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Preparing for drought can pay off as climate impacts take hold

by Esther Williams | Thomson Reuters Foundation
Monday, 15 August 2011 16:44 GMT

* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.

By Esther Williams

A humanitarian emergency continues to persist across the Horn of Africa. Farmlands are brown and months of blazing sunshine have dried up lakes, rivers and pasture as the worst drought in 60 years weighs on parts of the region.

More than 12 million people are affected by severe food shortages and aid agencies like Tearfund are responding with life-saving assistance. Over 40,000 people across the region are receiving clean water, non-food items, and veterinary support for their animals as part of the aid agency’s efforts.

In the midst of a food crisis, meeting people’s immediate needs is crucial. However, as questions are asked as to why this part of world is regularly hit by food shortages, it is vital to highlight that the situation in East Africa had been forecast months before the region began to receive high profile media attention and before donors sat up and paid attention.

The reality is that governments are wedded to emergency response and remain painfully slow to invest in disaster risk reduction strategies. We know which parts of the world are most disaster-prone and that lives can be saved through preventative measures.

GAME CHANGER

We know that climate change is a game-changer and, unless rapid action is taken to curb it, the odds are these life-threatening weather events will only increase. So it’s shameful that we continue to stick plasters on gaping wounds.

Tearfund conducted a cost-benefit analysis of disaster risk reduction on a food security programme in a Malawian agricultural community. The programme has run for four years and spans 53 remote villages.

The study found disaster risk reduction efforts had had a hugely positive impact on the communities and, remarkably, for every one pound ($1.60) of cash invested, the project delivered 24 pounds ($39) of net benefits for the communities to help them overcome food insecurity while building their resilience to drought and erratic weather.

With this in mind, donors must help poor countries to prepare for drought in advance and support the integration of risk analysis into countries’ poverty reduction strategies. They must identify appropriate interventions to tackle the underlying causes of vulnerability and help communities adapt to climate change.

As well as identifying and preparing for existing risks, countries need support to adapt to the bigger changes predicted, and in some cases already experienced, as a result of climate change. For successful adaptation to climate change, countries and communities need financial resources and the appropriate technology and expertise.

NGOs working on climate change have estimated that the level of additional public finance needed will be at least $200 billion per year by 2020 for both adaptation and mitigation efforts.

This food crisis was sparked by a combination of events, including high food and fuel prices as well as an increasingly variable climate. Climate finance that matches the scale of need is a crucial part of the solution. That will go some of the way toward helping regions like East Africa break out of a cycle of food crisis every few years.

Esther Williams is a journalist working for Tearfund, the Christian relief and development agency.

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