'The drought will be back'
Minister for Agriculture, John Mutorwa, has expressed concern about recurring drought conditions globally, brought about by climate change.
“It is not a question of whether drought will come. Drought will come, and therefore, we have to be prepared,” he warned.
Mutorwa was speaking in Rome where he is attending an international seminar on drought organised by Iran, the Netherlands, and the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) taking place at the agency's Italian headquarters.
The seminar was organised under the theme: “Predict, Plan, Prepare: Stop drought becoming famine.”
According to Mutorwa, even though droughts and their deadly consequences are never welcome, they have, due to climate change,to some extent become part and parcel of activities in Namibia, and elsewhere in the world. He said in terms of the institutional or organisational preparedness Namibia is quite well prepared. “We have through law, established a directorate of disaster risk management within the prime minister's office.”
According to him, work to establish this directorate started in 1992 when Namibia experienced a devastating drought as an independent nation.
“Admittedly, we still need a lot of expert support to build our capacity and resilience, especially in the areas of predicting, planning and actually preparing for a drought.”
Meanwhile, the FAO director-general José Graziano da Silva said droughts have become more and more frequent.
According to him, since the 1970s, the areas in the world affected by situations of drought have doubled.
“And this tendency will probably continue and even intensify due to climate change.” Da Silva said the impacts of a drought can be devastating. “But when people die in a context of drought, it is not just because they are suffering from a harmful climatic event. People die because they are not prepared to face the impacts of the drought.”
Da Silva said drought is a structural problem that combines economic, social and environmental vulnerabilities.
He further said most of the time, poor rural communities in developing countries don't even know that a drought is about to strike.
“They are not informed. They have no knowledge.” He said building the resilience of farmers is therefore fundamental to face drought situations and also to maintain local food production.
“We cannot stop a drought from happening. But we can avoid a drought from becoming famine.”
According to him, the impacts of a drought can go far beyond human costs adding that it can generate social instability, and also perpetuate a cycle of poverty and aid dependency that may persist for decades.
According to da Silva, for years, the focus has been responding to droughts when they happen, rushing to provide emergency assistance to keep people alive.
However, he said it is essential to invest in preparedness and in anticipating action by providing farmers and rural communities with knowledge and tools.
He said this concept is at the heart of FAO's work in order to increase the resilience of livelihoods to threats and crises.
The seminar sought to promote pro-active and integrated action that engages actors within and beyond the drought community. By engaging in this way the seminar hopes to highlight existing best practices drawn from different context, drive the sharing of knowledge and promote the implementation of integrated holistic intervention.
ELLANIE SMIT
“It is not a question of whether drought will come. Drought will come, and therefore, we have to be prepared,” he warned.
Mutorwa was speaking in Rome where he is attending an international seminar on drought organised by Iran, the Netherlands, and the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) taking place at the agency's Italian headquarters.
The seminar was organised under the theme: “Predict, Plan, Prepare: Stop drought becoming famine.”
According to Mutorwa, even though droughts and their deadly consequences are never welcome, they have, due to climate change,to some extent become part and parcel of activities in Namibia, and elsewhere in the world. He said in terms of the institutional or organisational preparedness Namibia is quite well prepared. “We have through law, established a directorate of disaster risk management within the prime minister's office.”
According to him, work to establish this directorate started in 1992 when Namibia experienced a devastating drought as an independent nation.
“Admittedly, we still need a lot of expert support to build our capacity and resilience, especially in the areas of predicting, planning and actually preparing for a drought.”
Meanwhile, the FAO director-general José Graziano da Silva said droughts have become more and more frequent.
According to him, since the 1970s, the areas in the world affected by situations of drought have doubled.
“And this tendency will probably continue and even intensify due to climate change.” Da Silva said the impacts of a drought can be devastating. “But when people die in a context of drought, it is not just because they are suffering from a harmful climatic event. People die because they are not prepared to face the impacts of the drought.”
Da Silva said drought is a structural problem that combines economic, social and environmental vulnerabilities.
He further said most of the time, poor rural communities in developing countries don't even know that a drought is about to strike.
“They are not informed. They have no knowledge.” He said building the resilience of farmers is therefore fundamental to face drought situations and also to maintain local food production.
“We cannot stop a drought from happening. But we can avoid a drought from becoming famine.”
According to him, the impacts of a drought can go far beyond human costs adding that it can generate social instability, and also perpetuate a cycle of poverty and aid dependency that may persist for decades.
According to da Silva, for years, the focus has been responding to droughts when they happen, rushing to provide emergency assistance to keep people alive.
However, he said it is essential to invest in preparedness and in anticipating action by providing farmers and rural communities with knowledge and tools.
He said this concept is at the heart of FAO's work in order to increase the resilience of livelihoods to threats and crises.
The seminar sought to promote pro-active and integrated action that engages actors within and beyond the drought community. By engaging in this way the seminar hopes to highlight existing best practices drawn from different context, drive the sharing of knowledge and promote the implementation of integrated holistic intervention.
ELLANIE SMIT
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