Vol.:(0123456789) Natural Hazards https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-021-04720-x 1 3 ORIGINAL PAPER Autonomous food adaptation measures in Amazonian cities (Belem, Brazil) Claudio Fabian Szlafsztein 1  · Andréa Nazaré Barata de Araújo 2 Received: 4 June 2020 / Accepted: 26 March 2021 © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2021 Abstract This work investigates the autonomous adaptive capacity of populations in food-prone areas in the city of Belem (state of Para) in the Amazon region of Brazil. Autonomous adaptive measures are behaviors that the population adopts without explicit planning or the assistance of either institutions, professionals, or both, all of which are focused on protect- ing themselves from risks. This research focuses near the part of superfcial drainage chan- nels, which is divided into fve areas. Visits to the study area and interviews with residents allowed to identify urban typologies and autonomous adaptive constructive techniques, as well as the relationship between these forms of adaptation and the socioeconomic condi- tions of the population. The main results are associated with the main motivations, infor- mation and knowledge that support food adaptation strategies and the consequences of their success or failure in Amazonian cities. Some of them indicates that autonomous food adaptation measures were not provided with professional technical assistance or externally fnanced; the measures are associated with structural modifcations (e.g., raise the level of the properties and improve the building) and non-structural modifcations (e.g., shims). Some of the conclusions are associated with sources of information; community recogni- tion of food adaptation methods; motivation to the measures implemented autonomously; consequence to the urban planning and people internal migration, and the difculties to identify and characterize an adaptation measure as proactive or reactive in recurrent food cycles in Amazonian cities. Keywords Climate change · Adaptation strategies · Urban communities · Amazon region * Claudio Fabian Szlafsztein ioselesz@gmail.com Andréa Nazaré Barata de Araújo Andreab.arquiteta@gmail.com 1 Center for Advanced Amazonian Studies (NAEA) – Federal University of Pará, Av Perimetral 1, Guamá, Belém, Pará 66075-750, Brazil 2 Engineering Institute of Araguaia (Federal University of South and Southeast of Pará), Marabá, Brazil