This archive report was first published on 6 November 2019.
Argentina's Mendoza region, famous for its Malbec wines, is also home to a group of goat farmers who are on the frontline of climate change.
68-year-old Sazo, a third-generation goat breeder, has seen his herd decimated by drought in recent years. Despite the challenges, he remains determined to keep fighting.
'I'll stay here with my little goats, I'll keep fighting,' Sazo said in an interview with AFP.
His farm in Arro Ponigue, 350 kilometers south of Mendoza, is one of many that have been affected by the changing climate. The region has experienced lighter winter snowfall, resulting in scarce meltwater, dried-up lakes, and thinned-out grassy pastures.
According to Ivan Rosales, an agricultural engineer at the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA) in San Rafael, Mendoza, climate change has altered the entire cycle of life in the region.
Water flow on the mountain rivers is expected to be 11 percent lower in 2019-20 than the previous year, and 54 percent lower than the province's historical average, according to a flow forecast by the Mendoza regional government.
'Last year, we said it was not an emergency. It was part of a pattern. The same scenarios are being repeated year after year for the last 10 or 11 years,' said Sergio Marinelli, a Mendoza state irrigation official, in a report presented in October.
The contrast between the goat farmers' struggles and the robustness of Mendoza's central and northern vineyards, which have sophisticated irrigation systems, is stark.
Climate warming has been shrinking the glaciers along the Andean Cordillera above the valleys, leading to drought, cold, and wind in the region.
'Here we have a lot of drought. It is very cold and there's a lot of wind,' Sazo said, his hands blackened from carrying pregnant goats to a corral.
As a result, the yield will be lower this year, and Sazo knows that the animals don't give birth or stop feeding their offspring when there is a lack of pasture or water.
Goat breeders in the region compete for water with bigger farms further below that use a system of irrigation canals to grow potatoes and garlic.
'About 5 percent of land in Mendoza is dependent on irrigation, and that's where 95 percent of the population lives,' Rosales said.
'Everything else is dry, depending on rain or the weather cycles. All they have there is sheep, goat, and horse-breeding, there is no other activity possible,' he added.
Sazo uses his herd to sustain his family, but four of his seven children have left the farm to look for work.
According to Rosales, the break-up of rural families is another consequence of climate change in the region.
Young people go to the city in search of work but often end up in the slums that surround the city, unable to reintegrate into another activity.
As the climate continues to change, Sazo's farm will face even more challenges in the coming years.
