DISASTER RISK REDUCTION
AND RESILIENCE FOR
FOOD SECURITY
The First Arab Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction
March, 2013
Carlo Scaramella
WFP 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
Droughts
Floods
Storms
 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
World Bank 2012
Report: Adaptation to
a Changing Climate in
the Arab Countries
(December 2012)
Climate change and resilience in the
Arab region
RECOMMENDED ACTIONS:
IMPACTS:
Climate change is happening
now. The year 2010 was the  Assess and make
available access to climate
warmest since the late 1800.
data and information.
Water scarcity a challenge,
 Build climate resilience
reduced agricultural
through social protection
production.
mechanisms.
Urban populations growing,
 Create conductive policy
particularly vulnerable to
environment for
climate change.
adaptation.
In 2012
WFP supported over
100 million people
in 80
countries
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
Managing 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
Climate adaptation - Concrete WFP
examples from the region

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...
Social protection and safety nets as
a platform for risk management
Livelihoods and
food needs met
Household Food
Availability
Seasonal food
shortages
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
Livelihoods and
food needs met
Household Food
Availability
Drought
Social protection and safety nets as
a platform for risk management
Livelihoods and
food needs met
Household Food
Availability
Reducing quality or
quantity of meals
Exacerbated
land degradation Sale or loss of
Children drop
assets and
out of school
negative coping
Social protection and safety nets as
a platform for risk management
Drought
Livelihoods and
food needs met
Household Food
Availability
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.
In conclusion
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
THANK YOU