|
|
- Permanent Link:
- http://dpanther.fiu.edu/dpService/dpPurlService/purl/FI13042189/00001
Notes
- Summary:
- This primer presents a basic roadmap for integrating Drought Risk Management (DRM) into development planning based on best practices gleaned from past experiences. It is part of the Integrated Drylands Development Programme (IDDP), and supports the Coping with Drought and Climate Change (CWDCC) projects in Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. The target audiences are development policymakers, practitioners from government and civil society organizations engaged in drought management, businesses that are sensitive to climate variability, and development partners engaged in drought-prone areas. This document supports regional knowledge sharing and the growing body of knowledge on climate and drought risk adaptation in Africa and around the world. Drylands, defined as areas that have arid, semi-arid, dry, or sub-humid climates, are believed to cover anywhere from 35% to 45% of the earth’s surface. While historically dryland populations adapted their livelihoods to environments with only sporadic rainfall, today these traditions are failing them as climate change has created new and unpredictable realities. This is particularly the case for Sub-Saharan Africa, where the increasing prevalence of extreme weather and rising aridity is leading to famine, violent conflict, and population displacement. It is for these reasons that DRM is considered vital to stability and sustainable development in these eco-regions. The primer outlines basic concepts of DRM, the typology of droughts, drought vulnerability, drought hazard, and the distinction between direct and second round, or long-term, drought disaster impacts. It also stresses that different ecological, physical, socio-economic and cultural sets of circumstances will provide different definitions to the thresholds and intensity of each drought episode. The final section presents the five steps of DRM mainstreaming process. This document recognizes that efforts to mitigate the destructiveness of drought must involve moving away from ad-hoc reactive solutions towards mainstreaming DRM into development in a proactive, systematic, and strategic fashion. In this context, drought ceases to be conceptualized simply as a natural occurrence, but becomes a broader development issue whereby DRM incorporates drought risks into the planning, funding, and implementation of all development activities. Reducing vulnerability to drought is thus introduced as a key variable in poverty alleviation initiatives, livelihoods enhancement at the local level, and development policy at the national level.
- Subject:
- Disaster Risk Management
- Citation/Reference:
- (Citation/Reference) (2011). Mainstreaming drought risk management: a primer. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
|
|
