Disaster Risk Management in Agriculture

Case Studies in South Asian Countries

Huong Ha, R. Lalitha S. Fernando, Sanjeev Kumar Mahajan

• Publisher: Business Expert Press
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781949443158
• eBook ISBN: 9781949443165
• Topic: Economics
• Subtopic: Infrastructure
• Index: Economics

The challenges related to disaster risk management (DRM) in the agricultural sector are now widely linked to sustainable environment. The fact remains that almost every day a disaster strikes in some part of the world. The regular occurrence of natural and man-made disasters has forced the worldwide communities to look for novel solutions to prevent and mitigate such disasters.

This volume brings together probing studies to disseminate the work of outstanding scholars and practitioners, especially in South Asian countries. Thus, it highlights the need to amalgamate and coordinate the resources and agencies involved in DRM in agriculture to ensure the quality of life to the victims after disasters. The authors incorporate specific themes correlated with DRM in South Asia. They intend to assess: (i) the consequences of distinct disaster risks in agriculture, (ii) the ways in which diverse disaster risk problems are handled in distinct settings, and (iii) the different methodologies embraced by different sectors to prepare for disaster risk.

CHAPTER 1

Disaster Risk Management in Agriculture: Case Studies in South Asia—An Introduction

Huong Ha

School of Business, Singapore University of Social Sciences, Singapore

Sanjeev Kumar Mahajan

Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, India

R. Lalitha S. Fernando

Department of Public Administration, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka

Introduction

Disasters entail serious consequences to all groups of stakeholders, including the environment, at all levels, international, regional, national, and local. To the agricultural sector, disasters are synonymous with loss of crops and productivity, loss of livelihood among farmers and those who work in supporting sectors, soil degradation, and many other damages. To countries that rely heavily on agriculture, especially South Asian countries, disasters in agriculture hinder socioeconomic development and erode the effort to eliminate hunger and alleviate poverty. Since disasters cannot be avoided or negotiated, whether in agriculture or any other sector, disaster risk management (DRM) should be prioritized in the government’s agenda for national economic development and should receive the urgent attention of all groups of stakeholders.

The PreventionWeb (n.d.) discusses four categories of natural hazard-induced disasters—“(i) drought and other meteorological and climatological disasters, (ii) floods, (iii) geophysical-related disasters, such as earthquakes and tsunamis, and (iv) ‘biological disasters (epidemics, infestations, and animal disease)’” (para. 3). All these disasters affect the agriculture sector and its subsectors in one or many ways. The updated statistics pertaining to natural disasters affecting the agriculture sector in South Asia show a rise in the number of casualties and physical damage. In the South Asian region, the number of natural disasters in 2016 was 342 (Guha-Sapir et al. 2016). Internal displacements in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan totaled 1,346,000, 384,000, 135,000, and 1,800, respectively (The Jakarta Post 2018).

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO 2015), natural disasters affected more than 1.9 billion people and entailed an estimated damage of $494 billion in developing countries. From the FAO’s assessment of 78 disasters, the damage in the agricultural sector and subsectors was $93 billion during the period 2005 to 2014 (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 2017). Generally, the agricultural sector absorbs approximately 23 percent of the economic losses caused by natural hazards and disasters in developing countries in 2014 (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 2008, 2017, 2018b).

Given social, physical, and human capital resources constraints, this raises the following questions: “Can disasters be better managed in South Asia? And how can risk pertaining to the agricultural sector be better mitigated?” This volume attempts to present academic and practical work with regard to DRM in agriculture in different contexts in South Asian countries. The main objectives of this volume are to analyze (i) the impact of different types of disaster risks on agriculture; (ii) how different disaster risk and related issues in the agricultural sector have been managed; and (iii) different approaches adopted by countries to plan, manage, and prepare for disaster risk in the context of the agricultural sector in South Asia.

The eight chapters, excluding the introduction and the conclusion, included in this book were written by industry practitioners and academia from various South Asian countries. This has enhanced the breadth and significance of the discussion. The distinctiveness of this volume is the inclusion of special topics such as the health of women; food security; data analytics; and disasters, nuclear disasters, and floods; and sustainable development, which have rarely been treated elaborately in the literature.

Issues and Challenges Associated with Disaster Risk in Agriculture in South Asia

It is an undisputable fact that South Asia is perpetually hit by natural disasters, and, consequently, the development process in some countries has been impeded. This has led to environmental degradation, affecting the lives of the people and their livelihoods. Exposure to losses resulting from natural disasters is increasing worldwide, affecting livelihoods and food security. There are currently 842 million undernourished people around the world (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 2018a).

The United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, laid down for its 193 member nations, states that they should prepare themselves to effectively prevent and mitigate the impact of the disasters. Agriculture needs focused attention and should be at the center stage of any nation. It is evident that climate and agriculture are closely linked, as climate is a primary factor in agricultural production. Because of the high level of carbon dioxide, future projections of climate change indicate increasing temperature and varied rainfall, both of which will greatly impact the agricultural sector (Srivalsan et al. 2017). This will lead to more natural disasters and negative impacts on agriculture and the natural environment. Disasters entail negative effects on agricultural output, in the short and long term, and hence affect economic growth (Cavello et al. 2010).

Disaster risk reduction measures are necessary to reduce, prevent, and mitigate the consequences and impact of disasters on the agricultural sector (Ha 2014, 2017; Ha, Fernando and Mahmood 2015a, b). Agricultural growth and productivity depend on food production systems that are resilient against production failures arising from shocks and climate variability. This requires strong emphasis or sector-specific disaster risk reduction measures, technologies, and practices as well as sustainable use and management of vital resources, such as land, water, soil nutrients, and genetic resources (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 2015).

An Overview of the Chapters

The first chapter (Chapter 2), by Namrata Agrawal and Disha Gupta, employs a multidimensional approach to the analysis of the adverse effects of natural disasters on agriculture, using data analytics (Detwiler 2016). The chapter analyzes the trends in damage or loss to lives, crops, cattle, and property over the last thirteen years in India. The authors also explore the correlations between variables and discuss how such damages and losses by natural disasters affect the livelihood of the victims and India’s economy, in general. The findings suggest that there is a direct relationship between (i) the number of damaged houses and the number of lives lost and vice versa and (ii) the number of lives lost and the crop areas affected. The authors propose that stakeholders should invest more in research and development (R&D) in terms of disaster preparedness, mitigation, and prevention and that adequate funds should be available for such R&D projects.

In Chapter 3, Rajesh Kumar refers to the nuclear disaster in Fukushima in 2011 that damaged several farmhouses and fishing trawlers and resulted in radioactive contamination of soil, crops, and marine areas (Farrell 2018; Morino, Nishizawa, and Ohara 2011). The debate on nuclear power has been ongoing and intensive. On the one hand, the world relies on nuclear power for future consumption, while on the other hand, there are no established safeguards to ensure that mega nuclear power projects remain free from nuclear disasters. Thus, this chapter discusses how India should prepare for nuclear disasters and how it can become a disaster-resilient country. The author also conducted a primary survey of 350 university students in Amritsar district of Indian Punjab to assess the level of participants’ awareness of nuclear disasters. The findings suggest that their level of awareness was very low. Thus, there is a need to improve the dissemination of relevant information to different groups of stakeholders, especially young people, in order to build a culture of nuclear disaster resilience in India (Government of India Planning Commission 2011). Education on disaster preparation and mitigation should start from the beginning, that is, at an early age, so that young people will acquire a good understanding of the causes and effects of disasters and cultivate good habits for DRM (Abhas and Stanton-Geddes 2013).

In Chapter 4, Lalitha Fernando, Dimuthu Kumari, and Dissanayaka discuss various approaches to building a resilient society to prepare for and manage natural disasters in Sri Lanka. They also discuss good practices for sustainable agriculture. The authors observe that the existing agricultural policy in Sri Lanka has been developed, reviewed, and revised intensively and covers a wide range of issues but that its implementation is not strictly enforced. This chapter aims to (i) analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the existing agricultural policies in Sri Lanka, (ii) identify issues associated with the implementation of such policies, and (iii) make policy recommendations with regard to good practices to manage disasters. Such practices include the need to improve public awareness of disaster-related risk, provide support to farmers to build a culture of resilient agriculture, introduce and familiarize farmers with livelihood diversification practices and the use of organic fertilizers, and facilitate the process to obtain credit and access safety nets. The authors concur with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development in Nigeria (2016) that coordination among agricultural institutions should be strengthened.

In Chapter 5, Nasim Banu categorizes different types of natural disasters that affect agricultural production in Bangladesh (Del Nfnno et al. 2001; George 2017). Government agencies have taken initiatives and introduced programs to mitigate damages and losses caused by natural disasters and environmental stress to the agricultural sector. This chapter aims to identify the common natural disasters that impede the growth of agricultural output in Bangladesh and to assess the plans and programs in place to protect agricultural losses and damages from natural disasters in order to ensure food security and environmental sustainability in the country. According to the author, the Government of Bangladesh has undertaken various initiatives to mitigate disaster risk and to protect mainstream agricultural output from natural calamities and climate change issues by midterm and long-term planning and budgetary considerations (a subject that has also been discussed by Rawlani and Sovacool (2011)). The author makes a number of recommendations, namely:

1. I.disseminating the information about disasters and disaster forecasting by issuing weather bulletins and warning signals,
2. II.implementing public education and community mobilization activities to enhance public awareness with regard to preparation and response to disasters,
3. III.introducing proper mechanisms to protect the coastal areas and river banks to minimize inundation and reduce the harmfulness of saline, and
4. IV.effective land and forestation management, engaging local communities. These are consistent with what has been discussed by Ha, Fernando, and Mahmood (2015a, b) and Rogers and Tsirkunov (2010).

In Chapter 6, Sanjeev Kumar Mahajan and Anupama Puri Mahajan focus on two key issues, namely, hazards and the vulnerability profile of Himachal Pradesh in India, and the damages resulting from heavy rainfall. In addition, earthquakes are some of the biggest threats in this state because of its geographical position (Government of Himachal Pradesh 2012). In terms of vulnerability profile, Himachal Pradesh state has four agroecological zones, and water shortage or excess rainfall has occurred. The authors observe that disasters have affected the agricultural sector in many ways and call for risk reduction and management to be “systematically embedded into the agricultural sector” (Chapter 6), as discussed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2008), and Baas, Ramasamy, DePryck and Battista (2008).

Chapter 7, by Rabindranath Bhattacharyya and Jebunnessa, focuses on a very important issue, namely, that the agricultural sector needs to achieve food security. This chapter compares and contrasts the public (food) distribution systems in postdisaster situations in Bangladesh and West Bengal (India). The authors observe that West Bengal and Bangladesh share certain similarities such as topography, ecosystems, environmental hazards, language, and cultural and historical heritage, and that it is therefore justifiable to compare and contrast the similarities and differences between the public (food) distribution systems in these two jurisdictions. Bangladesh has a Public Food Distribution System (PFDS), and West Bengal has a similar system, called Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) (Islam 2014; World Food Programme 2014). How...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Abstract
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• List of Reviewers
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1 Disaster Risk Management in Agriculture: Case Studies in South Asia—An Introduction Huong Ha, Sanjeev Kumar Mahajan, and R. Lalitha S. Fernando
• Chapter 2 Pragmatic Study of the Impact of Disasters on Humans and Agriculture Using Data Analytics Namrata Agrawal and Disha Gupta
• Chapter 3 Nuclear Disaster and Sustainability of Indian Agriculture Rajesh Kumar
• Chapter 4 Building Resilience to Natural Disasters: Toward Sustainable Agricultural Practices in Sri Lanka R. Lalitha S. Fernando, M.S. Dimuthu Kumari, and W.M.D.M. Dissanayaka
• Chapter 5 Natural Disasters and Agriculture in Bangladesh: Planning and Management Nasim Banu
• Chapter 6 A Call for Action to Mitigate the Cost of Natural Disaster in the Agricultural Sector: A Case Study in India Sanjeev Kumar Mahajan and Anupama Puri Mahajan
• Chapter 7 Food Security through Public (Food) Distribution System in a Postdisaster Situation: A Comparative Study of Bangladesh and West Bengal (India) Rabindranath Bhattacharyya and Jebunnessa
• Chapter 8 Urban Flooding and Threats to Sustainable Development: A Study of Srinagar and Chennai Floods Himanshu Shekhar Mishra
• Chapter 9 Disaster Risk Management in the Agricultural Sector in South Asia: Lessons Learned and Policy Implications R. Lalitha S. Fernando, Huong Ha, and Sanjeev Kumar Mahajan
• List of Contributors
• About the Authors
• Index