Question raised in Rajya Allocation of Funds for Compensating Flood Losses,18/11/2019.

Disasters cause massive human suffering and economic loss. In 2017 alone, 318 natural disasters occurred in 122 countries resulting in 9,503 deaths, affecting 96 million people and causing US$314 billion in economic damage.

Cyclone Idai struck Zimbabwe in March 2019, affecting 270,000 people. The storm and subsequent flooding and landslides left 340 people dead and many others missing. Agriculture, schools and infrastructure all suffered heavy impacts; many people lost their homes. Chimanimani and Chipinge Districts were hardest hit.

This document focuses on the intensity and frequency of natural hazards and conflicts is increasing, and they are leaving in their wake an unprecedented level of humanitarian needs. Natural hazards alone occur nearly five times as often today as 40 years ago.

Droughts have decimated communities and livelihoods in Africa for long. This year alone, over 45 million people across Africa, mostly in Eastern and Southern Africa, are food insecure due to prolonged droughts.

The purpose of this summary report is to present a synopsis of the findings derived from the 2018/19 Drought and Household Food Security Assessment.

This is the second report for the Programme ‘Building Disaster Resilience to Sub-Saharan African Regions, Countries and Communities’ (referred to throughout this report as “the Programme”).

The Early Warning Early Action (EWEA) Report on Food Security and Agriculture is produced by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Disasters kill people, destroy infrastructure, damage ecosystems and undermine development, and could increase in frequency due to climate change. There is a need for increased awareness on the latest advances in disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA).

After four years of implementation, this report presents a synthesis of the Building Resilience and Adaptation to Climate Extremes and Disasters (BRACED) project annual reports, and evidence from four deep dives, from the 18-month extension, referred to as BRACED-X. BRACED-X started in January 2018, following immediately on from BRACED.