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Olga farms on the steep slopes of the Andes. The nearby mountains have been a source of water for centuries, but locals say they’re drying up. Her community has introduced new irrigation techniques to make better use of water.

Olga says: "We're improving our irrigation so we use less water, and we've had good results. We have more potatoes now, because we used to flood the fields using canals and it took all the nutrients away – this doesn’t happen anymore."

The Ancash region is home to the Cordillera Blanca, a 200 km chain of immense mountains which form part of the Peruvian Andes, many of which reach over 6,000 metres high. It also contains a quarter of the world’s tropical glaciers, which are particularly sensitive indicators of climate change because their tropical location means melting takes place all year round (unlike in the European Alps, for example, which get colder weather – and snow – in the winter months).

Between 1970 and 1997, it's estimated that the Cordillera Blanca lost 15 per cent of its glaciers. With increasing water loss every year, in 15 years most glaciers will disappear altogether. 70 per cent of Peru’s electricity is generated by hydro electric power. If Peru’s glaciers disappear, this electricity, the basis of economic development, will also disappear.

Glacial retreat has accelerated since the 1970s, and at high altitudes temperature increase from global warming is more pronounced. The impact of global warming is felt in the loss of biodiversity, including frogs and toads, corn can grow at higher altitudes, rats are found at 3,000 metres because of warmer temperatures, and malaria is spreading to higher altitudes.

Glacial melt will also exacerbate existing water shortages in Peru’s capital city Lima, home to 8 million people.

The town of Huaraz in Ancash, central Peru, is nestled in a valley dwarfed by two Andean mountain ranges known as the Cordillera Blanca and Cordillera Negra. Farmers on the Cordillera Negra side of this valley are entirely dependent on rain for their crops, and have been experiencing lower rainfall in recent years. As a result, they are building reservoirs and implementing new irrigation techniques to make the best use of the limited water they have.

Farmers on the Cordillera Blanca side receive water from melting glaciers. But due to less water during the dry season they have introduced similar water preservation techniques, especially as the glaciers which feed their farms are disappearing from view. Additionally, the ever-diminishing water supply has led to conflict between farmers, energy companies and industry.

Country climate reference: Deglaciation in the Andean Region, UNDP Human Development Report 2007/2008. Painter, James

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Olga infront of her house Photo: Gilvan Barreto

Olga with her daughter Elisabeth 10. Photo: Gilvan Barreto

Patchwork farmland on the steep slopes of the Peruvian Andes Photo: Gilvan Barreto

The Tamara family infront of Nevado Huascaran, Ancash, Peru. Photo: Gilvan Barreto

Elisabeth Tamara infront of Nevado Huascaran, Ancash, Peru Photo: Gilvan Barreto

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