The role of microcredit in reducing women's vulnerabilities to multiple disasters

This article explores the relationship between microcredit and vulnerability reduction for women-headed households in'multiple disasters'. Here multiple disasters are understood as disasters that occur in one specific place and cause severe devastation. The case study covers the super-cyclone in 1999, floods in 2001 and 2003, and drought in 2002 in Orissa, India. The study entailed eight months fieldwork and interviews with several governmental and non-governmental officials and 12 women-headed households from different social castes. The findings suggest that microcredit is a useful tool to replace women's livelihood assets that have been lost in multiple disasters. But inefficient microcredit delivery can cause microdebts and exacerbate caste, class and gender inequalities. It is posited that microcredit delivery cannot achieve vulnerability reduction for women in multiple disasters unless it is complemented by effective financial services, integrated policy planning and disaster management between government, non-governmental organisations and the community.     

Multiple disasters and policy responses in pre- and post-independence Orissa, India

'Multiple disasters' or disasters that occur in 'one specific place' are regular events in coastal parts of the state of Orissa in eastern India. Yet the policy framework for addressing multiple disasters is weak. This paper aims to show that policy responses in pre- and post-independence Orissa have overlooked the effects of multiple disasters. Evidence based on a review of the literature and onfieldwork indicates that Orissa has a long history of experience of multiple disasters due to its unique geographic location, political dislocation, and ineffective disaster policies that have focused only on single events. One can observe the effects of this even today in Orissa, notably inadequate measures to counteract the consequences of multiple disasters at the household level and to build people's capacity. This study posits, therefore, that multiple disasters deserve good representation in integrated disaster reduction strategies designed to mitigate their impacts.     

The cultural politics of mining and natural disaster in Indonesia: by fire and sword

Natural disasters are inevitably the outcome of cultural agonisms. The cultural politics of natural disasters are shaped by competing claims and conceptions of ‘nature’. Recent disasters in Indonesia are directly linked to these contending conceptions and the ways in which different social groups imagine risk and reward. The Sidoarjo volcanic mudflow of 2006 represents a volatile and violent exemplar of contending cultural and economic claims. Like other disasters in Indonesia and elsewhere in the developing world, this ‘natural’ disaster is characterised by differing conceptions of ‘nature’ as cultural tradition, divine force, and natural resource. A new extractive project in East Java is exhibiting similar economic and cultural agonisms, particularly around the notion of development, environment, self‐determination, and tradition. This paper examines the ‘disputes over meaning’ associated with natural disasters in contemporary societies, and the ways in which they are related to human culture, social organisation, and hierarchical systems of violence.     

A report on the use of agricultural credit for poor disaster victims in India

One essential response to disasters is to bring relief aid for the immediate survival of the victims. Another response is often of great importance, although it receives less publicity: that of helping the victims to re-establish themselves economically. The extension of agricultural credit is one means of achieving this where people have lost crops and/or productive assets. In Orissa, East India, from the mid-1970's, OXFAM channelled funds through local development organizations for this purpose. In this report, Lincoln Young presents a retrospective review of some of the results of two such projects; the Winter Wheat Project following a drought and the Dalua Project following floods. The emergency nature of such schemes poses considerable problems, placing unusual stress on local administrators in making rapid day-to-day decisions and diminishing the possibilities of monitoring which exist in more normal circumstances. The projects described here failed to achieve their original objectives, but lessons may be learned with perhaps greater clarity than from other, somewhat more successful, disaster relief programmes.     

Living with disasters: social capital for disaster governance

This paper explores how social networks and bonds within and across organisations shape disaster operations and strategies. Local government disaster training exercises serve as a window through which to view these relations, and ‘social capital’ is used as an analytic for making sense of the human relations at the core of disaster management operations. These elements help to expose and substantiate the often intangible relations that compose the culture that exists, and that is shaped by preparations for disasters. The study reveals how this social capital has been generated through personal interactions, which are shared among disaster managers across different organisations and across ‘levels’ within those organisations. Recognition of these ‘group resources’ has significant implications for disaster management in which conducive social relations have become paramount. The paper concludes that socio‐cultural relations, as well as a people‐centred approach to preparations, appear to be effective means of readying for, and ultimately responding to, disasters.     

Lessons for long-term social recovery following the 2004 tsunami: Community,livelihoods, tourism and housing

The Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 galvanized world attention like no other natural disaster before. Unprecedented amounts of aid were given and a record number of international aid agencies were involved in relief and recovery operations. Major reviews of the response to the disaster have suggested that the immediate relief effort was better than expected. However, weaknesses in the longer term recovery work were identified within months of the disaster and yet the same weaknesses were being confirmed four and five years later. Even though many studies have been published on the tsunami disaster there are still many lessons to be learnt, particularly in relation to social recovery as distinct from the restoration of destroyed or damaged infrastructure. This paper presents an overview of the findings of a study that was conducted over a period of four years across five different tsunami-affected local areas of Sri Lanka and southern India. The study focused on lessons to be learnt in relation to rebuilding community, restoring livelihoods, recreating an appropriate tourism industry and providing relevant housing and planned settlements for disaster survivors. The paper argues that ‘build back better’ is possible, but only if ‘asset replacement’ strategies are replaced by integrated physical and social planning to address local needs in culturally appropriate ways. Much of what the authors advocate may seem to be little more than ‘common sense’ and many of our findings echo those of many other post-tsunami evaluations. Yet patient and well-integrated approaches to disaster recovery are all too rare in a world that is experiencing so many natural disasters. Because the 2004 tsunami evoked an unprecedented global response it is important to ensure that the lessons of the recovery effort are clearly learnt and this paper aims to convert research findings into a clear strategy for long-term social recovery.     

Conceptualising disaster social capital: what it is,why it matters,and how it can be enhanced

Social capital discourse occupies an important place in disaster studies. Scholars have adopted various inflections of social capital to explain how those with greater amounts of this crucial resource are generally more resilient to disasters and experience speedier recovery. Disaster scholars have also discovered that people typically display altruistic tendencies in the wake of disasters and develop novel networks of mutual support, known as ‘communitas’, which is also seen to build resilience and boost recovery. In this paper, we use the work of Pierre Bourdieu to synthesise these literatures, conceptualising communitas as ‘disaster social capital’. We offer a fleshed-out definition of disaster social capital to distinguish it from regular social capital and discuss the barriers to, and the enablers of, its formation. While primarily a conceptual discussion, we believe that it has practical and policy value for disaster scholars and practitioners interested in inclusive disaster risk reduction as well as full and just recoveries.     

Deconstruction of destruction stories: narrative,inequality, and disasters

A commonly‐held belief is that natural disasters do not discriminate. This paper, though, poses the following theoretical question: what does the elision of race, class, and gender in the news media say about disasters in the neoliberal era? It draws on the author's analysis of two prominent newspapers—The New York Times and USA Today—and their coverage of the recovery process after devastating tornadoes in two towns in the United States (Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Joplin, Missouri) in 2011. The study asserts that the narrative of the news media is one with which people are familiar and that it fits into larger ‘formula stories’. It utilises theoretical treatments of narrative to demonstrate how differences are erased and how they lead to complicity in hegemonic representations. Critical theory is used to elucidate why this occurs, and the paper sources Goldberg (2002) in suggesting that the news media employs ‘fantasies of homogenisation’ when representing post‐disaster communities.     

Women's experiences across disasters: a study of two towns in Texas,United States

Gender, although gaining attention, remains under-researched in disaster risk reduction protocols and response and recovery efforts. This study examines women's experiences of two disasters in small towns in the United States, utilising qualitative interviews with residents of Granbury and West, Texas, during the first year of disaster recovery. Granbury was struck by an EF-4 tornado on 15 May 2013, whereas an explosion occurred at a local fertiliser facility in West on 17 April 2013. The paper explores how women's experiences of inter-gender power dynamics in decision-making, the prioritisation of childcare, and women's participation in the community affect their post-disaster recovery. Previous research highlights different forms of human response and recovery vis-à-vis ‘natural’ and technological disasters, with less attention paid to gender differences. The results point to the persistent, and similar, effect of gender stratification on women's experiences across different types of disasters in the US and the continued importance of gender-sensitive disaster policies and programmes.     

30年来我国农业气象灾害变化趋势和分布特征

利用1979-2008年的统计数据分析了我国近30年来农业气象灾害的时间变化趋势和空间分布特征。结果表明:(1)1979-2008期间,我国农业气象灾害的灾情日趋严重,农业气象灾害总成灾面积和成灾比率都呈增加趋势;各类灾害中,旱灾和霜冻成灾面积和成灾比率呈增加趋势,风雹成灾面积和成灾比率变化不大呈略微下降趋势,而1989-1998年段水灾严重。(2)旱灾成灾面积在总成灾面积中所占比例最大(约占总成灾面积的1/2),其次是水灾(约占总成灾面积的1/4),再次是风雹,而霜冻成灾面积最小。(3)在区域分布方面,旱灾灾情华北地区最为严重,其次是东北,再次是西北;水灾和旱灾的轻重程度往往是一个此消彼长的关系,华中的水灾最严重,其次为华东、华南和西南;风雹灾情的轻重程度在我国的分布也有较强的区域性,华北、西北和东北是风雹的重灾区;霜冻分布各区域差异较小,西北和华中的灾情相对较重。     

试析洪水灾害增长的社会因素

自然灾害的本质属性是社会问题。社会的发展,环境的改变以至防洪工程的兴建都影响以至增大灾害的损失。因此,减轻洪水灾害的有效途径,一方面要尽可能控制自然态洪水的泛滥,另一方面则应调整社会的发展布局、有关的对策和实践活动以适应洪水。我国的防洪方针应进一步从单纯注重调动工程手段去控制洪水,向工程与非工程防洪相结合的方向发展,动员全社会投入,从而有效地提高防洪减灾的能力。     

Gender and drought: experiences of Australian women in the drought of the 1990s

A unique collaborative, sociological study undertaken during 1995-7, explored the social construction of drought as a disaster, looking at farm families in two Australian states: Queensland (beef producers) and New South Wales (sheep/wheat producers). A decision was made to interview the women and men separately to test our hypothesis that there would be gender issues in any analysis of a disaster, but particularly one which has had so much long-term impact on individuals, families and communities, such as drought. Interviews were conducted with over 100 individuals male and female. We conclude that drought as a disaster is a gendered experience. The paper draws on the narratives of some women involved in the study to identify 'themes of difference' which confirm the necessity to maintain gender as a variable in all studies of the social impacts of disaster.     

中国农业气象灾害对作物产量的影响

根据中国主要作物产量、受灾面积和气象条件等相关资料，详细分析了全国主要农业气象灾害的分布地区、季节特点及变化特征。结果表明：干旱、洪涝和冷冻害是影响作物产量的主要气象灾害，而各种灾害均有明显增加的趋势。旱灾是最严重的灾害，受灾面积是洪涝面积的2．3倍。分析了全国主要农业气象灾害对作物产量的严重影响，玉米和大豆产区主要是旱灾，早稻和晚稻产区主要是冷害和洪灾，一季稻和棉花产区主要是洪涝和旱灾，冬小麦和油菜产区的严重减产主要受冻害影响。     

Household self‐blame for disasters: responsibilisation and (un)accountability in decentralised participatory risk governance

The most important theoretical argument concerning decentralised participatory governance is that it can make a government more accountable for the needs of the governed. Key to this process are participatory spaces that act as mechanisms for dialogue between citizens and local government. However, within Cochabamba, a city in the centre of Bolivia, South America, ‘at‐risk’ citizens engage minimally with disaster risk issues in participatory spaces, despite high levels of civic participation. This is because ‘at‐risk’ populations view disasters as a private/household problem that is symptomatic of household error, rather than seeing them as a broader public problem due to wider structural inequalities. Consequently, they redistribute responsibility for disaster risk reduction towards households, which (re)produces the absolution of government authorities as guarantors of disaster risk reduction. This paper challenges the normative assumption that participatory spaces facilitate democratic deliberation of disaster risk reduction and the downward accountability of local government for disaster risk reduction.     

湖北省历史时期洪、旱灾害统计特征分析

基于近2000年来的历史资料,对湖北省历史时期洪、旱灾害的统计特征及其演变规律进行了分析.结果表明:湖北省历史时期的洪、旱灾害经历了"少灾时期、增多时期与多灾时期"3个阶段,灾害出现的频率和影响的范围均呈增大趋势;洪旱灾害的空间分布呈现"洪水连江,干旱依山"的特点;洪旱灾害发生的季节集中性较强,中、大区域性洪水灾害集中在6-7月的梅雨季节,具有"梅汛"的特点,而旱灾以夏旱为多、春秋旱次之,严重的旱情多具有跨季节性的特点;总的来看,历史时期的洪旱灾害系交替进行,洪灾多于并重于旱灾.     

Beyond men and women: a critical perspective on gender and disaster

Consideration of gender in the disaster sphere has centred almost exclusively on the vulnerability and capacities of women. This trend stems from a polarised Western understanding of gender as a binary concept of man—woman. Such an approach also mirrors the dominant framing of disasters and disaster risk reduction (DRR), emphasising Western standards and practices to the detriment of local, non‐Western identities and experiences. This paper argues that the man—woman dichotomy is an insufficient construct with which to address the gendered dimensions of a disaster as it fails to capture the realities of diverse gender minorities in non‐Western contexts. The paper presents case studies from the Philippines, Indonesia, and Samoa, where gender minorities display specific patterns of vulnerability associated with their marginal positions in society, yet, importantly, also possess a wide array of endogenous capacities. Recognition of these differences, needs, skills, and unique resources is essential to moving towards inclusive and gender‐sensitive DRR.     

面向问题的自然灾害监测与评估集成系统研究

本文描述具体应用在诸如洪水、林火、地震、雪灾、旱灾、虫害等重大自然灾害遥感监测与评估的面向问题的地理信息专题系统。简称灾害集成系统。该系统运行在ＵＮＩＸ平台上，采用面向要素的数据模型，用广义的关系数据库系统实现空间数据和非空间数据的存储管理。     

Flooding,resettlement, and change in livelihoods: evidence from rural Mozambique

Post‐disaster development policies, such as resettlement, can have major impacts on communities. This paper examines how and why people's livelihoods change as a result of resettlement, and relocated people's views of such changes, in the context of natural disasters. It presents two historically‐grounded, comparative case studies of post‐flood resettlement in rural Mozambique. The studies demonstrate a movement away from rain‐fed subsistence agriculture towards commercial agriculture and non‐agricultural activities. The ability to secure a viable livelihood was a key determinant of whether resettlers remained in their new locations or returned to the river valleys despite the risks posed by floods. The findings suggest that more research is required to understand i) why resettlers choose to stay in or abandon designated resettlement areas, ii) what is meant by ‘voluntary’ and ‘involuntary’ resettlement in the realm of post‐disaster reconstruction, and iii) the policy drivers of resettlement in developing countries.     

河北省旱涝灾害历史特征研究

通过分析河北省旱涝灾害的历史状况，得出黉灾呈逐年减轻、时灾呈逐年加重的认识，旱灾是河北省的一种主要自然灾害，探讨了该省旱涝灾害的时空分布规律，在时间上具有季节性、持续性和阶段性，在空间上具有地域性，对增强水患意识，防汛抗旱，今后的防灾抗灾提供了科学依据。     

Build back better: implementation in Victorian bushfire reconstruction

The ‘build back better’ (BBB) concept signals an opportunity to decrease the vulnerability of communities to future disasters during post‐disaster reconstruction and recovery. The 2009 Victorian bushfires in Australia serve as a case study for this assessment of the application of core BBB principles and their outcomes. The results show that several BBB measures were successfully implemented in Victoria and are relevant for any post‐disaster reconstruction effort. The BBB initiatives taken in Victoria include: land‐use planning determined by hazard risk‐based zoning; enforcement of structural design improvements; facilitated permit procedures; regular consultations with stakeholders; and programmes conducted for social and economic recovery. Lessons from the Victorian recovery urge the avoidance of construction in high‐risk zones; fairness and representativeness in community consultations; adequate support for economic recovery; the advance establishment of recovery frameworks; and empowerment of local councils.