Module 1 - The Problem
Module 1 – The Problem
Themes covered:
What are droughts, and why are they important?
Where do droughts occur?
Core Messages of this Module:
Droughts affect everyone directly and/or indirectly – they do not discriminate; however, their impacts affect different people differently (gender, economics, and social status).
Duration and intensity of a drought matter.
Droughts are not limited to dry lands.
1. What Are Droughts And Why Are They Important?
Droughts by their very nature reduce the availability of water on land, as well as under it, thus impacting all other aspects of our lives. Moreover, droughts are the worst impacting natural hazards. They rank number one when it comes to loss of life, severity, duration, size of land area covered, financial losses, social and environmental effects, and long-term impacts. Countries all over the world lose billions of dollars every year as a result of the damages caused by droughts. In the US, the estimated losses are 200 billion USD, in Europe over 117 billion USD, and in India 149 billion USD were lost over a period of 30 years. This amount is much more than that caused by floods, hurricanes, typhoons, storms, or any other natural hazard. Furthermore, in a changing climate, it is projected that droughts will occur with more severity and intensity, for longer durations, and will cover a larger landmass.
Droughts are no longer just limited to water-scarce regions or regions receiving low rainfall, such as the dry lands. Prolonged droughts which span years and cover large areas have the capacity to hamper or stop the functioning of even the most essential public and private sector services such as hospitals, schools, food production and distribution. This means there will be an impact on those in dire need of such essential services which might lead to loss of life among the most vulnerable.
But the impacts do not stop there. Droughts can exacerbate pre-existing social and economic inequalities. They usually directly impact the most marginalised communities, low-income households, children, elderly, the disabled, and women. Indirectly they can impact those who have very limited financial and social security, destroying the very thing which acts as a safety net in times of natural hazards. Furthermore, competition for basic necessities such as food and water can lead to conflict within and among communities, and in some cases droughts do trigger the displacement of people and animals. Consequently, while droughts do not discriminate, their impacts do affect people in different circumstances differently.
It ought to be noted that it is projected that due to the changing climate, droughts will become more frequent, severe, and intense, while covering greater landmass, especially in Africa.
Even having such devastating potential and frightening realities, droughts are rarely covered in the media or form part of public policy discourse as compared to the attention given to other natural hazards. This is due in part to the slow nature of their occurrence and seeming indirect impacts. Most of the time, the indirect impacts of droughts such as loss of human life, growing wildfires, migration, tensions between communities or regions, and conflicts are given their due attention. But the direct cause, which is prolonged droughts and the increasing land area being affected by these droughts remains widely unattended. Hence, since droughts affect all of us in different ways, and since it is not a “hot topic” in the media and political circles generally, and bearing in mind that the mandate of the UNCCD includes taking measures to help mitigate the effects of drought, it is incumbent upon the Secretariat to make efforts to increase public awareness about droughts and their impacts, and to provide knowledge which is useful in dealing with them. Through this course, the Secretariat intends to offer to the public at large an understanding of droughts, their main causes, and the unintended indirect consequences of not proactively acting to reduce the impact of these natural hazards. In addition to that, this course will focus on some of the solutions to, and ways of combatting droughts.
People are the change-makers who must be part of the solution to drought by dealing positively with this reality and encouraging everyone to become involved. Awareness, education, ideas, and participation in decision-making processes which translate to actions are extremely vital in confronting droughts. Not just for the individual, but for the community as a whole. This is why one must have an understanding of the meaning of ‘drought.’
Droughts occur naturally. However, human activities such as improper land use and mismanagement of water resources do have serious influence. Droughts are slow-progressing natural hazards that affect all regions of the world, including the United States, European Union, Australia, India, Brazil, Ethiopia, Chile, China, Vietnam and even small island states in the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean. The term “drought” can be defined in many ways, with many regions and communities around the world having their own understanding of droughts, depending on their experiences and scientific findings. However, drought is generally defined as a severe deficit of moisture below expected levels that restricts some human and environmental activities (Wilhite et al. 2006.).
Droughts generally start with less rainfall and more evaporation of water due to a rise in temperature in summers, and can worsen depending on human activities. Moreover, droughts are not limited to drylands. They occur in almost every climatic region. Droughts occurring in populated regions such as California, Chile, Spain, Brazil, China, and India are not just natural hazards; human influences certainly amplify the impacts, duration, and severity of droughts in these areas. Either way, a prolonged drought which lasts for several months or several years has huge implications for humans and the environment as a whole. And since droughts begin with less rainfall, one might think that heavy rains after a drought will solve the problem instantly. Well, the answer is, absolutely not!
Soil normally has the ability to retain water from rain. However, after a prolonged drought, soil stops behaving like a sponge, rather it acts like a concrete pavement from which water just runs off. This can be very dangerous as it could lead to floods and landslides. This might also cause immense soil erosion leading to further damage to the land, thereby threatening food production and security, as well as ecosystems in the affected area.
In order for an affected area to recover from a drought completely, the ecosystem including vegetation, rivers, lakes, animals, and most importantly land, which had gone through months or years of water stress need to recover. Intense droughts erode biological productivity and hamper the soil’s capacity to retain moisture, thus causing further harm to the land. Prolonged or long-lasting droughts which span years, have the capacity to degrade land severely. Around 33,000 hectares of land are lost every day as a result of land degradation, leading to a loss in water storage and filtration capacity. Without healthy and productive lands, livelihoods and jobs that depend on limited natural resources may become uncertain. Employable population of the affected area is left with just a few options, like migrating to cities in search of better opportunities; and thus causing further urbanisation and many other challenges.
In many cases women are particularly affected by the direct and indirect impacts of droughts. This is so in part because women constitute up to 26% of the global agricultural workforce, and around 43% in developing countries. In some countries women still face social and economic inequalities caused inter alia by limited access to land, water and other resources, including financial resources, healthcare facilities, and education about natural hazards. These and other factors can and do make women in some drought-prone areas extremely vulnerable to this natural hazard. If this situation is not addressed, prolonged droughts might lead to a rollback of many of the gains made in these areas as pertains to gender equality. There are studies indicating that in some societies women and children are 14 times more likely to die during natural hazards; more so during droughts, because of malnutrition and lack of access to clean water, which encourage the spread of diseases (see ISDR). Moreover, available evidence shows that poor nutrition during the first 1000 days of a child’s life, or during the mother’s pregnancy could mean that the child could likely grow up to be mentally and physically stunted and undernourished. (Read more here)
2. Where Do Droughts Occur?
Knowing what droughts are is not enough, there is much more that has to be done in order to be well-prepared to deal with them, for they pose a great threat to us now, and in the future.
Although droughts occur in every climatic region, drylands are particularly susceptible to them. Drylands are water-scarce regions around the world, possessing their particular ecosystems. These lands provide 44% of all agricultural crops and are home to over 2 billion people. Rural areas in drylands are much poorer and run the risk of land degradation at a much faster rate due to pressures resulting from human activities such as intensive agriculture. People in these areas are generally more vulnerable to the impacts of droughts, which quite often result in consequences such as escalation in food prices, unemployment, mass displacement, and serious water shortage. This has happened from time to time in various parts of the world.
The situation of people living in other parts of the world, that is to say in areas not considered as dry lands, is not so different. This is confirmed by many examples of droughts affecting every region of the world.
THE AMERICAS:
Droughts affect the United States of America (USA) like they do other countries in the world. The worst of these droughts in the USA was in the 1930s and 1950s. Recent studies conducted by the NASA Earth Observatory suggest that one-third of the land mass in that country is facing moderate to severe drought conditions, and that soil moisture in the south-western part of the country is reducing at alarming levels. The effects of such severe droughts are directly impacting crop-production in the region, pasture yields, and are partly responsible for the increase in wildfires. Droughts cost the US economy around 6-8 billion dollars every year.
Brazil suffered severe droughts from 2011 to 2019. The North-Eastern part is more prone to droughts than any other region of that country, and can experience water, food and energy insecurity. It should be noted that 95% of the total agriculture is rain-fed. These droughts resulted in increasing forest fires, environmental degradation, and water insecurity, even in cities such as Sao Paulo which is the financial hub of the country. These impacts coupled with the dense population of the region and unequal access to basic necessities, lead to growing inequalities. The authorities declared the droughts from 2014 to 2019 the worst in 100 years. The water sources in that region have still not fully recovered from those droughts.
AFRICA:
Perhaps the regions most impacted by droughts in the world are the Sahel and the Horn of Africa. In these regions of little rains, agriculture is hugely significant to the lives of everyone. The compounded impacts of recurring droughts throughout the years have left 45 million people struggling to find food in 14 countries across these regions. The countries in Africa most impacted are Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Somalia, all the countries in the Horn of Africa, and the countries belonging to the Sahel region, including Sudan, Senegal, Chad, Niger, and Mali. After the droughts of 2016 and 2017 in these regions, 5.6 million people were seriously affected. In Ethiopia 9.6 million people had no, or very limited access to water. These droughts have also led to a spiralling series of other impacts ranging from outbreaks of diseases and child mortality, to the decline in children’s health due to lack of proper nutrition, escalating food prices, conflicts, and large-scale displacement of people. As regards Uganda, it faced serious droughts due to prevailing dry conditions across the country, which resulted in loss of livestock due to loss of pastures, and sharp increases in food prices. In some parts of Africa, droughts have been directly linked to economic slow-downs, crumbling infrastructure, water and food insecurity, and the increase in mass displacements.
MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA (MENA):
The MENA region is one of the most water-stressed regions on the planet. It is home to 6.3% of the global population, but has just 1.4% of the world’s renewable freshwater resources. Recurrent droughts linked to human-induced climate change have been increasing over the years in this region. The combined impacts of climate change, water-stress, and droughts pose a significant threat to peace, economic growth, trade, and sustainable development in the region. The 2006 – 2011 droughts in Syria are indirectly linked to the current conflict in the region. Evidence has shown that periodic drought in the MENA region has led to competition for resources among communities, adding to further tension. However, this factor is neglected as the Syrian conflict is viewed by many, only through the lens of geopolitical tensions.
EUROPE:
Like the rest of the world, Europe is no stranger to droughts, especially southern Europe. At present, 17% of the region’s population and 15% of the landmass suffer from water-scarcity. In a changing climate, Europe is being subjected to heatwaves and temperature rise. Countries like Germany and France in central Europe are experiencing and realising the implications of droughts. However, the southern parts of Europe have been hit hard, particularly countries such as Spain and Italy. Cereal production and that of almonds and olives have suffered due to recurrent droughts. Both Spain and Italy are the world’s top producers of olive oil. Drought alone has at times caused around 60% drop in Italian olive oil production. It is estimated that the economic damages caused by droughts in Europe is around 6.2 billion euros per year!
ASIA:
Droughts particularly in central and south-east Asia are occurring more frequently and are more severe. Particularly in the Indian sub-continent, droughts are caused due to variability in the Asian monsoon – which in turn is increasing with climate change. In the central and southern parts of India, the impacts of droughts are felt most by rural people who depend on rain-fed agriculture. The state of Maharashtra, which is the largest producer of sugar and pulses, and the second largest of soybean and cotton in the country, faced its worst drought in 40 years in 2012. Due to a complete lack of proactive approach, the state had to resort to relief measures. This situation dictated that the indirect impacts of droughts needed to be tackled, as rural parts of the state had developed a shortage of drinking water and food for livestock.
AUSTRALIA:
Droughts have occurred frequently in Australia along with floods and blistering heat. The recurrence of prolonged drought from 2007 to 2009 was particularly devastating to farmers and ranch owners. These multi-year droughts resulted in the land becoming much drier and browner than usual as satellite images show. Furthermore, this resulted in an increase in wildfires in those regions of Australia which were best known for wheat production. Homes and livestock were lost to these wildfires which also resulted in water stress in the River Murray system.
It is clear from the above examples that droughts affect every region and virtually everyone. Moreover, they also affect the sustainable development plans which countries, regions, and cities use to work towards a better future. These plans are crucial for development at all levels, and droughts can and do hamper much of the progress achieved with some of the goals, such as provision for clean water and sanitation, maintaining peace, and securing gender equality. Location-wise, droughts can and do span over large land masses in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. However, their impacts are certainly felt in developed regions which have stable economies such as North America and Europe. Furthermore, a prolonged drought could result in an economy-wide shock through disruptions to agricultural production, food distribution, energy production, manufacturing processes, recreational activities, tourism, and thereby make the country or region water, food, energy and generally economically insecure. With increasing temperatures, decreasing rainfall, and especially degrading ecosystems and biodiversity loss, the capability of land and natural systems to recover from severe, frequently occurring, and intense droughts is very seriously hampered to say the least, and leading to further degradation of land – one of our most valuable resources, which directly impacts us all!
The Global Land Outlook released in 2017 found that the rate of water used from river basins all around the world was much greater than the water replenished naturally. This directly affects 1.7 billion people who live in these river basins. Some estimates suggest that half of the world’s population – around 4 billion people, live in water-stressed conditions for at least 1 month of the year, and an additional half a billion people suffer from permanent water-scarcity. This means that in some areas of the planet naturally available potable water is not enough to meet human needs. Water scarcity alone could cost some regions 6% of their GDP (World Bank, 2016). If this trend were to continue, two-thirds of the world’s population will be living in water-stressed conditions in the not-too-distant future.
Compulsory Reading Material: