Indigenous communities and climate change

Due to climate change, a general increase in temperatures is expected, decreasing agricultural productivity. Sustainability and food security are promoted in indigenous Mapuche communities in rural areas of Argentina and Chile.

Context of the story

To date, both INTA in Argentina and INIA in Chile have designed and validated technologies in conjunction with family producers that promote increases in production, optimizing the suitability of local livestock systems. These innovations have already been implemented in demonstration fields with promising results. However, the need for additional resources and a deeper inter-institutional effort is imperative to disseminate these innovations on a larger scale. Likewise, we lack analyses regarding GHG emissions in these systems, and the influence of new technologies in their reduction is unknown.

Collaboration with five indigenous communities belonging to the Mapuche ethnic group in Argentina and Chile, in which we will establish climate-smart innovation units

The implemented initiative

This project aims to improve food viability and resilience in indigenous Mapuche agrarian communities, along with their production systems, addressing expected climate disruptions in the contexts of Argentina and Chile through climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies.

Improving food viability and resilience in indigenous Mapuche agrarian communities

The technological solution

Establish climate-smart innovation units. By the end of the first year, we expect to have a characterization of the predominant indicators in the communities' productive systems, while at the end of the project we anticipate an increase in these indicators in terms of productivity and conservation of natural resources, and a reduction in the intensity of GHG emissions.

Participating countries

Type of project

Agronomic Practices

Results

The project aims to establish and characterize 15 Innovation Units in five Mapuche communities through a participatory process. It will implement climate-adapted livestock practices tailored to each unit, applying and evaluating at least two climate-smart livestock practices per unit to enhance productivity and natural resource management. The project will also measure and quantify the reduction in GHG emission intensity resulting from these practices. Additionally, it will promote knowledge dissemination through outreach materials and exchange events while strengthening an inclusive innovation ecosystem via transdisciplinary team training, community exchanges, and technical internships.