Nutrition assessment through the use of a nutritional scoring system

In 1984 and 1985, Chad was affected by a large scale drought. In order to ensure rapid decision making for the allocation of food and because of the practical problems encountered when using the classical nutritional survey methods, a Nutritional Score System (N.S.S) was developed. This method was based on the use of social, economic and nutritional indicators and allowed comparison of nutritional status between communities. This paper discusses how the N.S.S. was developed and applied, and how it compared with the classical survey methods.     

19世纪是我国特大暴雨洪水发生期

本文用大量资料,论述了我国七个江河历史首位洪水均发生在19世纪。而且,洪水泛滥使得平原地区的水系迁移、湖泊淤缩极为严重。同时,存洪水年前后,伴随着一系列寒冷、干旱的气候异常现象。     

农业旱灾形成过程中的承灾体脆弱性分析--以湖南鼎城为例

农业旱灾的形成是降水不足或不均与农业生产系统脆弱性共同作用的结果,承灾体脆弱性的高低会起到“放大“或“缩小“灾情的作用,因此降低承灾体的脆弱性是抗灾减灾的主要和有效途径.选择湖南省鼎城区为研究区,通过分析灾前期-灾中期旱灾的形成过程及其与承灾体脆弱性的关系,分别针对轻度干旱和中重度干旱建立了评价指标体系,采用加权求和法对水田-水稻农业生产系统的脆弱性进行了评价.结果表明,该区的承灾体脆弱性分布存在一定的区域差异,脆弱度由高至低排序为西北岗地区、南部低山/丘陵区、中部平原/岗地区、东北湖/平原区,这一分析结果与实际灾情的分布规律基本一致.通过分析脆弱性分布规律和变化原因,发现地形和灌溉分别是影响灾前期和灾中期承灾体脆弱性的最重要因素,进而提出了具体的减灾防灾建议.     

农业旱灾承灾体脆弱性评价--以湖南鼎城区为例

农业旱灾的形成是降水不足、不均与农业生产系统脆弱性共同作用的结果,脆弱性的高低会起到"放大"或"缩小"灾情的作用.本文以湖南鼎城区为例,通过分析该区旱灾致灾因子的特点,确定旱年年型的划分标准及对气象资料进行统计,发现该区干旱的季节性特点是秋旱比夏旱多、比夏旱严重.在此基础上,分析轻旱、中重旱、极重旱不同干旱程度下灾情形成过程及其与承灾体脆弱性的关系,构建了不同的脆弱性评价指标体系,并以不同干旱程度的旱年为实例进行评价.结果表明鼎城区承灾体脆弱性的分布有一定的区域性,其脆弱度高低排序为西北山岗地区、南部低山及丘陵区、中部平原及山岗地区、东北部河湖及平原区,与实际灾情的分布规律基本一致.通过分析不同干旱程度下各区脆弱度的形成和变化原因,提出了具有针对性的降低农业旱灾脆弱性的具体措施.     

Changing household responses to drought in Tharaka, Kenya: vulnerability, persistence and challenge

Drought is a recurring challenge to the livelihoods of those living in Tharaka District, Kenya, situated in the semi-arid zone to the east of Mount Kenya, from the lowest slopes of the mountain to the banks of the Tana River. This part of Kenya has been marginal to the economic and political life of Kenya from the colonial period until the present day. A study of more than 30 years of change in how people in Tharaka cope with drought reveals resilience in the face of major macro-level transformations, which include privatisation of landownership, population growth, political decentralisation, increased conflict over natural resources, different market conditions, and environmental shifts. However, the study also shows troubling signs of increased use of drought responses that are incompatible with long-term agrarian livelihoods. Government policy needs to address the challenge of drought under these new macro conditions if sustainable human development is to be achieved.     

People's risk perception of glacial lake outburst flooding: a case of Tsho Rolpa Lake,Nepal

Previous research indicates that people's perception of risk from a particular hazard positively influences their adoption of effective mitigation strategies and responses. This research investigates the risk perceptions of people living downstream from Tsho Rolpa Glacial Lake of Nepal. Field surveys revealed that people living beneath the Tsho Rolpa glacial lake possess a low risk perception despite the probability of a glacial lake outburst at their location. Further investigation reveals that many individuals have made no adjustments in response to the potential disaster. The low risk perception on the part of the riverine population is chiefly attributed to the cry-wolf effect of the 1997 evacuation that followed an inaccurate prediction of a Tsho Rolpa outburst. Previous remediation structures were kept in place, but appear to have created a false sense of security among those at risk. This overconfidence in the rudimentary efforts employed thus far is illustrated by the fact that many residents have moved their infrastructure even closer to the river channel in recent years. Partial mitigation efforts have muted people's perceptions of the environmental risk and have therefore increased the vulnerability of the communities to a probable outburst flood.     

Desertification, refugees and regional conflict in west Africa

This article documents the potential for inter-state conflict in the migration of hundreds of thousands of famine refugees across international borders in West Africa. Nigeria and Ghana, for example, have to deal not only with the effects of land degradation in their northern territories but also with the influx of famine victims from Mali, Niger, Chad and Burkino Faso. These migrations put an enormous extra burden on the fragile and already overstretched social and economic infrastructures of the host countries. The construction of dams for irrigation and electricity generation in international river basins, is another cause of inter-state conflict related to land degradation. The capacity of West African states to find peaceful solutions to these problems is being undermined by the increasing impoverishment and marginalisation of their populations. A self-serving neo-colonialist governing elite is caught in the economic stranglehold of the advanced capitalist nations. While there is thus no short term solution to the problem of land degradation, immediate steps should at least be taken to give legal protection to those who are forced to cross international borders because of drought and famine.     

Indigenous responses to drought in sub-Saharan Africa*

Drought is a frequent occurrence in contemporary sub-Saharan Africa, and the existence of periodic drought can be documented over hundreds of years. As a consequence of the routine rainfall shortages that affect them, agricultural and pastoral societies have developed a number of social institutions and mechanisms for bridging temporary food production shortfalls caused by drought. Drawing on the literature and field data from southeastern Kenya, this paper discusses a number of regular indigenous responses to short-term drought in sub-Saharan Africa. Changes in these patterns in the present day are also discussed. It is concluded that market-based responses are now the most important strategies, but that traditional institutions remain significant and contribute to the viability of drought-affected societies.     

地震堰塞湖人工排泄断面优化初探

汶川8.0级特大地震诱发了以唐家山堰塞湖为典型的大量堰塞湖,对上下游人民生命财产安全造成了严重的威胁和危害。对震后堰塞湖的处置成为今后次生山地灾害减灾的一大关键性课题。在回顾和总结唐家山堰塞湖的应急排险经验的基础上,对泄流槽纵、横断面的优化进行了初步的探讨。同时在开挖过程中,也应考虑堰塞体组成物质、抗冲稳定性、施工设备等因素选择泄流槽体型。震后5～10年是泥石流、滑坡灾害的活跃期,发生大规模泥石流、滑坡堵江事件的可能性也随之增加,期望研究能够为堰塞湖的排险处理提供一定的技术参考。     

Coping with drought and food insecurity in ethiopia

In this article I examine the impact of drought on farm households in Ethiopia and their response to crisis conditions. I ask whether every household in a community is equally affected by drought and what households do to mitigate the effects of drought and associated food insecurity. Information on production, income and food consumption is disaggregated by agroecological zone (highland and lowland), and by socioeconomic strata (relatively wealthy versus poor). Such detailed analysis permits an improved understanding of why the poor are much more vulnerable than the wealthy to drought and associated famines and why they need to be more effectively targeted by relief and development interventions. In a world of limited public resources for crisis intervention, such understanding is crucial to the design of improved policies and projects for reaching people most at risk.     

The Prevention and Mitigation of Famine: Policy Lessons from Botswana and Sudan

Botswana and Sudan experienced consecutive years of drought in the 1980s. Sudan faced a large decline in food entitlement and nutritional deterioration, which translated into famine in 1984/85. Botswana, on the other hand, nearly compensated income losses and averted nutritional deterioration and famine-related deaths. There are important lessons to learn from the famine prevention experience of Botswana. Its strategy for dealing with drought and famine combines policies of steady economic growth with supplementary poverty alleviation and drought relief programs. To provide continuity and stabilization of market operations in times of distress, the country channels sufficient food through market chains, provides price support to preempt market collapse and augments the income of consumers through public income transfer programs to prevent demand failure. In addition, it maintains a responsive and accountable political system and a decentralized participatory administrative structure. While Sudan should develop policies that are compatible with its own environment, it is crucial that it recognizes the critical role of public action in promoting growth, alleviating poverty, and providing timely relief responses in times of anticipated growth failure.     

Emergency drills for agricultural drought response: a case study in Guatemala

Drills are an important element of disaster management, helping to increase preparedness and reduce the risk of real‐time failure. Yet, they are not applied systematically to slow‐onset disasters such as a drought, which causes damage that is not instantly apparent and thus does not solicit immediate action. This case study evaluates how drills inform institutional responses to slow‐onset disasters. It spotlights Guatemala, a country where drought has severe impacts on livelihoods and the food security of small farmers. By implementing part of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food's institutional response plan for drought, it explores how drills can help to detect issues in emergency response and to foster an institutional focus on improvements in preparedness. The results reveal that drills alone do not trigger institutional improvements if unsupported by a wider strategy that seeks to enhance capacities and protocols. These findings are valuable, however, in making problems transparent and in creating the space for discussion.     

Spontaneous resettlement after drought: An Ethiopian example*

Based upon two recent periods of fieldwork among a spontaneously resettled population of cattle herders in southwestern Ethiopia, this paper is an attempt to illustrate, by a particular case, the general proposition that external aid, if it is not to be counter-productive, must meet people's needs as they themselves define them. The people in question, the Mursi, have experienced, since 1970, their worst period of drought and hunger in living memory. They have responded to this experience with resilience and inventiveness and largely without external assistance. The paper concentrates on a recent, drought induced, migration of Mursi to higher land, outside their traditional territory, and shows how the migrants are adapting to a new way of life which brings them into direct conflict with some of their most cherished cultural traditions.     

河南省1942—1943年旱,风,蝗灾害略考

有史以来，河南水旱灾害频繁，不绝于书。１９４２～１９４３年河南又出现了特大旱灾，其灾情之重，范围之广，为近代史罕见。加上蝗蝻为患，干热风肆虐，造成麦秋绝大部分绝收，灾民饿死达数百万人。根据当时的有关资料，初步探讨，提供历史借鉴。     

巢湖流域旱涝时空特性分析

利用巢湖流域14个站点39年(1961~2000年)的降水观测资料,采用Z指数作为旱涝指标,运用地理信息系统(GIS)等方法,对巢湖流域汛期旱涝的时空变化特征进行了分析探讨,其结果表明:巢湖流域旱涝灾害十分频繁,旱涝灾害发生的频率和降水量呈现正相关关系,具有阶段性和周期性等特性,空间分布上存在一定的结构性,巢湖流域北部为易旱易涝区,西部为易旱区,东南部、南部是易涝区,中北部是不易旱易涝区。     

旱涝灾害的一些基本问题初探

首先就旱涝灾害对人类的作用进行了分析，认为它影响范围最大，危害程度最深．其次．对旱涝灾害的成因、确定旱涝灾害的定量指标以及评估旱涝灾害的指标体系进行分析探讨；最后对国内防御旱涝灾害的能力做了总体评价，并对其所采取的预防，救抗灾措施等进行分析．     

长江流域旱涝灾害的某些统计特征

本文着重分析了长江流域近40a来旱涝灾害的一些统计特征及其影响,指出了该流域旱涝灾害的演变趋势,以及人类活动对灾害加剧的主导作用。     

近50年湘江流域干湿气候变化若干特点

采用M-K突变、小波分析、空间变异系数、经验正交函数分解法（EOF）和旋转经验正交函数分解法（REOF）等方法,对近48年来湘江流域40个测站干湿指数（Z指数）进行了分析。研究表明：湘江流域1960年代前期和1980年代为干旱期,1990年代为湿润期。1980年代末有向湿润转变趋势,2003年后又开始向干旱转变。湘江流域干湿的年际变化较小,降水相对稳定,存在3年、6年和10年和21年4个特征时间尺度,且未来几年湘江流域将仍处于干旱期。湘江流域干湿变化具有很好的主体一致性,依据空间异常类型可分为南部、中部、北部和西南部4个区域。     

Agricultural and non-agricultural settlements for drought-afflicted pastoralists in Somalia

The severe drought of 1973–1975 in Somalia had major impacts on pastoral populations, many of whom moved into specially established camps where food, water and medical assistance were provided by the government and international agencies. At the end of the drought it was decided to settle the remaining 120,000 people in six settlements, three of which were agricultural and three oriented towards fishing. This paper analyzes these settlements, with particular attention paid to agricultural systems, organization and socioeconomic characteristics. Some of the problems facing the settlements included their location, administrative structure and relative overemphasis on social services as opposed to development of production and income generating activities. It is shown that the socioeconomic viability of settlements would be enhanced if careful studies were undertaken beforehand and if a diversified development strategy were employed.