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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
27,4 2030
972,464 Peru
Amazonas 2007
375,993 28,2
71,8 2025
428,603 Loreto
2007 891,732
65,4 34,6
2025 1,121,953
Source: Own elaboration based on data from Bolivia INE, 2007, Brazil IBGE, 2010, 2013 and Peru INEI, 2009
As mentioned previously, the security hotspots are found in States of Brazil, and Department in both Bolivia and Peru. Most of the population in these regions is
predominantly urban, with the exception of Amazonas Peru and Pando Bolivia, indicating that food security is a concern not only of rural population but also of
inhabitants of urban areas. Furthermore, since all population projections for these three countries indicate a considerable increase, it is important that attention to
food security becomes a priority. However, more household level data are needed in order to be able to draw conclusions about the specific characteristics of the
population with high or medium levels of food insecurity.
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8. CASE STUDIES
Sustainable management of soils and lands There are two types of anthropogenic soils in the Amazon: black earth or Terra
Preta do Indio and brown earth or Terra Mulata. The former originated in the dump heaps and the last type in the swiddens, with the use of low-intensity fires
Borén et al., 2012. There are patches of highly sustainable fertile Terra Preta do Indio soils within the infertile Ferralsols, Acrisols, Lixisols and Arenosols in Brazil’s
central Amazonia Glaser, 2007. Pre-Columbian native populations generated by chance or intentionally these soils through adding large amounts of charred
residues charcoal, organic wastes, excrements and bones. Glasser 2007 argued that such soils can sustain 21
st
century agriculture that needs to provide food for billions of people. Moreover, such soils may lead to
decreased rates of cleared primary forest, improve sequestration of atmospheric CO
2
in the long term, and maintain biodiversity hotspots in tropical rainforests. The author warns, however, that soil infertility has been a deterrent to forest clearing
for agriculture and that an increase in soil fertility may favor shifting agriculture, thus increasing pressure on forests.
It is generally believed that more land will likely continue to be converted into sustainable agriculture in the Amazon. For example, Pupo Gonçalves et al. 2010
indicated that local populations in Brazil´s central Amazon use floodplains for grains production, due to their associated high natural fertility and productivity.
They further recommend the use of cowpea and maize on these floodplains. High yielding cowpea can be grown without the use of liming or fertilizers, while maize
needs low amounts of nitrogen fertilizer for achieving good yields. Farmers´ ability to adapt to climate variability and change
Climate adaptability plays a very important role in minimizing farmers’ future vulnerability. However, as noted in a case study conducted in the State of Pará,
Brazil, most farmers seem to lack a long memory it significantly decreases after 3 years regarding extended drought, which explain why more than 50 of them did
not remember as significant the 1997–1998 ENSO’s drought. They further noted that such short memory could explain observing their same land use when facing
the strongest ENSO of the 20
th
century. Farmers also lack local information regarding climate data as well as assistance for extensionists Brondizio and Moran,
2008.
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A high farmer turnover adds a further hurdle to their ability to adapt to the changing climate because the newcomers lack an understanding of the local climate,
the agro-ecosystem and the social networks that could provide better information and support them when drought occurs. These newcomers are also unable to
organize the needed cooperation to prevent fire spreads, whose rising frequency may reflect the increased flammability of emptying rural landscapes and the
reduced capacity to control fire in the western Amazon of Peru Uriarte et al., 2012. This fire damage may be reduced by having warning systems targeting high-risk
locations coupled with options for people to keep living in rural landscapes.
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9. CONCLUSIONS AND POSSIBLE POLICY PATHWAYS
