Zimbabwe's Drought Relief Programme in the 1990s: A Re‐Assessment Using Nationwide Household Survey Data

Munro, Lauchlan T.

doi:10.1111/j.1468-5973.2006.00489.x

“…There is relative agreement among vulnerability scholars concerning the attributes of sound policies for the rural contexts they study. First, central level monitoring, disaster preparedness, and relief planning are vital (97,104,111,112). Second, priority should be on fair adaptation, i.e., reducing the vulnerability of the most vulnerable (87,92).…”

Section: State Policies Can Reduce Rural Drought Vulnerability But They Seldom Domentioning

confidence: 99%

Droughts

Kallis¹

2008

Environment and Resources

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This chapter provides an interdisciplinary review of the drought literature. Droughts are widely perceived as hydroclimatic hazards. In reality droughts are socioenvironmental phenomena, produced by admixtures of climatic, hydrological, environmental, socioeconomic, and cultural forces. The complexity and context specificity of drought confound severity and impact assessments. Interdisciplinary analyses of drought events and collective assessments with the participation of scientists, policy makers, stakeholders, and the public provide promising new ways of producing information for understanding and managing droughts. Global warming is likely to exacerbate droughts in many semiarid, snowfed, and coastal basins. Research on historical and paleoclimates warns about the prospect of decadal or centennial megadroughts. Enhancing adaptive capacity becomes essential in the face of such uncertain future extremes. But policies remain locked in supply-side food and water technologies. Policies for the support of impoverished, vulnerable groups, investments in water conservation and appropriate, low-scale technologies can reduce drought vulnerability but face political-economic barriers.

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“…Adaptation policy initiatives are often nullified by broader geopolitical and globalization forces (90). Pro-poor drought relief programs have proved effective in preventing famines (111), but policies of structural adjustment constrain state support and shift risk to individuals, removing safety nets and subsidized social (health, education) services (86,111,113,114).…”

Section: State Policies Can Reduce Rural Drought Vulnerability But They Seldom Domentioning

confidence: 99%

Droughts

Kallis

¹

2008

Annu. Rev. Environ. Resour.

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This chapter provides an interdisciplinary review of the drought literature. Droughts are widely perceived as hydroclimatic hazards. In reality droughts are socioenvironmental phenomena, produced by admixtures of climatic, hydrological, environmental, socioeconomic, and cultural forces. The complexity and context specificity of drought confound severity and impact assessments. Interdisciplinary analyses of drought events and collective assessments with the participation of scientists, policy makers, stakeholders, and the public provide promising new ways of producing information for understanding and managing droughts. Global warming is likely to exacerbate droughts in many semiarid, snowfed, and coastal basins. Research on historical and paleoclimates warns about the prospect of decadal or centennial megadroughts. Enhancing adaptive capacity becomes essential in the face of such uncertain future extremes. But policies remain locked in supply-side food and water technologies. Policies for the support of impoverished, vulnerable groups, investments in water conservation and appropriate, low-scale technologies can reduce drought vulnerability but face political-economic barriers.

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“…Recorded cases of kwashiorkor did rise in the drought of 1995/1996 but the cases remained below five for each month until 1999. Zimbabwe's Drought Relief Programme was credited with protecting livelihoods and targeting malnutrition among young people (see Munro 2006).…”

Section: Livelihoods and Household Food Security In Nembudziya Gokwementioning

confidence: 99%

Household Food Security and Regional Geography: Livelihood Prospects in Nembudziya, Northwestern Zimbabwe

James

¹

2008

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Household food [in]security can be defined as the concept that underpins the various notions of relative food deprivation ranging from hunger, famine and malnutrition to seasonal shortages. The concept is also used to analyse and explain very different and complex livelihood realities at particular and local levels. Since the term emerged in the 1980s, it has gone through many changes and redefinition, but in this article the aim is to make general links to the geographies of food and other livelihood deprivations. The recent debates on livelihoods and participation link closely to the practical concerns around household food security. This article aims to present analysis that brings together regional understanding with insights into heterogeneity and the diversification of livelihoods and household food security in a particular region in Zimbabwe. Its argument is that such a multi-scale analysis can give a fuller and more useful understanding of the differences and dynamics in household food security and therefore livelihood prospects in general. The regional political economy approach provides insight into the major external impacts in the region. The two most important of these have been the introduction of cotton and in-migration, both occurring since the 1960s. A second level of analysis focuses on social relations and, hence, institutional developments within the region. These were relatively incomplete until the 1990s and since then the external forces, including the state and market forces, have determined the direction and emphasis of development in the region. Finally, the regional geography approach enables analysis of the local situation from cultural and identity perspectives. The livelihood possibilities are therefore related to social realities within and among the households. In conclusion, such regional empirical focus helps to give a fuller assessment of the unfolding household food security situation in northwestern Zimbabwe.1338 Livelihoods, household food security and regional geography

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Zimbabwe's Drought Relief Programme in the 1990s: A Re‐Assessment Using Nationwide Household Survey Data

Cited by 13 publications

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