2018 Climate-Smart Monitoring: CSA adoption and outcomes in Olopa (Guatemala)
Context
The municipality of Olopa belongs to the department of Chiquimula, in eastern Guatemala. In 2005, its Human Development Index (HDI) was 0.448, below the national average (0.580). The health and education indices for the same year were also below national averages (0.409 versus 0.807 for health index and 0.383 versus 0.452 in the case of education). On the other side, Olopa’s income index was 0.552, above the national value of 0.534 (PNUD, 2011; PNUD, 2012). Although coffee is the main driver of the local economy, the population remains highly vulnerable. Olopa has a population of 23,668 and a density of 211 people/km2. About 65% of the population is of ch’orti’ ethnicity. According to data from PIDET (2013), women make up 51% of the population, with 49% men.
Topography and climate
The area is mountainous, with steep hills and few flat areas. The climate is cool, with temperatures between 18° and 25°C. Altitude varies between 1300 and 1600 m asl, while rainfall amounts to 1300 mm per year, with an average of 130 of rainy days.
CSV monitoring framework
The Climate-Smart Villages (CSVs) Monitoring Plan was implemented in Olopa (Guatemala) in April 2018 through a partnership between the Tropical Agronomic Center for Research and Teaching (CATIE) and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) with the support of the International Development Research Center (IDRC) in order to: i) assess and monitors adoption trends, motivations and constraining factors at community level ii) generate new evidence-based knowledge on location-specific perceived effects of CSA options at farm and household levels. It covered 149 Households, 122 men and 155 women and examined adoption and household level outcomes associated with 4 practices: Home garden diversification, Climate-resilient home garden (+water harvesting), Improved bean varieties and irrigation. Results and standard indicators, structured around 7 thematic sections, are accessible through the following links: