Understanding the drought management of livestock and olive growers in the Los Pedroches region

On November 9 and 10, 2023, researchers from CREAF and the Complutense University of Madrid who participate in the I-CISK project in the Los Pedroches Region (Córdoba), were in the Region to work with members of the COVAP and OLIPE cooperatives. The objective of the work was to characterize and understand the drought risk management and climate change adaptation strategies of pasture ranchers, dairy cattle ranchers, olive farmers, and the cooperatives themselves.

Both cooperatives are part of the  Andalucía-Los Pedroches Living Lab, a working group generated within the framework of the European project I-CISK in which other relevant actors in the Region participate and in which we seek to collaboratively generate climate services that help farmers, ranchers and managers of natural spaces to make decisions that allow them to improve their adaptation strategies to climate risks.

The work meetings made it possible to learn about the measures adopted by ranchers, olive growers and Cooperatives both in the past and in the context of the recent drought, the longest known in La Comarca, as revealed in a recent I-CISK project report. The analysis of the measures adopted and their impact will help us reflect on their effectiveness in reducing the vulnerability of agricultural and livestock activity to drought.

The results of the work carried out in this phase will be presented at the next plenary meeting of the Andalucía-Los Pedroches Living Lab, which we will hold in early 2024 in Pozoblanco. The meeting will also serve to inform the next steps of the project.

The analysis of adaptation strategies and their impacts, both planned and unexpected, will help us understand which strategies contribute to making the Region more resilient to climate risks and which, on the contrary, increases its vulnerability.

The working groups have also allowed to better understand the climate information needs of farmers and ranchers facing the risks derived from climate change and to be able to plan their adaptation to future situations.