Drought in South Africa : lessons lost and/or learnt from 1990 to 2005
Date
2009-02-02T10:36:41Z
Authors
Austin, Wayne Devlin
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Drought and its associated impacts have been causing critical problems for
agriculture, vulnerable communities and overall development for many years in
South Africa. Impacts of drought such as the effects on a regions’ climatology,
increases in food insecurity and food prices and the integration of drought with
factors such as the HIV/AIDS epidemic have led government to introduce various
policies dealing, in particular, with drought risk. By means of examining
government documents, journal articles and media publications the methods
government has employed to reduce the impacts of drought are traced. The way
government has handled drought in the recent past, such as during 1991/92 and
2003/04, with regard to maize farming and vulnerable populations, is of great
importance for learning lessons in drought-risk reduction for the future. Lessons
Government has learnt include shifting drought management policy and those lost
from recent drought episodes include improving early warning systems and
incorporating HIV/AIDS in drought strategies. The research also presents
suggestions for alleviating the impacts of drought and for better managing the
events. The Government, with at least a twenty year history of drought situations
and drought governance, provides an interesting range of experience that can
present a useful set of cases that may yield valuable insights into the future.