Drought or flood? There is no match for this climate-friendly bean – Global Issues

As COP16 wraps up its global biodiversity summit in Colombia this week, we’re taking it to the forefront of the fight against climate change, where for centuries the Wayúu have navigated challenges in one of the world’s harshest regions.

When traditional knowledge meets agrobiodiversity, the term for adopting farming practices that preserve and enrich the environment while contributing to long-term sustainability and food security, the main companion appears: a different type of cowpea, kapeshuna bean, or better known as Guajiro. beans.

“Guajiro beans are tough like the Wayúu people,” said Manuel Montiel, from the village of Ipasharrain in central La Guajira, Colombia. “It actually gets stronger when you step on it.”

Ancestral star ingredient

Home to more than 600,000 people, La Guajira is the ancestral homeland of the Wayúu, spanning nearly 21,000 square kilometers of dry forests and desert dunes that straddle the continent’s northern border with Colombia and Venezuela. It is also a place where food is difficult to grow amid drought, floods, endless sun, strong winds, lack of rain, few water sources and temperatures between 35 and 40°C.

Walking in a green field in Ipasharrain, Mr. Montiel bravely stepped through the green, brown and purple plants, stopped to carefully pick up a handful of beans and then gave them to his sister, wife and daughter, the cooks and other women. various heartbeats as the star ingredient.

As a snack, main course or appetizer, Guajiro is satisfying. Sharing recipes while cooking in the community kitchen of Ipasharrain, Ana Griselda Gonzalez said beans can be eaten in many ways, including raw or in dishes like slap each othera delicious soup made with goat fat and yellow corn, or, his personal favorite, cooked in a pod and topped with goat cheese.

“It fed my ancestors, and even when the situation was bad, Guajiro beans were our main source of food,” he said, referring to the catastrophic effects of climate change that have hit the area.

Centuries-old food security is over

In the past two decades, climate change disrupted Wayúu’s centuries-old food security as the predictable rhythm of rainy and dry seasons stopped with the arrival of El Niño and El Niña and other weather patterns caused by changing temperatures.

A severe drought devastated La Guajira between 2012 and 2016, destroying the lives of more than 900,000 people, including some 450,000 Wayúu people. Malnutrition, disease and child mortality spread, agriculture withered and wild seeds were lost. 60 percent of livestock perished, breaking the backbone of Wayúu’s economy.

“20 years ago, when we knew when the rain would fall, we stored food for our animals and it would last us until the next winter,” said Mr. Montiel. “But now, animals in some communities are dying because the plants wither quickly, and the rain doesn’t come when it should.”

From desert to desert

Now, communities like Ipaharrain are turning patches of desert into farms, with the support of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and partners. In addition, Wayúu folk practices and techniques are also being recorded to share with countries committed to combating climate change, through a joint program with the UN Development Program (UNDP), known by its acronym SCALA.

So far, the results are delicious and plentiful. Ipaharrain has dedicated half a hectare exclusively to food production, a leafy area maintained by powerful clean-energy pumps and drip irrigation, drawing water from a renewed underground well.

Other such oases are springing up as FAO experts work with more than 50 communities, adapting climate-smart agricultural practices to cultural and social contexts while recognizing and integrating Indigenous peoples’ ancestral knowledge, consumption patterns and historical production traditions.

Traditional knowledge meets innovation

With a view to improving Wayúu’s resilience to growing climates, efforts are finding sustainable solutions to climate-related challenges, according to Jorge Gutiérrez, coordinator of the SCALA program for FAO in Colombia.

Traditional practices are now meeting innovation through a process of trial and error that has yielded positive results, from soil management to sustainable food production.

Realizing the Wayúu’s reliance on rain led to helping improve existing wells and creating ponds for micro-drip irrigation. Traditional goat herders now use animal manure mixed with minerals, ash and hydro-retainers to enrich the soil and provide essential nutrients for local plants and seeds.

Agrobiodiversity in action

These results show the power of agrobiodiversity in practice, Mr. Gutiérrez of FAO explained.

At the same time, some Wayúu communities have added newly introduced crops such as basil, eggplant and tomato to their traditional gardens of beans, corn, squash and watermelon, a form of diversification that improves food security, provides a buffer against climate shocks and provides energy. the Wayúu to improve their nutrition and economic well-being.

“We are renewing humanity’s knowledge of the earth using local seeds that are also resilient,” he said. “This community seed discussion ensures that children in this field, who unfortunately have faced major challenges in recent years, will see improvements in their nutrition and food conditions.”

The new changing practices have even led to some communities having an abundance of Guajiro beans to sell or trade, said Mr. Gutiérrez, adding that ongoing efforts supported by the UN aim to fight hunger and leave a legacy of the patchwork of restaurants in La Guajira.

“If FAO is no longer here, we will make sure that they have the whole cycle – nutrients, seeds, seed beds, nurseries and water management over time – linked to their daily lives,” said Mr. Gutiérrez.

‘Food all year round’

Back in the village of Ipasharrain, Mrs. Gonzalez shared some good-bye words before tucking into his bowl of beans.

“Thank you for having all this food now,” she said. “Before, we had to wait for the rain to be able to plant or drink water. Now, we have a source of food for the whole year.”

Ms. Gonzalez and her community have also taken an important step in building resilience in the ongoing fight against climate change.

Read the in-depth version of the story here.