South America is one of the regions in the world, most exposed to a wide range of hydro-meteorological hazards, according to the EM-DAT, an international database on disasters, that the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) is in charge of. The Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) estimates that between 1980 and 2005, almost 80% of the natural disasters, 30% of the loss of human life and 75% of economic loss that took place in the Region were caused by hydro-meteorological conditions and hazards. In south american where agriculture, fishery and forestry contribute 12% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the success of these activities depends basically on a favourable climate A good rainy period, together with adequate temperature conditions and the absence of extreme weather, guarantee the sucess of agriculture conditions and the absence of extreme weat...

Smallholder agriculture in the Central Andes of Peru is based to large extent on rainfed cropping systems, is exposed to climatic risks and is expected to respond sensitively to increasing temperatures and shifts in the precipitation regime. Here, we examine the potential implications of early twenty-first century climate change scenarios for the cultivation of potato, maize, wheat, barley and broad bean, five annual crops that account for 50 % of the cultivated area in the Department of Cusco and Apurı´mac and provide the dietary backbone for a large share of the local population. The scenarios disclose a regionally coherent increase in temperature of the order of 1 C but overall only moderate changes in growing season precipitation by 2030. A simple crop model is used to assess the effects of these changes on crop phenology and development. The results show earlier harvest dates, sho...