23-001-SO Altert Note Drought in Eastern Bolivia (Not Activated)

Aktion Amazonas has submitted an alert regarding food and water shortages due to prolonged drought in eastern Bolivia. DERF has decided not to activate the alert. For further information see the attached decision note.

Bolivia is hit by drought and the country's eastern region, Santa Cruz, is among the departments worst hit. More than half of the department’s municipalities are affected by climate change from lack of drinking water to food shortages due to failed harvests and loss of livestock. The families in the Santa Cruz department are affected by climate change, suffering from higher temperatures, lack of rains and longer periods of drought. The departmental council of Santa Cruz has declared a state of emergency in 23 municipalities, where 618 villages and 27,000 families are affected by the drought. That is more than a third of the department's 56 registered communities! As in the rest of the Chiquitano region, up to 80% of the rural population subsists on small-scale agriculture and forest resources from the Chiquitano Dry Forest (CDR), constituting an important basis of life and food for the rural families and an important supplement to agriculture and other earnings as employees in the informal sector. The situation is further complicated by the region's geographical conditions, with an underground that consists of bedrock up to 200 meters deep, which makes well drilling both expensive and the investments uncertain, as the few pockets of water in the bedrock often are undrinkable due to naturally occurring salts and minerals.