricultural innovations are all characterised by a low level of inputs and simple replicability. Two examples are described below: the cultivation of drought-resistant and erosion-reducing tara trees, and alpaca rearing8. All measures helped reduce the vulnerability of agriculture to natural hazards.

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4.6.1. Tara tree cultivationIn 2003 risk analyses were conducted in Castilla Media that identifi ed earthquakes, landslides and droughts as the major hazards. To reduce vulnerability to the two latter natural hazards, farmers began planting drought-resistant trees to stabilise slopes. Th e tara tree, a useful plant that is native to the region but had since almost sunk into obscurity, was considered especially suited to the planned purpose. It is well adapted to the prevailing conditions. It thrives on slopes, has low soil and water availability requirements, and has the great advantage that its pods and timber can be readily marketed. Th ere is a strong demand for the seeds from its pods, from which fermenting and tanning agents can be obtained for use in breweries and the pharmaceutical industry. Alongside its protective function, the tara tree also provides an addi-tional economic benefi t. To implement the measure, com-mitted farmers joined forces to form an association. PGRD-COPASA supported it through organisational consultancy and targeted training measures. With fi nancial support from GTZ, the members of the association established a small tree nursery where the young tara seedlings were nurtured. Th e la-bour performed there plus the administrative overheads were organised self-reliantly by the association. Once the young trees were large enough they were planted by the members along slopes susceptible to landslides. Planting was focused on those areas where landslides posed a constant threat to channels at the bottom of slopes.

Results:A total of approximately 15,000 young trees were planted on eleven hectares of previously unutilised land. A cooperative now purchases and markets the pods of the tara trees (approx. 2.5 tons in 2006). Th is is also stimulating the cultivation of new tara trees at neighbouring locations, where the idea has been picked up and small tree nurseries have been estab-lished. Th e pods fetch a high price and the market forecast for tara is good, because it is anticipated that the demand – especially from the pharmaceutical industry – will rise.

Conclusions:• Th e success of the measure was due the combination

of risk-minimising measures with potential increases in income, as the farmers prefer to invest scarce resources in productive rather than preventive measures.

• Th e location of the tree nursery on the main road in the region raised the profi le of the measure, and facilitated dissemination of the innovation.

• Initially it proved diffi cult to provide the needed irriga-tion for the planted trees. Slopes threatened by erosion are usually far away from irrigation channels, and are poorly accessible. Outside the rainy season, bucket-fed irrigation therefore requires a great deal of labour from the already overworked farmers, most of which is performed by wom-en. Consequently, sealable clay vessels were sunk into the ground that feed the trees with moisture over a prolonged period, and only need to be fi lled with water sporadically.

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8 The other agricultural innovations not described

here involve plot irrigation, dairy production, and

potato and fruit cultivation.

Figure 21 Young tara trees are reared and propagated in tree nurseries.

4.6.2. Improved alpaca rearingAlpaca rearing in the Andean uplands at elevations of between 3,800 and 5,500 metres is vulnerable to cold waves chiefl y because of overgrazing, extreme poverty and insuf-fi cient knowledge of economic practices that would incor-porate disaster preventive measures as well as respond to market demands. In June 2002 countless animals perished when a blanket of snow lasting weeks combined with extreme cold led to the deaths of many young animals and pregnant females. PGRD-COPASA therefore set itself the aim of securing the livelihoods of the stockbreeders by improving alpaca rearing. Th e point of entry for the project were the small towns and villages in the uplands of Castilla specialising in alpaca rearing. Here, the project organised awareness-rais-ing and training measures. Together with the project, weak points in existing alpaca rearing practices were analysed, and measures to protect the animals defi ned. With technical and fi nancial support from PGRD-COPASA, the municipal administration of Orcopampa and the social programme of the Buenaventura mine9, the herdsmen built simple stables and launched an emergency veterinary programme. Th ey also joined forces to form an association – AALPACOR10. Th is organisation represented the interests of the alpaca rearers, especially in the preparation of the participatory municipal budget. Furthermore, a livestock rearing research centre was established on the edge of the town of Orcopampa, which addresses issues of sustainable pasture management, seeding and the sowing and storage of animal fodder. Th e fi nd-ings obtained are communicated to the local stockbreeders through agricultural extension offi cers. A collecting station for alpaca wool was also established that purchases and mar-kets the raw material. In contrast to earlier times, when each farmer sold his wool himself to middlemen, this simple but very eff ective measure made it possible to increase the market price. Th e collecting station also functions as an information pool. It keeps the alpaca herdsmen up to date, for instance on new market trends and quality standards.

Results: With support from PGRD-COPASA, 35 stable facilities were constructed in eight villages. Many more were subsequently built on the initiative of farmers, or with support from the locally-based Buenaventura mine or the government soil pro-tection programme PRONAMACHCS. In combination with fodder storage and veterinary care, this measure helped raise the birth rate by a factor of 2.5, and reduce the mortality rate of the particularly vulnerable dams and their young by 50 %. Th e extension and improvement of pasture management also produced positive results. Overall the animals gained weight, making them more resistant to diseases and improving the quality of their wool. Th e newly established collecting station for alpaca wool succeeded in raising the price for a pound of wool from 3 to 8 soles (i. e. from 0.70 to almost 2 euros), and passing on the additional profi t to the farmers.

Conclusions:• Th e training of locally acknowledged personalities as

knowledge multipliers proved extremely successful. Th is peer-to-peer approach ensured a strong acceptance of the innovations throughout the entire population.

• Rapid and at the same time visible results in the form of stables and higher incomes helped disseminate the disaster prevention measures.

• Measures that produce demonstrable results only in the medium term are much more likely to generate particu-lar resistance. An even higher threshold of resistance is encountered by measures that require behavioural change. One example of this is the sowing and subsequent storage of animal fodder. Here it became clear how little the idea of prevention has taken root to date, and how important it is to further sensitise farmers. Th is must be aligned with farmers´ concrete needs, and repeated and deepened at regular intervals.

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• Measures to reduce vulnerability to disasters must be adapted to the local sociocultural context. Th is is especially important in the remote and highly traditional upland communities where alpaca rearing is practiced.

• Th e formation of producer cooperatives proved success-ful not only economically, but also socially and politically. Having joined forces, farmers can now articulate and assert their interests, identify solutions to existing problems and disseminate improvements more easily and eff ectively.

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Figure 22 Newly built stables provide the alpaca herds with adequate protection, even against extremely cold weather.

9 These activities of the mine are due on the one hand to

a growing awareness among its operators of its corporate

social responsibility toward the community, and on the other

hand to social pressure.

10 Asociación de Alpaqueros de Orcopampa

The detailed descriptions of the individual measures set out above demonstrate that several important lessons can be drawn from the experiences of the PGRD-COPASA project. These can also help other projects optimise their approaches.

It should fi rst of all be noted that the sustainability of the measures supported by the project could only be achieved through a complex capacity development ap-proach. This includes various components: disaster risk management must be integrated into planning processes, and the relevant institutions must be promoted. A key role is also played by improving processes of coordination, opportunities for participation and stakeholder capaci-ties for articulation. Capacity development is thus closely linked to change management, and demands complex and relatively time-consuming processes.

Only simple methods and technologies will ensure that communities and farmers are able to replicate them with-out any problems. This became particularly evident when adapting the “risk analysis” instrument to local conditions. It was also underlined by the example of afforestation with tara trees, a relatively simple tree species that can be reared locally.

Although the PGRD-COPASA project focused its meas-ures on the local and regional levels, when solving some problems activities and strategic alliances involving superordinate levels were absolutely essential. The higher costs of earthquake-resistant construction, for instance, required external subsidisation. For this reason, the project entered into cooperation with Peru´s Ministry of Transportation, Communication, Housing and Construction. The broad-based impact of the measures after comple-tion of the project and beyond the region can also only be achieved through strategic alliances. PGRD-COPASA there-

fore availed itself of suitable organisations at various levels, in order to disseminate the experiences gained. Often these organisations were involved in implementing individual measures within the scope of the project too, and therefore had a vested interest in disseminating the experiences. One example worthy of mention here is the cooperation with the Buenaventura mine, which through its social programme is pursuing the construction of sim-ple stables to protect alpacas.

It emerged that visible and rapid benefi ts signifi cantly increase the likelihood of preventive measures being a success. If these measures help not only stabilise, but also increase income, this boosts the acceptance of the innovations. This was evident for instance in the case of the tara trees, which help stabilise slopes and at the same time generate income. Another example is irrigation. Here, joint efforts were pursued that helped both prevent droughts and increase crop yields.

Especially in view of the changeable political environ-ment, awareness raising to sensitise the population to the need for disaster risk management becomes all the more important. On the one hand, in rural areas in particu-lar, the population are often left to fend for themselves, while on the other hand in the long term only the local population can demand that disaster risk management be integrated into development processes.

To achieve the project objectives and fi nd appropriate responses to the existing problems, a systemic approach proved particularly important. It was thus only logical to base the project strategy on the pillars of disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness. After all, only a community that reduces its disaster risk, and at the same time knows how to manage the remaining risk, can respond appropriately to hazardous situations.

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This approach was also based on recognition of the fact that the potential risk accepted by a local population will differ according to their sociocultural characteristics and economic resources. In irrigation management too, it was only the link between improved water delivery and im-proved water utilisation that led to a lower vulnerability of agriculture to drought.

It is pleasing to note that the project experiences are now meeting with interest from far beyond the project region itself. The earthquake-resistant housing construc-tion results, for instance, were utilised by Peru´s Ministry of Transportation, Communication, Housing and Construc-tion in the national promotion programme “Mi Vivienda“, and formed the basis for the reconstruction in 2007 of the Ica region, which had been destroyed by a severe earth-quake. Other development cooperation initiatives are also replicating the experiences gained in irrigation, with a similar degree of success. A GTZ pilot project for climate change adjustment in Arequipa and Piura, for example, is drawing on the experiences of PGRD-COPASA with effi cient irrigation management.

Peru is now considered a leader in integrating disaster risk management into public investment projects in Latin America, and is transferring its experiences to other countries in the region within the framework of confer-ences and advisory assignments. The PGRD-COPASA project also made a contribution to this.

The examples listed clearly demonstrate that the “Dis-aster risk management for food security in Arequipa” project generated broad-based results that have impacted far beyond the region. This brochure is designed to help facilitate this transfer of experiences now that the project has been completed.

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5 Lessons Learned

German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (2004): “Disaster Risk Management – Contributions by German Development Cooperation.” BMZ Materials No. 136. Bonn

GTZ (2001): “Disaster Risk Management – Working Concept”. Eschborn

GTZ (2004): “Guidelines: Risk Analysis – a Basis for Disaster Risk Management”. Eschborn

PGRD-COPASA (2007a): “Sistematización de los Procesos de Análisis de Riesgo de Desastres, (2002–2007)”. Arequipa

PGRD-COPASA (2007b): “Sistematización del Proceso de elaboración del Plan Urbano Rural de Ordenamiento Territorial del Distrito de Pampacolca y su utilización para la planifi cación territorial”. Arequipa

PGRD-COPASA (2007c): “Sistematización de la inclusión de la Gestión del Riesgo de Desastres en los procesos de planeación local, en distritos altoandinos de Arequipa”. Arequipa

PGRD-COPASA (2007d): “Sistematización del trabajo de prevención del riesgo de fenómenos naturales en el manejo de alpacas”. Arequipa

PGRD-COPASA (2007e): “Sistematización del proceso de mejoramiento de la distribución de riego por gravedad en el sistema de Chachas”. Arequipa

PGRD-COPASA (2007f ): “Sistematización de la difusión y aplicación de tecnología sismo-resistente en las provincias de Castilla y Condesuyos”. Arequipa

PGRD-COPASA (2007a-f ): “Sistematizaciones de las Experiencias del Proyeto de Gestión de Riesgo de Desastres Naturales con Enfoque de la Seguridad Alimentaria PGRD-COPASA”. Arequipa

PGRD-COPASA (2005): “Guía para la enseñanza de la gestión de riesgo de desastres naturales en instituciones educativas del nivel primario”. Arequipa

MEF et al. (2006): “Pautas metodológicas para la incorporación del análisis de riesgo de desastre en los Proyectos de Inversión Publica”. Lima

PGRD-COPASA: Gestión de Riesgo de Desastres – Experiencias en Zonas Altoandinas de Arequipa / Disaster Risk Management – Experiences in the Andean Highlands of Arequipa (project video)

Further Literature and

Project Materials

32

List of Figures

Figure 1 Th e project region covered eleven municipalities in the dry Andean uplands of the provinces of Castilla and Condesuyos. 5

Figure 2 Demonstration house made from adobe bricks (Ruruca, Castilla Media). 6

Figure 3 Simple gravity-fed plot irrigation. 7

Figure 4 Time and time again earthquakes – like this one in Ica in August 2007 – cause hundreds of traditional adobe houses to collapse. 8

Figure 5 Cold waves are a constant hazard for farmers´ herds in the Andean uplands. 9

Figure 6 Natural hazards in the Arequipa region (source: INDECI). 10

Figure 7 Th e absence of precipitation and meltwater caused the Chachas lagoon to dry out completely. 11

Figure 8 Extreme rain downpours cause rivers to suddenly swell, threatening infrastructure like this bridge in Chachas. 11

Figure 9 On steep slopes, earthquakes can easily cause rockfalls or landslides. 11

Figure 10 Only minor modifi cations to traditional construction designs are needed in order to increase the resistance of adobe houses to earthquakes. 13

Figure 11 Overview of the project components and the partner institutions at various levels 14

Figure 12 All disaster risk management measures had to be based on participatory risk analyses. 15

Figure 13 Integrating disaster risk management into planning processes. 16

Figure 14 Average inclusion of disaster prevention criteria in municipal budgets in the project region (data: PGRD-COPASA, 2007). 18

Figure 15 Th e project profi ted from a group of especially dedicated teachers who put enormous energy into developing teaching guidelines. 19

Figure 16 In realistic emergency exercises the necessary manoeuvres became second nature. 21

Figure 17 Th e corners of houses are particularly vulnerable to earthquakes. Reinforcing them (shown here using polyethylene matting) makes the building much more stable. 22

Figure 18 Specially trained craftsmen will ensure that the new construction technology does not fall out of use now that the project has been completed. 23

Figure 19 PGRD-COPASA only invested in irrigation infrastructure where the user communities declared themselves willing to also review their rights of use. 24

Figure 20 Even without high-tech solutions, new irrigation methods led to a signifi cant increase in effi ciency. 24

Figure 21 Young tara trees are reared and propagated in tree nurseries. 26

Figure 22 Newly built stables provide the alpaca herds with adequate protection, even against extremely cold weather. 29

33

ANNEX:

AEDES Asociación Especializada para el Desarrollo Sostenible (a regional NGO)

AALPACOR Asociación de Alpaqueros de Orcopampa (a regional alpaca rearers´ association)

BMZ German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development

CONAM Consejo Nacional del Medio Ambiente (National Environmental Council)

DC Development Coopeation

DEA Development-oriented Emergency Aid

DIECA Dirección de Educación Comunitaria y Ambiental (Directorate for Municipal and Environmental Education)

ETM Equipo Técnico Municipal (Municipal Planning Unit)

EU European Union

GTZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH

INDECI Instituto Nacional de Defensa Civil (National Institute for Civil Defence)

ITDG Intermediate Technology Development Group

JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency

LABORA Peruvian non-governmental organisation (http://www.labor.org.pe/index.php)

NGO Non-Governmental Organisation

NRM Natural Resource Management

SDC Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation

PDRS Programa de Desarrollo Rural Sostenible (“Sustainable rural development” programme)

PGRD-COPASA Proyecto Gestión de Riesgo de Desastres con Enfoque de Seguridad Alimentaria de la Cooperación Peruana Alemana de Seguridad Alimentaria (“Disaster risk management for food security in Arequipa” project, a component of Peruvian-German cooperation for food security)

PREDES Centro de Estudios y Prevención de Desastres (Centre for the Study and Prevention of Disasters)

PRONAMACHCS Programa Nacional de Manejo de Cuencas Hidrográfi cas y Conservación de Suelos (the national soil protection programmne of Peru)

PUCP Pontifi cia Universidad Católica del Perú (Pontifi cal Catholic University of Peru)

SENAMHI Servicio Nacional de Meteorología e Hidrología (National Meteorological and Hydrological Service)

SENCICO A Peruvian organisation for construction industry formation

SNV Stichting Nederlandse Vrijwilligers (Netherlands Development Organisation

TC Technical Cooperation

UGEL Unidad de Gestión Educativa Local (Local Offi ce for Educational Aff airs)

34 35

List of Acronyms and Abbreviations

Background

In recent years, natural disasters have increased signifi cantly in both scale and number. Natural disasters not only bring the development of countries to a halt, but also throw this development back – sometimes by years. In these situations, disaster and poverty are directly linked. Poor sections of the population are barely able to protect themselves against extreme natural events, and recover from disasters only very slowly. Conversely, natural disasters lead to poverty because they destroy people´s houses, infrastructure and base of production. In high-risk countries, disasters call into question the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Yet disasters are not inevitable. Th rough appro-priate behaviour to prevent and mitigate disasters, disaster preparedness measures and early warning, the disaster risk can be reduced signifi cantly, or even eliminated. Th is is where disaster risk management comes into play to help build the foundations for sustainable development. As such it is an integral component of development cooperation. Th e Sector Project for Disaster Risk Management is commissioned by Germany´s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) to support the mainstreaming of dis-aster risk management in German development cooperation. It is also supporting BMZ in its eff orts to contribute toward international risk reduction processes.

Project

To achieve this objective the sector project pursues fi ve lines of action.

1. It develops application-oriented strategies and methods for disaster risk management.

2. It promotes the institutionalisation and mainstreaming of disaster risk management in German development cooperation.

3. It designs training measures for development cooperation personnel and political decision-makers.

4. It supports BMZ in defi ning its international position on disaster risk management.

5. It administrates a fund for promoting small-scale meas-ures to integrate disaster risk management into ongoing projects.

Results

Disaster risk management is now receiving distinctly more attention within German development cooperation. Th e number of projects in German development cooperation´s partner countries that are applying disaster risk management strategies and instruments has increased signifi cantly. Th e experiences with disaster risk management generated and communicated within the scope of German development cooperation have won international acclaim, and demand for them is rising

The Sector ProjectDisaster Risk Management in Development Cooperation (10/2003 – 12/2008)

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH

P.O. Box 518065726 Eschborn, GermanyT +49 6196 79 - 0F +49 6196 79 - 1115E info@gtz.deI www.gtz.de/disaster-reduction