The impact of drought on production, consumption and nutrition in southwestern kenya

In this paper I compare the effects of the 1984 drought on agricultural production, income, food consumption, and nutrition of farm and non-farm households in South Nyanza District, Kenya. Survey work covered the period 1984 to 1987. It was the late arrival of the long rains in spring 1984, rather than an absolute shortfall in rain, that caused most of the fluctuations in agricultural production. Agricultural households who were least affected by the drought were able to cope by increasing the amount of cultivated land and by relying more on coarse grain production. Coping strategies for the landless households in South Nyanza were more limited and this group of households therefore experienced greater fluctuations in income between the drought and non-drought periods than did most types of agricultural households. Surprisingly, changes in food consumption between the drought and non-drought periods were small for most households. In spite of differences in production, food availability and incomes, however, the health and nutritional status of pre-school-aged children was not significantly different in the two time periods. Differences in health and nutritional status appear to be influenced more by community-level health and sanitation factors than by differences in agricultural production and incomes in drought and non-drought years.     

干旱指标及其在新疆阿勒泰地区干旱监测分析中的应用

干旱是限制新疆阿勒泰地区农牧业生产可持续发展最主要的自然灾害之一,研究适合该区的干旱指标,是进行有效干旱监测的基础。采用新疆阿勒泰地区7个气象站1961-2008年4-10月月平均气温、降水量资料,首先通过Thomthwaite方法计算潜在蒸发量确定K干旱指数,然后对R指数、Z指数、K指数3种干旱指标进行了分析,结果表明,在监测诊断干旱轻重程度上,K指数能较客观地反映出干旱程度,R指数和Z指数监测干旱程度较轻。在此基础上,基于K指数建立的阿勒泰地区干旱监测评价的强度指数和面积指数,对该地区近48年来干旱的变化进行了分析,表明该地区干旱灾害主要集中在春夏季节,春夏连旱几率较高,强度较大;该地区干旱灾害具有阶段性特征,近年来干旱发生的频次有增多的趋势,其中秋季干旱相对较为明显。     

Monitoring and responding to famine: lessons from the 1984 - 85 food crisis in kenya

The geographic and temporal scale of institutional responses to food crises suggests three levels of food information or famine early warning system: a seasonal national food balance, baseline data on household food poverty and estimates of vulnerability to climatic and economic variations, and targeted interventions based on individual entitlements and food deprivation. Stimulating the demand for food information, beyond the need to forecast famines, is a crucial factor in the adoption of improved monitoring systems. Issues in the design of food information systems are illustrated by the experience in Kenya in 1984–85. The government of Kenya responded to the 1984 drought and ensuing food crisis to prevent widespread famine, largely through timely commercial imports of yellow maize. Although qualified by the nature of the drought and Kenya's economic development, this success story emphasises the need to improve food information systems.     

Drought,social agents and the construction of discourse in Andalusia

Despite the severity of the last droughts in Spain, there has not been any significant shift in the current planning strategies, due to a significant resistance to abandoning traditional practices against this hydrological risk. To better understand the origin of this resistance, the changing role of the relevant stakeholders in the debate and the key issues, this paper is aimed at undertaking a discursive analysis of the information conveyed by the media in hydrological years 2004–2005 and 2011–2012, through the application of the software Atlas.ti.     

我国旱灾形势和减轻旱灾风险的主要对策

论述了干旱对我国经济社会影响。从干旱时空分布格局分析了我国面l临的旱灾风险形势,干旱灾害对我国造成的主要危害,以及干旱灾害的主要原因,在此基础上,从宏观战略角度,提出了减轻旱灾风险的主要对策。     

Drought and famine relief in Ethiopia

This item was filed by an independent observer in March 1983. The overall context given of the relief operation remained valid up to at least the mid-year point, with one well-publicised exception. Late in April, the town of Korem, in northern Wollo region, was seized for several days by the Tigray People's Liberation Front. The famine relief operation was completely disrupted, and the shelter population dispersed. The official relief programme resumed slowly after some 6 to 7 weeks; of the relief workers captured by the TPLF, the expatriate contingent was released in Sudan in the second week of June.     

Structural Adjustment and Drought in Zambia

While drought is not uncommon in Zambia, the country is now facing the worst drought in history. The monetary and social costs will be enormous. Although it is too early to measure the economic and social costs of the drought on Zambia, it is obvious that the impact is catastrophic on a country whose economy is under pressure. The drought will affect the structural adjustment programme (SAP) unveiled by the new government which has embraced the market economy. The country has imported, and will continue to import, large quantities of maize and other foodstuffs, a situation likely to strain the balance of payments. Earlier targets with regard to export earnings, reductions in the budget deficit, and GDP growth as contained in the Policy Framework Paper (PFP) are no longer attainable due to the effects of the drought.     

北京增干旱、雷电、霾三种灾害天预警

能即时发布信息的公共设施,都将发布气象灾害预警信号.2007年7月14日下午,北京市气象局首席预报员孙继松在介绍<北京市气象灾害预警信号与防御指南>时说,北京将利用现有公共设施扩大气象灾害预警信号发布的覆盖面,让更多的人能及时了解天气变化.     

Drought Relief and Agricultural Rehabilitation

This paper is based on the experiences of the author working in drought relief programmes in N.E. Africa and in marginal rainfall areas of India. It is intended to provide suggestions and guidelines for workers involved at an initial stage in a drought where there may be early opportunities for short term crop production programmes, and longer term measures for water conservation as an integral part of the relief programme.     

The Role of Food Aid in Drought and Recovery: Oxfam's North Turkana (Kenya) Drought Relief Programme, 1992–94

Regional droughts carry the seeds of catastrophe: the immediate risk is famine; the long-term risk is destitution. Preventing both situations is an appropriate, if not essential, goal for relief agencies. In the past, responses to hunger in Turkana District (north-west Kenya) have taken the form of traditional feeding programmes. A better understanding of the boom/bust cycles in pastoralist systems has, however, produced new relief strategies. A central tenet of these strategies is the acceptance that relief aid should assume two roles: humanitarian—to overcome food deficits—and economic—to overcome 'income' deficits. Arguments in favour of a broader role for food aid are tested with a case study of a drought relief programme in north Turkana between 1992–1994. Field studies confirmed that when food aid is integrated as an asset into household resources, it can strengthen economic recovery. Ultimately, the extent to which relief operations are able to protect both people's lives and their livelihoods is the key to more sustainable development in drought-prone areas.     

2009年秋至2010年春我国西南地区干旱及与历史场次干旱对比分析

2009年10月至2010年4月,我国西南地区由于受厄尔尼诺影响,气温偏高、降雨偏少,发生了秋冬春三季连旱,耕地受旱面积占全国同期耕地受旱面积的78%,受灾人口和大牲畜饮水困难头数都达到了近十年来该地区的最高水平.通过对比本次和历史场次干旱发现,西南干旱并非稀遇现象,195l～1990年的40年间该地区曾发生干旱12次...     

陕西省干旱综合评价预警研究

总结了造成陕西省干旱发生的主要原因以及干旱的区域和季节分布特征，在分析气象干旱和农业干旱指标的基础上提出了陕西省干旱分析评价的综合干旱指标、干旱预警方法以及干旱发生起始日期和持续日数的计算方法，通过采用此指标和方法对陕西省典型年份的干旱分析评价，得出的干旱结果和实际干旱状况相比基本一致，说明运用该综合干旱指标、评价干旱状况方法以及干旱预警方法在陕西省干旱的评价和预警中是可行的。     

Impact of a commercial destocking relief intervention in Moyale district, southern Ethiopia

A commercial destocking intervention was piloted in southern Ethiopia during the drought of early 2006. The intervention led to the purchase of an estimated 20,000 cattle valued at USD 1.01 million. On average, destocked households received USD 186 from the sale of cattle--approximately 5,405 households were involved. In terms of aid investment, the approximate cost-benefit ratio was 41:1. During the drought, income from destocking accounted for 54.2 per cent of household income (n = 114 households), and was used to buy food, care for livestock, meet various domestic expenses, support relatives, and either pay off debts or augment savings. Seventy-nine per cent of the income derived from destocking was used to buy local goods or services. Expenditure on livestock care amounted to 36.5 per cent of local spending, and included the private transportation of livestock to better grazing areas. The buoyant livestock export trade was considered to be an important driver of commercial destocking, demonstrating a positive link between livestock and meat exports, and pastoral vulnerability during drought.     

The relief operation in puno district, peru, after the 1986 floods of lake titicaca

The 1985-86 rainy season in Peru was disastrous due to very high precipitation. Because of the unusual level of floods in the Lake Titicaca area and the increasing number of affected people, the Peruvian Government established an emergency relief plan and appealed for international aid. At that time the situation was already very critical. The lack of preparedness made the implementation of the relief operation difficult. Our paper describes the intervention of a French N.G.O. (Médecins Sans Trontières), requested by the Peruvian authorities. The early phase of the relief programme and its methodology are described. Problems within this relief programme and the further long-term development action that should be undertaken are discussed.
Au Pérou, la saison des pluies 85–86 a été catastrophique par l'importance des précipitations. Au cours des premiers mois de l'année 1986, devant l'ampleur inhabituelle des inondations dans la région du lac Titicaca et le nombre sans cesse croissant de sinistrés, le gouvernement pbruvien décide de mettre en route un plan national de secours d'urgence enfaisant appel à l'aide internationale. Mais la réponse est déjá tardive et le manque de mesures préventives fait que l'organisation des secours se heurte à un grand nombre de difficultés. Notre étude se situe dans le cadre de l'intervention d'une organisation non gouvernementale européenne, sollicitée par le gouvernement péruvien pour une collaboration dans la phase des premiers secours à cette population. Les problémes posés lors de cette opération et la suite à donner à l'assistance a moyen et a long terme sont discutés.     

About bridges and bonds: community responses to the 2000 floods in Mabalane district, Mozambique

Massive floods hit Mozambique in 2000.1 Many of the affected regions benefited from external aid. This paper investigates how the floods impacted on two communities in the interior of the Limpopo Valley, which did not receive significant assistance during the event and in the immediate aftermath. Drawing on the livelihood approach, it focuses on the role of two types of local resources: knowledge and social capital. The paper shows that the scale of the 2000 floods surpassed the response capacity of these resources and looks at how wealth and gender influenced access by households to the local support mechanisms that enhance survival and recovery. It appears that the floods mainly affected wealthier households, as these more frequently lost houses and cattle. The paper points to the importance of ploughs and cattle for local support mechanisms, which, in turn, most likely reduced the capacities of communities to recover from the disaster.     

干旱预报的研究进展评述

近年来,人们对干旱灾害的预报研究取得了长足的进步.在介绍了干旱分类及其应用指标的基础上,对目前在气象干旱预报、农业干旱预报以及干旱的集成预报方法方面所取得的进展进行了阐述,并讨论了各种预报方法的优缺点以及未来干旱预报的趋势.     

Drought risk reduction through a Socio-economic,Institutional and Physical approach in the northwestern region of Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, drought is seasonal and can destroy crops, causing hardship to poor agricultural labourers and others who cannot find alternative sources of income. Droughts most commonly affect the northwestern region, which generally has less rainfall than the rest of the country. In this context, this study attempts to measure the existing level of drought resilience with indicators related to Socio-economic, Institutional and Physical (SIP) conditions in two of the most drought-prone districts, namely Rajshahi and Chapai-Nawabganj. The results of 14 sub-districts (upazilas) show a variation of 2.41 (lowest resilience) and 3.61 (highest resilience) in a scale of 1–5. Some of the critical areas that need improvement include education and awareness, conflict resolution on water usage, policy enhancement, coordination among different stakeholders and proper land-use pattern. SIP methodology can be used as a rapid planning tool at the district level, and as a micro-level planning and improvement tool at the sub-district level. The tool has potential application for a participatory and process-based approach of engaging local stakeholders in minimizing drought risks in future.