DISASTER RISK REDUCTION AND RESILIENCE FOR

FOOD SECURITY

The First Arab Conference on Disaster Risk ReductionMarch, 2013

Carlo ScaramellaWFP Deputy Regional Director, Middle East and Central Asia

”Climate change has been at the top of my priority list since I took office in 2007….

The world’s poorest and most vulnerable to hunger have little resilience to intensifying cycles of extreme drought and flood.”

UNSG Ban Ki-moon at recent

Doha negotiations

Climate change,

a hunger risk multiplier

A changing risk environment Climate change, a hunger risk multiplier

Intensifying disasters trends

Resource scarcity and degradation (land, water, food, energy, biodiversity)

Eroding ecosystems and livelihoods

Food price volatility

Increasing governance challenges, ie, urbanization, migration, conflict, all affecting human security

Equity, poverty, inclusion – all fundamental development challenges, and

Inter-dependency and complexity of risk drivers

2 degrees,

the tipping point

Accelerating hunger trends and deepening poverty and inequality in vulnerable countries/communities.

For example:

Overall risk of hunger projected to increase by up to 20 % by 2050 In Africa, potential decline of 50% productivity in rainfed areas - over 650 million people already affected by land degradation

Large social and FNS impact

Intensifying hunger risks

Disaster and extreme weather trends

Droughts

Floods

Storms

Price volatility 9 billion people by 2050

50-70% more food needed

Decreasing stocks and increasing demand

Key recommendations:

Target populations and sectors that are most vulnerable

Increase resources allocated to adaptation and DRR

Enhance resilience through social protection

Scale up investments in capacities to deal with increasing environmental stress and potential shocks

Helping individuals, communities and nations build adaptive capacities to cope better themselves with the threat of disasters

most water scarce region in the world, highly food import dependent (over 50% of food imported), with growing urbanization challenges

highly vulnerable to climate change, which will compound development challenges

CC > increased water and resource scarcity, reduced agricultural productivity, heightened disaster risks, sea level rise, salinization of coastal areas

poverty and under-nutrition becoming increasingly a urban phenomenon

overlapping challenges of poverty, social exclusion, food insecurity, human security and climate risk

Key points on climate change and resilience in the Arab region

World Bank 2012 Report: Adaptation to a Changing Climate in the Arab Countries (December 2012)

IMPACTS:Climate change is happening now. The year 2010 was the warmest since the late 1800.

Water scarcity a challenge, reduced agricultural production.

Urban populations growing, particularly vulnerable to climate change.

Climate change and resilience in the Arab region

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS: Assess and make

available access to climate data and information.

Build climate resilience through social protection mechanisms.

Create conductive policy environment for adaptation.

WFP supported over

100 million

people in 80 countries

In 2012

WFP’s engagement in DRR and Resilience

Strong internal policy foundation: WFP’s Strategic Plan and WFP’s Policy on Disaster Risk Reduction and Management – Building Food Security and Resilience.

Programme mainstreaming: half of WFP’s programmes have a DRR or climate change component, accounting for 80% of countries where WFP operates.

Analysis and innovation: linking vulnerability and food security analysis with risk mapping and adaptation planning.

Inter-agency and process engagement: Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, UN-Plan of Action on DRR, UNFCCC negotiations, RBA-collaboration, and others.

Closing the gap between climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction

Many climate change impacts will materialize through increases in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events

Both approaches aim to manage risks and reduce potential impacts by anticipating risks, addressing vulnerabilities, enhancing resilience

Building blocks in DRMManaging climate risk at scale requires the

integration of several building blocks…

Knowledge, preparedness and response

capacity

Productive capacity of vulnerable

communities enhanced & sustainable

Effective social protection and safety nets for people at-risk

Governance, policy frameworks, coordination

Knowledge, preparedness and response capacities

• Risk knowledge and disaster EW information is critical to facilitate early humanitarian action and to inform development processes

• Climate information used to inform preparedness planning and trigger scale up of targeted safety nets

• Effective EPR systems and services are central to food security and emergency response

Egypt: Building Resilient Food Security Systems to Benefit the Southern Egypt Region

Mauritania: Enhancing Resilience of Communities to the Adverse Effects of Climate change on Food Security

Sudan: Resilience building and Safe Access to Alternative Energy (SAFE)

Palestine, Yemen, others...

Climate adaptation - Concrete WFP examples from the region

Livelih

ood

s an

d fo

od n

eeds

met

Seasonal food shortages

Household Food

Availability

No shortages in a good year, but

little margin

Social protection and safety nets as a platform for risk management

Major drought/shock has immediate and

long term impacts on household livelihoods

DroughtHousehold

Food Availability

Livelih

ood

s an

d fo

od n

eeds

met

Social protection and safety nets as a platform for risk management

Household Food

Availability

Reducing quality or quantity of

mealsChildren drop out of school

Exacerbated land

degradation

Impoverishment & loss of assets and

capacity

Sale or loss of assets and negative coping

Livelih

ood

s an

d fo

od n

eeds

met

Social protection and safety nets as a platform for risk management

Integrated risk management and national safety nets can provide a platform to reduce risks and promote asset creation at the local level. This means protecting people from falling into destitution and supporting resilient livelihoods pathways.

Drought

Household Food

Availability

Livelih

ood

s an

d fo

od n

eeds

met

Social protection and safety nets as a platform for risk management

Lessons for the post-2015 Framework for DRR:

An integration agenda linking to disaster risk reduction, climate adaptation and resilience building as part of a coherent vision of sustainable and inclusive development

Linking DRR/M to social protection, safety nets and livelihood enhancement approaches with special attention to poor, vulnerable and food insecure groups

Link local and global – some risks are now globalized and increasingly interconnected

Affirming and sustaining the central role of national governments, local communities, regional actors and organizations, and partners, bridging short and long term humanitarian and development objectives

In conclusion

THANK YOU