Climate risk and rural vulnerability to frost in Puno

Abstract

The study aimed to evaluate the climatic, socioeconomic, and management factors that explain the vulnerability of rural communities to prolonged frosts in Puno, Peru. The research employed a qualitative approach, allowing for an understanding, based on the perceptions and experiences of community members, local authorities, and specialists, of how extreme cold affects agriculture, livestock, and health, as well as the structural limitations that constrain the institutional response. The results demonstrate that frosts constitute a structural and recurring climate risk in Puno, intensified by weak intergovernmental coordination, precarious production, and limited integration of local knowledge and technology. In response, the study proposes strengthening coordination among levels of government, promoting cold-resilient crops and production systems, integrating ancestral knowledge with technological innovation, and consolidating community-based risk management through early warning systems and local committees. In conclusion, the study argues that reducing vulnerability to frost in Puno requires comprehensive, territorially differentiated and sustained risk management that effectively protects rural health and livelihoods.