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Bolivia 

Putting ingenious ideas to work in a country facing multi-hazard threats due to climate change

A land of contrasts

Most Bolivians live in towns and cities that are vulnerable to floods, droughts and freezes. Meanwhile, smallholder farmers living in rural areas struggle to live off the meagre yields of their farmland – almost a third of them living in extreme poverty.

We opened our office in Bolivia’s capital, La Paz, a decade ago. We were already active in the country through our consulting work as Practical Action Consulting.  Through this work, we’d clocked up ten years of experience working on projects relating to energy, local governance and disaster prevention.

We centre our work on the most urgent needs of disadvantaged rural groups. Some of the most pressing of these relate to disaster threats, scarce livelihoods and very limited access to basic services such as clean water and electricity.

Our activities are developed alongside local partners, as well as with the support of the alliances and agreements established with state organizations, producers’ associations, and cooperatives.

 

Bolivia straddles an active fault line, which results in frequent floods. A precarious situation for an already poor country.

 

Recognition

Practical Action‘s work improving food security through sustainable agriculture and clean energy was recognised in 2021. The Bolivian Chamber of Private Businessmen, the United Nations System and the UN Global Compact gave an SDG 2 Zero Hunger award to our team in Bolivia. The award marked their work with vulnerable rural communities struggling to cope with the effects of a changing climate and lack of access to markets and electricity.

Read more here

 

Funding Partners

Funding partners for our work in Bolivia include:

  • European Union
  • Zurich Foundation
  • Swiss Development Cooperation
  • Fondo Flamenco
  • Green Empowerment
  • Christadelphian Meal a Day
  • Latin America Children Trust