Introduction

1. Developing a methodology to enable community governance for market integration and adaptation to climate changes: agency and the advocacy coalition approach in the Peruvian Altiplano Edith Fernández-Baca1, Cecilia Turin2 and Pedro Condor1 1Instituto de la Pequeña Producción Sostenible, Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina Peru. 2University of Missouri, Illinios, USA Methodology A modified approach of the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF), was used to initiate the process of forming alliances around relevant issued. The research was conducted bythe communities themselves, in order to better build advocacy coalitions that satisfy their goals. Based on the previous research done in Peru, the communities of Santa Maria and Apopata engaged in participatory processes of needs assessment, historical analysis of existing stakeholder networks and identification of desired futures and goals. Results Initial workshops to look at desired futures and goals led to Santa Maria identifying increased soil fertility as their goal. Apopata on the other hand, found that an improved market access for alpaca fiber would enhance their quality of life. Introduction Alliances (Social Capital) between farmer organizations/communities and a range of actors, from different sectors and levels of society can increase negotiating power (Political Capital). The Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) can provide the elements needed especially by the grassroots to effectively participate in the decision making process. Previous research done in Ecuador and Peru (Flora et al. 2006; Fernández-Baca 2006) has shown the usefulness of the ACF in studying the multilevel, multi-sector dynamic interaction among stakeholders in their search to influence the rules, budgets, and leadership in specific state agencies in the pursuit of particular desired futures. We propose that ACF can be used as a participatory and inclusive bottom-up approach. An advocacy coalition participatory-research process (AC) was initiated in the Aymara communities of Santa Maria and Apopata, in the Peruvian Altiplano around market and climate change issues. The guiding assumption of this process is that for strategies developed to face market and climate change to be successful, civil society must participate in deciding how they are done. Conclusions As the process has evolved, Apopata has shown more willingness to engage in coalition building. On the other hand, Santa Maria has shown some reticence in engaging in AC, apparently partly as a result of the change in local authorities. This has made a reevaluation of work strategies necessary. Thus we are evaluating the possibilities of shifting our strategy to engage the community of Santa Maria in AC research through its linkage with soils studies that are taking place as part of the overall SANREM project. Two groups, one per community were elected in a democratic process to initiate the formation of advocacy coalitions around the issues/goals identified (soils and market). These groups received training sessions to improve interviewing and negotiating skills with stakeholders to support their goals. Groups were known as “Local research teams” (LRT). The LRT engaged in: (1) capacity-building in coalition research, (2) data collection including interviews with relevant actors in decision-making positions within key institutions, (3) documentation/systematization of research, and (4) feedback and negotiation workshops. Following these steps, would hopefully result in emergence and strengthening of coalitions. Participation, initiatives proposed, actions taken, number of associations formed and any form of social capital emergence as a result of the intervention are being measured to evaluate progress and increase in political capital. Materials and methods The setting This study was undertaken in the altiiplano communities of Santa María and Apopata, in Puno, Peru. Both communities are of Aymara origin. The community of Santa María (pop. 60 families) is located at an altitude of 3800 to 4200m and has an economy based on crops and livestock production. Apopata (pop. 80 families) on the other hand is located at a higher altitude (4000-4500m) and has an economy based only on livestock production. Literature cited Fernández-Baca E.C. 2006. Modernization and development as part of the globalization process: Holistic participatory community development in a community in the Mantaro Valley, Peru. PhD Dissertation. Iowa State University, Ames Iowa Flora, J.L., C.B. Flora, F. Campana, M. Garcia Bravo, and E. Fernández-Baca. 2006.  Social Capital and Advocacy Coalitions: Examples of Environmental Issues from Ecuador.  Pp. 287-297 in R.E. Rhoades (ed.) Development with Identity: Community, Culture and Sustainability in the Andes.  Cambridge, MA: CABI Publishing Both communities identified the existing network of key actors around the issues they had prioritized. Existing and potential political capital in Santa Maria can be found in its links and alliances with five internal associations, including one women enterprise, and the relationship the community has with four external institutions including NGOs and governmental agencies. Apopata instead has links with only one external institution, the Municipality, and lacks internal associations. The difference in the links and alliances each community possesses might lie on the amount of external interventions each of them has been subjected to in the past decade or so. As year three of the project is reaching its end, Santa María has stalled in the process while Apopata has been steadily increasing its network of possible allies to engage in different capacity building activities to improve alpaca fiber and overall quality through improvement of their animals. Puno Acknowledgments We would like to give our acknowledgment to the people of the communities of Apopata and Santa María, the main actors in this process. Likewise we would like to recognize the work of the Puno Technical Team in charge of facilitating the process and collecting data for this research. Apopata Santa Maria