Hazards to food caloric availability and coverage per capita due to climate change in the Puno region, Peruvian Altiplano: Challenges in food security and sovereignty

Abstract

AbstractThe Peruvian Altiplano is frequently threatened by weather extremes, including droughts, frosts, and heavy rainfall. Given the persistence of significant undernourishment despite regional development efforts, this paper attempts to analyse and explain food insecurity in the Puno region in terms of food availability and food sovereignty. The purpose was to estimate the per capita caloric nutritional coverage and to determine the percentage contribution of food groups to the caloric availability in different climate change situations (normal, flood, drought), based on the Food Balance Sheet developed by FAO. Official information mainly from the Dirección Regional Agraria de Puno was used. The analysis revealed that the productive potential for food security and sovereignty of the Puno region depends mostly on climatic behavior, which becomes very critical during the last years. The caloric nutritional coverage in the Puno region during a climatologically normal year, reaches only 60% of the theoretical caloric needs of one person per day, with a caloric deficit of 40%. Even more, a year with excessive rainfalls generates a food calories dependence of 60%, while a year of drought generates 87%. The food groups that contribute most to the caloric availability are tubers, cereals and red meats. However, the proportions of the supply vary substantially according to the particular behavior of rainfalls, either in a normal year, with excessive rainfalls and/or in a drought situation. Results revealed a deficit of 1,000 kcal per capita per day in the Puno region even during normal years (750 mm of water layer), which can be resolved in a great part doubling the regional production of potato and quinoa, achieving a nutritional coverage of 95% of the nutritional requirements. These results must be considered to implement public policies focused in redress the caloric imbalance and adaptation to climate change in the Puno region.