News
IHACC Peru recently completed field work with Shawi communities in the Alto Amazonas Province. To learn more about IHACC activities in November and December 2013 click on the following three field reports: Water and Sanitation - November 2013
New Approaches to Education - November 2013
A Medicinal Plant Garden - December 2013
Hofmeijer, I., Ford, J., Berrang-Ford, L. et al. (2013). Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change. Find PDF.
This paper presents the results of an exploratory study working with two Amazonian communities in Peru to identify key climate-related health risks from the perspective of local residents, and characterize how these risks are experienced and managed. The work adopts a vulnerability-based approach and utilizes participatory methodologies to document and examine local perspectives on vulnerability and adaptive capacity. Thirty nine community members were engaged in participatory photography (photovoice), and rapid rural appraisal workshops were conducted with a total 40 participants. Contextual information was obtained from 34 semi-structured interviews with key informants and participant observation during fieldwork. Three climate-related health risks were identified by the communities as pressing issues (food insecurity, water insecurity, and vector-borne disease), all of which are climate-dependent and reported to be being affected by observed changes in climatic conditions. Sensitivity to these risks is high due to social and economic disadvantages which force people to live in suboptimal conditions, partake in dangerous activities, and engage in unhealthy behaviors. Traditional approaches to health and strong social networks are important in moderating health risks, but are placed under increasing stress in the context of local social and economic changes due to larger scale influences, including resource development, deforestation, and changing social relations.
by Mya Sherman
I was awakened at 4:30am to the Shipibo radio program blaring next to my mosquito net. This had become a daily occurrence during my time in the Amazonian community of Panaillo, and I would normally fall back asleep until the sunrise at 6am, but this day was different. My host family was already busy preparing for our trip to the playa, so I braved the early-morning mosquitos to help them load up the boat. I had been telling community members all week that I was going to help plant watermelon and chiclayo (black eyed peas) in the playa, which is the strip of beach where the majority of Panaillo agriculture is carried out. My enthusiasm for the trip was met with knowing looks and gentle chuckles. It felt like a rite of passage and was also an excellent opportunity to gain greater insight into the Panaillo food system for my Master’s thesis fieldwork.
We were soon weaving our way along the Panaillo River towards the playa. As my host dad indicated to me where the river level had been only one week earlier, I was struck by the shifting and variable nature of the landscape. Every year, Panaillo is flooded with over a meter of water and the entire area becomes one giant waterway. For three months, canoes replace walking, fish is the only source of fresh food, and houses endure winds that are strong enough to knock them over. By the time the river levels start to lower in April, most families have exhausted their food reserves. The short-cycle agriculture in the playa thus represents an important opportunity to generate additional sources of food and income.
Nuevo video en español del proyecto IHACC/SIACC! Véalo aquí en HD.
Sherman, M., Berrang-Ford, L., Ford, J. et al. (2012). AJOB Primary Research. Find PDF.
Background: Current literature emphasizes the need to implement informed consent according to indigenous principles and worldviews. However, few studies explicitly address how informed consent can be effectively and appropriately obtained in indigenous communities in accordance with research ethics guidelines. Methods: This article uses participatory rural appraisal methods to identify and characterize community preferences for informed consent in two indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon, using Canadian federal research regulations and McGill University’s Research Ethics Board as a case study to examine where institutional ethics guidelines constrain or support culturally appropriate notions of informed consent. Results: The study emphasizes the importance of tailoring informed consent procedures to community circumstances. Although both communities in this case study are located in the Peruvian Amazon, there were important distinctions between them, such as gender dynamics and social structure, which profoundly affected informed consent procedures. It is also important to consider the balance of collectivism and individualism at a community level in order to determine the role of individual and community consent. Conclusion: Research ethics guidelines generally allow for this contextualized approach. However, regulations still have the potential to constrain indigenous informed consent due to content requirements for informed consent forms, limited flexibility for modifications in the field, and requirements for individual consent.
