South America: Drought - 2015-2017

According to official contingency planning documents for El Niño 2015-2016, Bolivia's Civil Defense reported that 100,000 households (approx. 500,000 people) may be affected by excess rainfall and/or drought in 109 municipalities of the country (OCHA, 13 Oct 2015). As of 21 December 2015, a state of emergency had been declared in 27 municipalities of the departments of Oruro, Cochabamba and Chuquisaca due to drought (ECHO, 23 Dec 2015). In February 2016, the drought was still affecting the southern regions of Altiplano and Chaco (Gov't of Bolivia, 24 Feb 2016). As of May 2016, 7 western regions were particularly affected, including Oruro and La Paz. More than 70,000 families are impacted by the drought (OCHA, 1 June 2016). As of July 31, 160,000 people were affected by drought and 104 municipalities have declared a state of emergency (PAHO, 4 Aug 2016).