The Fight of the Wayuu Ethnic Community against the Drought in La Guajira, Colombia

Abstract

Wayuu community in Colombia constitutes about half of the population of department of La Guajira, located in the northeast of the country. According to the National Department of Statistics in Colombia (DANE), between 2008 and 2013, about 4,151 children have died in La Guajira. Among these, 278 deaths were due to undernourishment. The shortage of food is a consequence of bad water management policies and loss of crops due to the prolonged drought that started in 2012. In year 2006, the upper course of river Rancheria was altered while building the El Cercado dam. This further reduced the access to water for these communities located in the middle and lower course of the river. The effects of climate change had deteriorated their conditions. The severity of the current situation and the corruption involved in handling this issue has attracted unparalleled criticism from within the country and internationally. Some institutions even equate it to genocide and demanding more immediate action from the government to protect this community. Our investigation has shown that there is no awareness in the scientific community about this situation. This has motivated us to investigate further and present the basic status quo that will be helpful to build the capacity in addressing this problem methodologically. To build such a capacity, we use spatial analysis to develop spatial indices for each settlement like the proportion of population that benefits from the current water sources and to identify the populations that lack access to water. We expect to determine, with participation from the Wayuu community, adaptation measures for both short and long-term access to water.

Full text

The Fight of the Wayuu Ethnic Community against the Drought in La
Guajira, Colombia
Diana Contreras1, Srirama Bhamidipati2, Sandra Contreras3
1UNIGIS Latin America/University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria. E-mail: diana.contreras@team.unigis.net
2 Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management - Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands. E-mail:
s.k.bhamidipati@tudelft.nl
3 Press/Grupo Planeta Colombia, Bogotá D.C., Colombia. E-mail: scontreras@planeta.com.co
ABSTRACT: Wayuu community in Colombia constitutes about half of the population of department of La Guajira, located in the
northeast of the country. According to the National Department of Statistics in Colombia (DANE), between 2008 and 2013,
about 4,151 children have died in La Guajira. Among these, 278 deaths were due to undernourishment. The shortage of food is a
consequence of bad water management policies and loss of crops due to the prolonged drought that started in 2012. In year 2006,
the upper course of river Rancheria was altered while building the El Cercado dam. This further reduced the access to water for
these communities located in the middle and lower course of the river. The effects of climate change had deteriorated their
conditions. The severity of the current situation and the corruption involved in handling this issue has attracted unparalleled
criticism from within the country and internationally. Some institutions even equate it to genocide and demanding more
immediate action from the government to protect this community. Our investigation has shown that there is no awareness in the
scientific community about this situation. This has motivated us to investigate further and present the basic status quo that will be
helpful to build the capacity in addressing this problem methodologically. To build such a capacity, we use spatial analysis to
develop spatial indices for each settlement like the proportion of population that benefits from the current water sources and to
identify the populations that lack access to water. We expect to determine, with participation from the Wayuu community,
adaptation measures for both short and long-term access to water.
Keywords: Wayuu ethnic community, drought, climate change, adaptation measures, capacity building.
1. INTRODUCTION
Colombia is divided into 32 departments and one of them is La Guajira. La Guajira is located in the north of the country along
the border with Venezuela. It is a desert area where the temperature varies between 35°C and 42°C along the year (Calderón,
2016). The capital of the department is Riohacha and other important municipalities include Uribia, Manaure, and Maicao. The
location and extent of the case study area is depicted in Figure 1.
Majority of the population in La Guajira belongs to the Wayuu community. This is the biggest group in the Colombia and they
represent the 30% of the indigenous population in this country (Calderón, 2016). Members of this ethnic group have both
Colombian and Venezuelan citizenship, because their territory falls in both countries. They live in the rural area of the
department in small settlements called: rancherías. These are small settlements made up of few houses built up with mud and
bamboo (Calderón, 2016).
The presence of the State in this region is scarce. This region is one of the poorest and isolated areas in Colombia (Calderón,
2016). A walk to access drinking water can take hours (Cosoy, 2015, Capital, 2015). The water and sewage system only covers
about 5.3% of this population (Humanitario, 2014, Guarnizo, 2014) and very few places have access to electricity. There are
neither roads (Calderón, 2016) nor medical facilities (Cosoy, 2015, Pirry, 2014). There is no public transport between some of the
rancherías and municipalities. There are very few schools with very scarce resources. The children only attend primary school
and the level of illiteracy is high (Capital, 2015).
According to the National Department of Statistics in Colombia (DANE), between 2008 and 2013, about 4,151 children have
died in the whole Guajira. Among these, 278 deaths were due to undernourishment, 2,671 due to illness without treatment and
1.202 were fetal deaths. The child mortality rate in Guajira is nearly 45%. The percentage of children suffering from chronic
undernourishment in Guajira is as high as 30%. This percentage of children suffering from undernourishment could be even
higher if all of the Wayuu children were included in the national census (Guarnizo, 2014). The undernourishment and the related
illnesses are the consequences of the shortage in food. The effects of the undernourishment are also visible in pregnant and
breastfeeding women, teenagers and elderly people (Capital, 2015, Pirry, 2014).
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Fig. 1: Location of the case study area in La Guajira – Colombia.
The shortage in food is a result of loss in crops from the drought and bad water management policies in the department. There has
been no rainy season in La Guajira since 2012, that used to seasonally replenish the streams that crossed the region. The course of
the Rancheria river (the main river in the region) was altered to provide water to the nearby mining industry. The food shortage
affects mainly the north and the centre of the department, known as Alta and media Guajira, respectively.
The problem of the drought and the food shortage is aggravated due to: El Niño Phenomenon, the high degree of corruption in
the department (Calderón, 2016) and the political situation in Venezuela. In the past, the members of the Wayuu community had
other sources of income in legal or illegal trade with Venezuela, or working in Venezuela in dairy farming (Calderón, 2016). The
recent closing of the border by the Venezuelan government and the food shortage in this country eliminated this possibility
(Humanitario, 2014, Guarnizo, 2014, Calderón, 2016).
The problem of lack of water in La Guajira existed since long. Between 1953 and 1957, the Government installed some water
mills to extract ground water but, corruption (Calderón, 2016), the lack of maintenance and the lack of financial resources has put
most of the mills idle and out of service. The few that still function are located in private farms owned by politicians (Pirry,
2014). Since 2007 the situation is getting critical for the Wayuu community, because they can neither farm their lands nor can
rear animals for consumption or sale. The course of the main river in the department: the Rancheria river, which used to supply
water for the communities (EJAtlas, 2016) changed when the El Cercado dam was built (Caballero, 2016). The river disappeared
along its middle and lower course where the settlements of the Wayuu community are located. At present, the water coming from
the dam is primarily used for irrigation (rice and palm oil) for the extraction industry in El Cerrejón coal mines and not for energy
generation and drinking water supply as was the original intention (EJAtlas, 2016).
A situation of public calamity in Guajira was declared in 2014 by the Government of Colombia (Calderón, 2016). In December
2015, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (ICHR) ordered the Colombian Government to take precautionary measures to
protect the children of the Wayuu community in the towns of Manaure, Uribia, Riohacha and Maicao in La Guajira (Rojas, 2015,
Radio, 2016).
It is ironic and difficult to understand the level of poverty in La Guajira. It is one of the departments in Colombia that receives
most royalties from exploitation of salt, gas and coal. Some estimates show this to be close to USD$ 1.500 million in the past 25
years (Calderón, 2016). This is an area also rich in culture and tradition with an incredible landscape and a great touristic
potential (Capital, 2015). The most memorable image of this region is of the women of the Wayuu community in their colorful
traditional dresses, called mantas Guajiras and their self-knitted backpacks, known as mochilas (Pirry, 2014).
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2. OBJECTIVES
In the context of multiple problems discussed in the previous section about Wayuu community, we would like to develop various
spatial indices and metrics of existing conditions and available resources in the region. We will build upon these metrics to
address the following objectives:
 To identify available and potential alternative water sources in Guajira.
 To define measures that can improve the supply and access of drinking water to Wayuu community in short and long term.
 To define a policy based on water management and climate change adaptation that ensures the food security for the Wayuu
community.
We believe these metrics will also help other researchers in understanding this grave challenge faced by the Wayuu community
and in building capacity of the planning communities to find feasible and practical solutions for this serious problem.
3. METHODOLOGY
In order to build capacity of the Wayuu community to these extreme drought conditions and in implementing any adaptation
measures, it is essential to know: their social organization, their traditions, census per Rancheria, history of the water
management policies in La Guajira and changes in the livelihood of the Wayuu community over time. Each rancheria’s location
along with the available and potential water sources in the area will be geocoded along with the current and traditional
livelihoods among the Wayuu community must be characterized.
Based on the census data, it will be possible to estimate the population density in the region. Juxtaposing these densities with the
location of available and potential sources of water will give accessibility indices for each settlement. Using spatial overlay and
neighborhood analysis, we will estimate for each settlement, the proportion of population that benefits from the current water
sources and identify the populations that lack access to water. This will help in framing water management policies in short term
and give an estimate of relocation of portions of the community as a long-term solution.
4, EXPECTED RESULTS
This research aims to develop a framework for policy initiatives: to improve water management in La Guajira, and reduce the
impact of the severe weather phenomena such as drought. We hope that the framework can be extended to, and adopted by areas
affected by similar climate related droughts in other developing countries. We also hope to propose policies to define adaptation
measures to climate change for the Wayuu community in the long term.
5. ADDED VALUE FOR INTEGRATIVE RISK MANAGEMENT AND URBAN RESILIENCE
This work shows the gaps in the achievement of the strategic goals of the Hyogo Framework for Action. This case study
demonstrates the lack of integration of disaster risk reduction into sustainable development policies in La Guajira and the failure
of the institutions on building capacity among minority ethnic groups such as the Wayuu community. Interrelated problems such
as climate change, drought, bad water management, corruption, food insecurity and undernourishment must be addressed in the
Post 2015 Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.
6. CONCLUSIONS
The water scarcity is not only because of the lack of rain, it is also because of the human action (Jaeger et al., 2013). The mining
activity and the built of El Cercado dam generated a big environmental impact, regarding changes in the landscape and in the
conditions in the soil (Capital, 2015, Pirry, 2014). In the case of La Guajira the stress on food was induced by economic crisis
and climate change. The cause of the famine in the Wayuu community is the lost in crops and the death of animals due to the
drought. They can not sell their livestock as coping strategy because either they have already eaten or they have already died, or
they need them for the dowry. This fact is added to the loss of alternative sources of livelihood such as selling products coming
from Venezuela, and the lower prices paid for the handcraft that they produce. Therefore, it is necessary to built-up livelihood
resilience (Tellman et al., 2014) among the Wayuu community.
The officials of the State declared that without drinking water available, any efforts delivering food rations, will be not useful in
the fight against the undernourishment (Pirry, 2014). The government has invested a lot of resources in the assessment of the
needs of the children, but not in the solution of these needs (Capital, 2015).
The government is not undertaking enough actions to protect this community as it is stated in the Colombian Constitution
(Capital, 2015). The current problems in La Guajira are the mix of bad water management, climate change, absence of the state
and corruption, and this mix is currently exterminating the Wayuu community. The Government has not been able to reduce the
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level of corruption in the department (Pirry, 2014). If there is no effective actions from the government, Colombia will face the
extinction of the Wayuu community (Pirry, 2014, Capital, 2015).
7. RECOMMENDATIONS
The Wayuu community must be compensated due to the environmental impact caused by the exploitation of the coal mine and
the built of El Cercado dam (Adams et al., 2015). This compensation should be oriented to guaranty the provision of water,
improve the infrastructure (roads, health facilities and schools) around the rancherias, and providing employment for the
members of the community. It is necessary that the companies, which work on the extraction industry generate more employment
among the local population (Galván, 2016) It is necessary to open harbours in the region (Calderón, 2016). The high solar
radiation and the mean monthly sunshine hours in La Guajira Peninsula during the whole year generates the biggest potential in
Colombia for the utilization of the solar energy (IDEAM, 2016). It shows the opportunity to develop a solar plant similar to the
solar plant built in Morocco (Theguardian, 2016).
In the social dimension, it is necessary to improve the school conditions. The centres for the development of the childhood in the
region should be built up and good equipped. The Wayuu women working at these centres should have a contract with a fair
salary according to their responsibilities. The food rations must arrive to this centres and it must be enough for the number of
children and according to the nutrient requirements of their age. The State should promote the birth control among the Wayuu
women with the aim to contribute to the reduction of the poverty in the community.
In the economic dimension, the Ministry of Bussines, Industry and Tourism should promote the ecotourism in the region and
support the organization among the Wayuu community of an association to regulate the market and the prices of the Wayuu
handcraft. In the institutional dimension, the Government must castigate the corruption (Pirry, 2014). The National Council of
Economic and Social Policy (CONPES) document announced by the Government must consider all the problems in a holistic
way (Calderón, 2016). Cooperation reduces drought damage costs and there is a need of new water allocation mechanisms based
on the involvement of stakeholders (Kahil et al.). It is necessary to work in desalination methods and community based water
management. In the cultural dimension, having in mind the importance of preserving this community (Capital, 2015), it is
necessary to discourage the migration.
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