News

Rainfall variability impacts mountain areas of Guatemala, Peru and Tanzania

21.02.2014

The changing amount, frequency, predictability and seasonality of rainfall hinder food security and influence migration patterns in mountain areas of Guatemala, Peru and Tanzania. Research carried out by the United Nations University (UNU-EHS) in Peru and Tanzania shows how different levels of altitude and precipitation influence local patterns of human mobility. A third UNU study in Guatemala concludes that people are at risk of becoming trapped in a place where they are extremely vulnerable to climate change, due to high dependence on rain-fed subsistence agriculture and decreasing options to diversify their livelihoods, including local activities (mostly in the textiles sector) and migration opportunities.

Three articles based on these studies are now available on the website of the Climate and Development journal and they will be published soon in a special issue of the same journal. Research was based on data collected within the “Where the Rain Falls” (Rainfalls) project  (2011-2013) conducted by UNU-EHS in partnership with CARE International. Rainfalls aimed at assisting governments and the civil society in better understanding and effectively addressing the interrelations between changing weather patterns, food security and human mobility.

The articles can be accessed online:

Rainfall variability, food insecurity and migration in Cabricán, Guatemala (by Andrea Milan & Sergio Ruano) 

Livelihood and migration patterns at different altitudes in the Central Highlands of Peru (by Andrea Milan & Raul Ho) 

Rainfall-induced crop failure, food insecurity and out-migration in Same-Kilimanjaro, Tanzania (by Tamer Afifi, Emma Liwenga & Lukas Kwezi)  

Photo: Flickr/rogiro