Integrated drought management: lessons for sub-Saharan Africa
2002
The document discusses the need for a more integrated approach to drought than has been the case. It argues that the focus on drought should become wider than addressing food security and crisis water provision.In moving from a crisis to a developmental approach, the authors state that the challenge lies in moving towards the integration of a variety of actions, which can mitigate the crisis, and improve quality of life while maintaining ecosystems.The document briefly outlines the nature of the problem in sub-Saharan Africa, an area vulnerable to drought, highly dependent on agriculture and under serious population pressure. Lessons for the region highlighted in the paper are:<U>drought must be mainstreamed, the approach should become pro-active rather than reactivegovernments need to address risk and vulnerability before drought strikesthe information gap between global monitoring and new technology and those communities affected by drought, must be closeda focus on traditional knowledge of water and soil management and empowerment through education could mitigate droughtdrought science needs to become more integrated, taking factors like health, population and food availability into account alongside climate and weatherregional and international cooperation and management is essential to planning and managementThe document ends with a call for the establishment of an international drought centre for the sub-Saharan region.
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