Improving Resiliency with Climate-Smart Strategies
In 2012 the Paraguayan economy experienced a massive setback as inconsistent weather patterns disrupted livestock and crop sectors, leading the economy to fall into recession. During the 2011-2012 cropping season, La Niña caused a countrywide drought that reached critical levels creating widespread loss of livestock, crops and feed. These conditions continued into the 2012-2013 season. As recently as February 2013, farmers in departments such as San Pedro have lost up to 70 percent of their crops due to severe drought.
In May 2013, the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) awarded ACDI/VOCA the ten-month Paraguay Resiliency Program to increase smallholder households’ resilience to drought in the department of San Pedro. The project had two main objectives:
- increase farmers’ knowledge and resilience to climate change
- increase farmers’ access to credit
To improve resiliency, PRP provided training on climate-smart adaptation strategies, supported the use of short-cycle seeds, improved agricultural techniques and inputs and strengthened communities’ capacity to mitigate the effects of drought. The program reduced future household shocks through increased training to smallholders on accessing credit, both through the formal credit system as well as through informal saving and lending activities within their cooperatives and associations.
