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7. FOOD SECURITY THREATS TO DIFFERENT AMAZONIAN POPULATIONS
There are almost 39 million people living in the Amazon. Most of them are in Brazil approximately 75 and Peru around 11. The highest population growth rate
has been registered in urban areas, especially in Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador, but also Bolivia and Peru.
While consumption patterns of urban population are largely determined by a globalized market, rural people find their source in proteins in hunted wild animals,
after fish
8
. The increase in population density in urban areas and the trade to supply large population centers, has lead to a decrease in the diversity and density
of larger animals ACTO 1997. There are various indigenous groups whose settlements are located in deep forests
and their dependence on forest products timber and non-timber is high. Unlike urban communities whose living is closely tied to income and purchasing power,
their subsistence depends on the availability of and access to natural resources e.g. water or land that are considered a collective right. About 3 of the total
population belongs to 40 indigenous populations. They group in around 420 different ethnicities and speak 86 distinct languages UNEP et al., 2009. Figure 20
illustrates the number of inhabitants and indigenous populations living in the Amazon.
8
Fishing has sustaining, commercial and ornamental purposes. Fishing for livelihoods is characterized by its wide dispersal and use of small boats and gear simple. This activity is combined with agriculture and varies according to
the hydrological cycle, bio-ecology of fish and seasonal needs of agricultural products. Commercial fishing involves the use of large vessels, massive nets and insulated boxes to preserve fresh fish with ice and supply the cities. The
activity is influenced by seasonality, variety and productivity of ecosystems, they limit or allow greater access to fishery resources, and determine fishermen to alternate fishing with livestock, agriculture and mining. Ornamental
fishery is highly specialized and is characterized by continuous changes caused by the market. Ornamental fish live in creeks, streams and lakes, in environments different from the species used for human consumption ACTO, 1997.
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Figure 20. Indigenous populations in the Amazon
9
. Source: UNEP et al. 2009
New forms of land tenure, as a consequence of the replacement of smallholding with large, commercial holdings mainly for crop and livestock production, new
consumption patterns that disregard local social and economic dynamics and traditional institutions represent a continuous threat to the traditional lifestyle of
the indigenous populations in the Amazon UNEP et al., 2009. For instance, the large expansion of the agricultural frontier especially for livestock and of the oil
industry in the 1950s up until the 1970s in the Colombian Amazon was associated with an important process of colonization of indigenous territories and therefore
alteration of traditions and customs UNEP et al., 2009. Vulnerability of Amazonian people and groups has been described in terms of
geographic location, social and economic inequity, access to basic service services and natural resources, malnutrition, illiteracy, unemployment, exposure to
environmental risks. As mentioned earlier, around 35 of the Brazilian population in the Amazon was food insecure in 2004 and another 4 million people living in the
Andean Amazonia lack appropriate drinking water and sanitation infrastructure UNEP et al., 2009. Table 5 provides some demographical statistics for the
Amazonian countries where food security hotspots identified in Section 5.2 are located.
9
The indigenous population in Ecuador includes indigenous people from the Andean region
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Table 5. Demographics in Amazon security hotspots
Present Projection
Country Department Year
Total Urban
Rural Year
Total
Bolivia Pando
2007 52,525
39,6 60,4
2015 95,709
Beni 2007
362,521 71,5
28,5 2015
483,129 Brazil
Acre 2010
450,479 76,6
23,4 2030
618,057 Roraima
2010
6,574,789
63,1 36,9
2030 7,374,604
Maranhao 2010
733, 559 72,6