Too dry a reality

When you think of Bolivia, you think of Lake Titicaca, one of the largest lakes in South America and the highest lake in the world. Certainly, it’s hard to believe that the country suffers from a lack of water to meet its agricultural needs.

However, the rainfall essential to the well-being of agriculture is falling year by year. Since 1980, rainfall in many parts of the country has fallen by 11%, and in the driest months – August, September and October – it is down by as much as 36%.

Lake Titicaca is seeing its water level drop by almost 12 centimetres every month, and if the pace continues, 2024 could see the lowest level ever recorded.

This lack of water is compounded by an increase in temperature, which since 1980 has risen by an average of between 0.5 and 1 degree in various regions.

The combination of higher temperatures and reduced rainfall is catastrophic for local populations, who suffer extreme drought during the dry season. In the past, this phenomenon lasted two to three months, but in recent decades it has extended to more than four months.

This particular climatic situation in Bolivia has led to conservative farming habits. The Altiplano diet is based mainly on carbohydrates such as potatoes, rice and pasta.

This restricted diet undermines the health of the local population. They lack several nutrients that are not always accessible, either through trade or local agriculture.

As a result, Bolivia has the third highest rate of famine in South America. Nearly 54% of boys and girls under the age of five suffer from anaemia, and 24% suffer from chronic malnutrition in rural areas.

Terre Sans Frontières’ intervention

Given this picture of Bolivian nutrition, Terre Sans Frontières (TSF) asked itself: how could the water shortage be remedied?

TSF is currently coordinating a pilot project involving the digging of “half-moons” to retain rainwater. These crescents are built along the contours of the land, so that instead of flowing in torrents and eroding the soil, the water is retained by these ditches through the unsaturated zone towards the aquifer.

Thanks to the greater availability of water, vegetation multiplies both inside and outside the “half moons”. This also helps to improve soil structure by recovering its macro- and micro-life.

The agroforestry system is made up of native trees adapted to the particular climatic conditions of the Altiplano region, with a plant cover based on legumes.

With this pilot project, TSF aims to regenerate vegetation and plant cover, improve the water retention capacity of the soil, facilitate the recharge of local aquifers through the infiltration of rainwater into crescent-type ditches and reduce water erosion in the intervention areas.

In the long term, the “half-moons” will help to regenerate the hydrological cycle in communities on the high plateaux and in the valleys of the Altiplano, thereby improving the availability of water for local communities. Agriculture will thus become more productive.

Eating habits in these communities will be diversified and will help to reduce certain health problems that the inhabitants are currently facing, such as diabetes and high blood pressure.

Finally, a community with a better, more diversified food selection can benefit in terms of health, but also by trading with other communities and thus acquiring food sovereignty.

Our first interventions in Bolivia, some fifteen years ago, were more focused on one-off health support. But once we were there, we realised that nutritional deficiencies were behind many of the health problems suffered by the inhabitants of the Altiplano.

Nutrition workshops were organised, greenhouses were set up and food processing was integrated. We also supported nutritionists in local health centres.

Gradually, our intervention has branched out into food, because we know that to be in good health you need good nutrition. The lack of water affects local farming practices, which is why TSF wants to remedy this problem.

TSF’s involvement in Bolivia aims to improve the health of Altiplano communities by diversifying their diet and developing sustainable and eco-responsible practices.