12 - ENVIRONMENT AND POVERTY TIMES

Natural disasters,
“At the whim of nature”
Environmental disasters affect poor changes: millions have suffered from
countries in particular, with dispro- undernourishment or died of hunger
portionate numbers of deaths, displa- during droughts and flooding.
FACTS AND FIGURES
cements and damage to infrastruc-
ture. Furthermore, adapting to the There is growing evidence that de-
Deaths and displacement Economic damage
negative impacts of global climate gradation of the environment will
change – that could include declining cause further long-term climate More than 90 percent of all deaths caused by natu- During the 1984 drought in Burkina Faso, the
harvests, spread of disease and de- change and extreme weather. Rich ral disasters were from droughts, floods and income of the poorest third rural households
creasing water supplies – will be industrialized nations emit most of windstorms (1). dropped by 50 percent in some areas (7).
more costly for low-income countries. the carbon responsible for climate
change, but low-income countries will In 1999 the US reported two to three times as many The average cost of natural disasters as a percentage
suffer most from the impacts of

T
disasters than Bangladesh; yet in Bangladesh of the GDP is 20 percent higher in low-income
he poor suffer most from environ- climate change. Climate change could disasters caused 34 times more deaths (2). countries than in rich industrialized countries.
mental disasters and are more result in a decline of agricultural
vulnerable to fluctuating climate During the 1991-1992 drought in Africa, agricultural
production in many tropical and sub- Agrochemical use affects 25 million agricultural
because: growth and total output slowed in Malawi, South
tropical areas that already face food workers each year and kills hundreds of thousands Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In Zimbabwe alone
deficits, and could displace millions (3).
they live in areas that are at high GDP declined by 9.5 percent in 1992 (6).
of people, decrease water availability
risk to natural disasters and extreme and allow for the greater spread of Unsafe settlements
weather ; diseases such as Malaria. In India 1. World Disaster Report 2001: Focus on Recovery, IFRC (International
they live in poorly built, shelter that alone, climate change by 2020 may One billion people live in unplanned shanty towns; Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies). Cited in
is easily damaged in the event of a decrease wheat, maize and rice yields 40 out of the world’s 50 fastest growing cities are
UNEP, Global Environmental Outlook 3, 2002.
disaster; by five to ten percent (2). in quake zones; ten million people live under 2. Assessing Human Vulnerability due to Environmental Change:
constant threat of floods (1). Concepts, Issues, Methods and Case Studies, UNEP, DEWA and TR,
they live in areas with few or no To mitigate the impacts of natural Nairobi 2000. Cited in UNEP, Global Environmental Outlook 3,
early warning programmes; disasters and decrease the likelihood 2002.
of climate change, we need to improve Changing climate
they have few assets and a weak 3. Scherr, S., Poverty-Environment in Agriculture: Key Factors and
social safety net to help them cope urban planning, encourage affores- Policy Implications, in Poverty and Environment Initiative
tation and water conservation, enfor- Global climate change is predicted to increase the Background Paper 3, UNDP, New York,1999. Cited in DFID et al.,
with disasters and variable weather. risk of flooding in Bangladesh by 20 percent – Linking Poverty Reduction and Environmental Management, 2002.
ce stricter building standards, streng-
From 1990 to 1998, 97 percent of all then social support programmes and affecting especially poor people that currently live 4. DFID et al., Linking Poverty Reduction and Environmental
deaths related to natural disasters develop long-term initiatives to in flood plains (4). Management, 2002.
were in developing countries (1). combat climate change. 5. Frankhauser, S., Valuing climate change: the economics of the
Hurricanes, earthquakes, landslides Developing countries in semi-arid zone are greenhouse, Earthscan, London, 1995.
Ma. Sn.
etc. caused unnecessarily high death speculated to be particularly hard hit by reduced
6. World Development Report 2000/2001. The World Bank,
tolls and damage in low-income 1. World Development Report Indicators 2001, water availability resulting from global climate Washington DC.
The World Bank, Washington DC, 2001.
countries. But poor people have also change (5).
been especially vulnerable to less 2. DFID et al., Linking Poverty Reduction and
Environmental Management: Policy Challenges
sudden, long-term environmental and Opportunities, 2002.

Between drought and flood IN THEIR OWN WORDS

O
ver the last 30 years increasing numbers of fed agriculture as their main means of subsistence heavily dependent on food imports and aid (3).
people have been affected by severe flooding, and often live in degraded areas susceptible to The poor live at the whim and
drought and variable climate in the Sahel. rainfall variation (cleared of trees and vegetation). Cyclones and Storms: In May 2002 Cyclone Kesiny
mercy of nature.
Millions of Africans have sought refuge from these hit Madagascar affecting more than half a million
Poor harvests due to rainfall variability have led to people, making them homeless or in need of emer- Anonymous, Kenya (1)
disasters. These peoples have often had to settle
famine and have badly disrupted African economies
on marginal areas; where some have faced social gency food, shelter and drinking water. Up to 75
(that rely on agricultural exports as a major source
tensions with new neighbouring communities (1). percent of the crops were destroyed, 20 people died
of foreign earning). There have also been outbreaks
Poor people all over Africa are vulnerable to and 1,200 were injured (4). As if land shortage is not bad
of disease - due to poor sanitation - after floods,
droughts and floods since many depend on rain- enough we live a life of tension
cyclones, volcanic eruptions, and Volcanic Activity: In January 2002 Nyiragongo erupted worrying about the rain: will it
earthquakes. Many African coun- affecting most inhabitants of Goma (350,000), and rain or not? There is nothing
HUNGER AND CONFLICTS IN AFRICA tries cannot afford to import food killing 147 and displacing 30,000 (5). about which we say, “this is for
and medical supplies or repair infra- tomorrow.” We live hour to hour.
Morocco Tunisia
structure when there are natural di- Earthquakes: In December 1999 an earthquake hit
Western sasters. northwest Algeria, measuring 5.2 to 5.5 on the A woman, Ethiopia (2)
Sahara Algeria Libya
Egypt Richter scale, killing 22 people and hospitalizing
Drought: The most prolonged and 49. Three thousand houses were destroyed and
Touaregs Halaïb widespread droughts occurred in 5,000 families (25,000 people) were affected (6). The atmosphere is not rewarding
Mauritania Mali
1973 and 1984, when almost all us; lately the climate has been
Eritrea An. Ba
Senegal
Gambia Niger Chad
Sudan African countries were affected, and adverse.
Guinea-
Casamance Burkina Djibouti in 1992, when all southern African A poor male farmer, Bolivia (2)
Faso
Bissau Guinea Benin Nigeria Somaliland countries experienced extreme food
1. Statistics Database, OFDA (United States Office for Disaster
Sierra
Leone
Ivory
Coast
Togo Central
Ethiopia shortages. In 1973 alone, drought Assistance), 2000.
Ghana African Rep.
Liberia Cameroon Somalia killed 100,000 people in the Sahel
2. Gommes, R. and Petrassi, F., Rainfall Variability and Drought in 1. Raj Patel, Kai Schafft, Anne Rademacher,
Sao Tome Equatorial
e Principe Guinea
Uganda (2). Sub-Saharan Africa Since 1960, in FAO Agrometeorology Series and Sarah Koch-Schulte, Can Anyone Hear
Kenya
Democratic Rwanda Working Paper, No 9, FAO, Rome, 1996. Us?, Voices of the Poor series, The World
Gabon Republic of Flooding: In 1998 many parts of East Bank, Oxford University Press, New York,
Congo the Congo Burundi Africa experienced record rainfall 3. State of the Environment Report for Uganda 1998, NEMA ,
Kampala, 1999. 2000.
Tanzania (up to ten times the usual amount)
and disastrous flooding. In Uganda 4. International Disaster Situation Reports, Centre for International 2. Deepa Narayan, Robert Chambers, Meera
Comoros Disaster Information, 2002, available at http://www.cidi.org/disaster. Shah and Patti. Petesch, Crying out for
Angola Malawi Mayotte
alone more than 10,000 people were Change, Voices of the Poor series, The World
Zambia
Mozambique
(France)
affected, directly or as a result of 5.Global Environment Outlook 3, UNEP, Nairobi, 2002 Bank, Oxford University Press, New York,
ensuing cholera epidemics; 40 per- 2000.
Zimbabwe 6. Algeria Earthquake, OCHA (United Nations Office for the
Namibia Madagascar cent of the main roads were Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs), Situation Report, No. 1,
Botswana destroyed and the country became December 23, 1999.
Chronic malnutrition (less than Swaziland
2,300 calories per capita daily, Lesotho
in 1995-1997)
PEOPLE AFFECTED BY NATURAL DISASTERS IN AFRICA FROM 1971 TO 2001
South Africa 0 500 km

Food shortages

Main areas of famines during Drought Flood Famine Epidemic related to natural
the last thirty years
disasters
Main conflicts in the 1990s

Sources: Map originally created by Sylvie Brunel and Cécile Marin. Human Development
Report, UNDP, 1996; Ramsès 1994, Dunod; Total Call of the HCR Examination of the
Programs, HCR, 2001; The State of Food Insecurity in the World, FAO, Rome, 1999;
Populations en danger, Médecins sans frontières - Lepac, La Découverte, 1995; Interventions,
Action internationale contre la faim, 1994; Le Monde peut-il nourrir le monde?, Les Clés de la
planète, hors-série no.1, Croissance, Paris, 1998.

Millions of people affected

Source: The Office of US Foreign Disaster
Assistance (OFDA); The Centre for
Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters
Ethiopia: 57
(CRED); International Disaster Database,
available www.cred.be/emdat; Université
Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium.

More than 10 10 5 1 0.5 Less than 0.1