Village Funds and Disaster Risk Reduction: Challenges to deal with the poverty cause by cultural belief systems

Abstract

Disasters affect the increasing vulnerability of the community and positively correlated with the risk of poverty. The risk of poverty will increase if traditional societies perpetuate a cultural belief system in which people depend on the help of others. To break the dependency culture, the government seeks to carry out Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). The Village Fund is one of the policies that supports the implementation of DRR because it carries the theme of village development within the framework of sustainable development. This article aims to discuss further how village funds can break the cultural system of dependence on the community so as to reduce vulnerability and poverty. This method used a literature review. The results of the study indicate that village fund policies are consistent in encouraging for sustainable development based on DRR. This is evidenced by the presence of programs related to the development of community and institutional capacity, the provision of cooperation in risk and disaster management, and programs that facilitate the strengthening of productive economies in disaster-prone areas. With community capacity, community resilience to disasters also increases so that people can empower themselves and not depend on the help of others.