Disaster risk reduction

Project completed
Yapuchiri (farmer - guardian of local knowledge) observes the effects of frost. © FDFA

The effects of climate change and the impact of natural hazards keep affecting rural vulnerable livelihoods. The Bolivian Government prioritised food security to reduce extreme poverty through major increase of public investments in sectors of water resources (dam) & on rural development (irrigation system, soil conservation, and early warning system). The risk of failure of these infrastructures because of disasters is high for lack of integrated risk management and climate change adaptation (CCA). The SDC project intends to strengthen the resilience of the existing and future infrastructures in the sectors.

Country/region Topic Period Budget
Bolivia
Climate change and environment
Governance
Rule of Law - Democracy - Human rights
Disaster risk reduction DRR
Environmental policy
Decentralisation
Public sector policy
01.06.2014 - 31.12.2018
CHF  4’130’000
Background

Bolivia is an emergency prone country (12th country with higher risk from Climate Change CC). Rural population faces recurrent floods, landslides, strong winds, forest fires, drought and frost. The impact on the vulnerable livelihoods of rural and marginalized population is compounded by the more extreme events resulting from CC. The Government implemented large and sustained public investments in water and rural development since 2005 to improve food security. However the resilience of the existing and future infrastructures and systems to future disasters is limited for lack of systematic integration of risk reduction &adaptation measures in the projects. Thanks to more sensibilization and new regulations, national and sub national authorities as well as the communities are requesting tools and methodologies.

Objectives

Vulnerable and poor families are more resilient to the effects of climate change thanks to public policies and investments integrating DRR/CCA at national and subnational levels.

Target groups

The direct beneficiaries are 10’000 vulnerable families, mainly indigenous families and living in rural remote areas. Departmentos de Tarija y Cochabamba To achieve the goal, the project will target the main actors which have a leverage on the planning and implementation of public investments: Head and technical staff of national & subnational authorities as well as the rep-resentatives and staff of the social organizations (such as irrigation management groups) /Associations of Municipalities. The indirect beneficiaries correspond to 350’000 rural poor families: they are the recipients of the improved national programs of the Vice Ministries (see sec-tion4).

Medium-term outcomes

Outcome 1 The systematic integration of DRR/CCA in public investments and national/municipal planning in the sec-tor of water resources management and rural development improves the resilience of 10’000 rural families and indirectly to 350’000 families (National programs. Outcome 2: The quality of Public Investments in national and subnational projects is improved due to Social Control that demands the integration of DRR/CCA in development projects.

Results

Results from previous phases:  

The ViceMinistry of Rural Development set up a national early warning system combining traditional knowledge with scientific data starting compiling the resilient agro ecological practices. The Vice ministry for Public investment integrated DRR/CCA in its guidelines for public investments. The National Institute for Agricultural Insurance consolidated PRRD experience of risk insurance scheme and scaled it up/out into the first nationwide insurance system for farmers. PRRD established the national established DRR/CCA Platform. Five Departmental government is using CEDRIG tools through their Risk Management Units. PRRD successfully promoted the increase of the annual municipal budget for DRR by 30 %. Most of the existing Municipal Risk Management Units and emergency operation centers in the country were set up by PRRD and now integrate DRR /CCA in municipal planning. At the municipal level 20,720 people received awareness on DRR / CCA issues: agro ecological practices for prevention, mitigation and adaptation.


Directorate/federal office responsible SDC
Credit area Humanitarian aid
Project partners Contract partner
International or foreign NGO
Private sector
Swiss Non-profit Organisation
  • HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation
  • Swiss Private Sector


Budget Current phase Swiss budget CHF    4’130’000 Swiss disbursement to date CHF    4’075’089
Project phases Phase 4 18.03.2014 - 31.12.2018   (Completed)

Phase 3 01.06.2014 - 31.12.2018   (Completed)

Phase 1 01.04.2010 - 31.05.2014   (Completed)