Can warmer be better? Changing production systems in three Andean ecosystems in the face of environmental change

- Indigenous farmers in the Bolivian Altiplano are successfully adapting to changes.
- Warming trends due to climate change have created new opportunities for farmers.
- Policy makers can learn much from farmer adaptations to date.

Andean farmers have always faced high levels of climate-related risk and have produced a wide range of resilient crops and animals to subsist under harsh ecological conditions. In recent decades, changing climatic and economic conditions have challenged farmers in the region. In response, farmers have changed their production systems. The present study outlines some of the risks farmers faced in four Andean ecosystems and examines how they have adapted production systems to changing risks over the past 20 years. Their adaptation strategies were evaluated using participatory research methods and cost benefit analysis. To date, most farmers have been able to successfully adapt to changing climatic and economic conditions in ways that usually improve their livelihoods. These improvements are largely due to their abilities to take advantage of warming trends and new markets to produce higher value crops than in the past. These strategies may not be as effective as temperatures continue to rise. Understanding farmer adaptation strategies at the micro-level can help policy makers and planners identify how they can assist adaptation in the future and will help point to challenges in the future.