Measuring socio-ecological resilience in a context of water scarcity using the Holistic Risk Index. Application in rural and indigenous communities in La Araucania, Chile

Abstract

This study pretends to contribute to the understanding of the complex relationships between environmental risks caused by climate change and the capacity of agricultural systems to resist these disturbances and persist without collapsing, in other words, the socioecological resilience. The level of socioecological resilience of agricultural systems in rural communities of the “Secano Interior” area in La Araucania, located in South-Central Chile, was evaluated using the concept of Holistic Risk Index (HRI). These communities are affected by water resource shortages and droughts. Ten variables related to threat, vulnerability and response capacity were identified. Field evaluations were performed on 73 farms classified in 4 groups based on their ethnic origin (Mapuche, Chilean, European settlers descendants) and the time living in the farm (Traditional Mapuche, resettled Mapuche). The assessment methods used included the generation of geographical information systems using secondary data, direct measurement, surveys, individual and group interviews. The values of HRI found ranged from medium (33%) to high (48%). Significant differences among the different ethnic groups of farms were detected. The Mapuche and European settlers descendants had low HRI (therefore high resilience) while the Chilean farms had higher HRI values. These differences were related to the response capacity of each ethnic group which depends on the (1) support networks, (2) level of knowledge and (3) presence of crop species that are tolerant to droughts or that are able to recover rapidly after extreme weather events. This last variable presented the highest variability in the response capacity component of the HRI and therefore it can be considered as the best indicator of socioecological resilience for the farms evaluated in this study.