Can resilience be built through micro-finance tools? A case study of coping and adaptation strategies to climate-related shocks in Piura, Peru Dissertation zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades (Dr. rer. nat.) der Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn vorgelegt von Philine Oft aus Berlin Bonn, März 2009 Angefertigt mit Genehmigung der Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn 1. Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Hans-Georg Bohle 2. Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Helmuth Toepfer Tag der Promotion: 1. Juli 2009 ABSTRACT This study focuses on the livelihoods of rural households in the region of Piura in northern Peru, who are either farmers or livestock holders. The livelihood systems of these farmers are exposed to and vulnerable to climate-related shocks like floods and droughts and the El Niño phenomenon. A particular emphasis is put on the analysis of the livelihoods and strategies of these households in order to examine the range of assets, their relations and interdependencies as well as the prevailing social, institutional, political, and environmental structures that are influencing the livelihoods. In addition, the coping and adaptation strategies of the farmers are investigated with a focus on the actions and available measures that the farmers take in anticipation of or during a natural phenomenon, and also to understand how they will act and adapt to these events in the future. Hence their understanding of climate change and possible measures of how to cope with it are assessed and recommendations concerning long-term adaptation strategies with regard to climatic events are made. The second part of the research investigates what kind of protection local farmers need, which kind of financial services schemes are demanded and appropriate for the region, and determines the perception and understanding of insurance in order to design marketing strategies and programs to educate and inform the clients. This analysis also determines the ability of the market to support these micro-insurance and other financial services. It is very important to know the specific conditions of the area, with regard to institutions and actors involved in order to design appropriate financial instruments. A particular emphasis is put on determining in which way micro-insurance or other financial services can play a role in fostering the resilience of these communities. It is particularly important to evaluate what conditions are necessary to make these mechanisms sustainable and accessible to local farmers. Investigating the possibilities for offering micro-finance services to agriculture in the area, e.g., especially bundled schemes such as micro-insurance coupled with micro-credit, are of particular interest. Moreover, the possibilities for climate-risk management insurance instruments, like area-based climate indexes, bundled schemes and others are evaluated. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Hans-Georg Bohle (University of Bonn), for his patient guidance, encouragement and excellent advice throughout this study. My second supervisor Professor Helmuth Toepfer (University of Bonn) also rendered important help and advice. Discussions with Dr. Koko Warner (United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security, UNU-EHS) were very helpful at all stages of the research. I also want to thank Dr. Juan Carlos Villagrán (United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security, UNU-EHS) for discussions and support especially in the initial phases of the research. I am also grateful to Dr. Guido Lüchters (Center for Development Research, ZEF) who provided me with statistical advice at times of critical need. I would also like to thank Dr. Günther Manske and Professor Paul Vlek (Center for Development Research, ZEF) and Professor Janos Bogardi (United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security, UNU-EHS) for the fruitful cooperation during the research, and I would especially like to thank Mrs. Rosemarie Zabel for her constant administrative support. In Peru, I am grateful to Alberto Aquino (GTZ Piura), Dr. Pedro Talledo (Caja Municipal de Piura), with whom I had long and fruitful discussions and who supported the execution of this research not only thematically but also logistically. Appreciation also goes out to Dr. Benjamín Bayona and Segundo Dioses (Universidad Nacional de Piura), Carolina Trivelli (Instituto de Estudios Peruanos), Lourdes del Carpio (La Positiva Seguros), Oscar Ramírez (Latin Risk), for important discussions and information they provided. I also acknowledge my gratitude to farmers and local authorities in Piura for their fruitful collaboration and valuable assistance in the research. Without the help of my assistants, nothing would have been accomplished at all, María Isabel Gonzáles, Karina Gutierrez and David Moreno (Universidad Nacional de Piura) who supported me during the whole fieldwork period since its initial phase of preparing and conducting the household survey, the focus-group discussions and workshops until the final phase of data entry and analysis, and each became my friend. I would also like to thank my partner Jose Antonio Díaz Fiol for his constant encouragement and I am also grateful to my friends in Bonn, particularly Marion Damm, Olivia Dun, Zita Sebesvári, Alexander Fekete, Teresa Linz, Julia Kloos, Ermias Ayneluku and William Tsuma for exchanges of knowledge, skills, and venting of frustration during the research, and who helped enrich the experience. I am particularly grateful to Dr. Ursula Beul for editing and reviewing the thesis in its final stages. I am also grateful to the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for providing a field grant from September 2007 until May 2008. I would also like to thank my father Henner and my brother Mathis for the support they provided me through my entire life and in particular, I am grateful to my mother Suzanne, who passed away during the course of this research and to whom I dedicate this study. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................2 1.1 Research problem and aims of the study..............................................................2 1.2 Research hypotheses.............................................................................................5 1.3 Placing the study in development geography.......................................................5 1.4 Research process...................................................................................................7 2 Conceptual and theoretical framework for the Peruvian context .................................9 2.1 Research concepts.................................................................................................9 2.1.1 Livelihood approach.....................................................................................9 2.1.2 Hazard, disaster, vulnerability and risk ......................................................11 2.1.3 Coping capacity and adaptation..................................................................12 2.1.4 Financial instruments..................................................................................14 2.1.5 Resilience....................................................................................................15 2.2 Institutional and historical perspective: the concept of path dependence...........16 2.3 Political spaces ...................................................................................................19 2.3.1 Agricultural reform 1968 and its consequences for agrarian institutions...19 2.3.2 A new form of organization, product chains and producer organizations..22 2.4 Economic spaces.................................................................................................25 2.4.1 History of rural financial institutions..........................................................25 2.4.2 Recent developments in rural financial institutions ...................................27 2.5 Social spaces.......................................................................................................30 2.5.1 Rural institutions in Piura during the reform..............................................30 2.5.2 Rural institutions in Piura from the 1980s until today................................32 3 Research methodology ...............................................................................................35 3.1 Research area......................................................................................................36 3.1.1 Region of Piura...........................................................................................36 3.1.2 Selection of the research area and sites ......................................................37 3.2 Field research methods.......................................................................................41 3.2.1 Pilot quantitative survey.............................................................................41 3.2.2 Sample design.............................................................................................42 3.2.3 Final survey ................................................................................................44 3.2.4 Focus-group workshops..............................................................................47 3.2.5 Interviews at institutional level...................................................................48