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Article
Publication date: 20 June 2008

Jean‐Christophe Gaillard, Michael R.M. Pangilinan, Jake Rom Cadag and Virginie Le Masson

The purpose of this paper is to consider people's ways of coping with increasing flooding in a Philippine rural community.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to consider people's ways of coping with increasing flooding in a Philippine rural community.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper relies on extensive field work conducted between July and August 2006. It cross‐checks data from different sources including interviews with key informants, a questionnaire‐based survey, informal group discussions, passive and stationary observations and photographic documentation. Field work was completed by the collection of secondary written documents.

Findings

The paper emphasizes that the capacity of flood‐affected people to cope with increasing hazards is rooted in their ability to adjust their everyday lifestyles. Flood‐affected people seldom rely on extraordinary measures to face nature's extremes. People's ability to adjust their daily life is deeply dependent on the strength of their livelihoods and social network. The kind and variety of livelihoods turned out to be a critical factor in securing the financial means to purchase enough food to satisfy daily needs. Social networking was also found to be critical in providing alternative support in times of crisis.

Practical implications

This paper fosters the use of community‐based disaster risk reduction programmes coupled with development objectives to enhance people's capacity to cope with natural hazards. It further underlines the need to empower people to make them less vulnerable in the face of natural hazards through fair access to resources.

Originality/value

This article contributes to the understanding of how people cope with natural hazards in the Philippines and provides an array of possible remedial strategies for community‐based disaster risk reduction.

Details

Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal, vol. 17 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0965-3562

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Article
Publication date: 4 September 2007

Jean‐Christophe Gaillard

This article sets out to address the response of traditional societies in facing natural hazards through the lens of the concept of resilience.

4842

Abstract

Purpose

This article sets out to address the response of traditional societies in facing natural hazards through the lens of the concept of resilience.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper considers that resilient societies are those able to overcome the damage caused by the occurrence of natural hazards, either through maintaining their pre‐disaster social fabric, or through accepting marginal or larger change in order to survive. The discussion is based on a review of the corpus of case studies available in the literature.

Findings

The present article suggests that the capacity of resilience of traditional societies and the concurrent degree of cultural change rely on four factors, namely: the nature of the hazard, the pre‐disaster socio‐cultural context and capacity of resilience of the community, the geographical setting, and the rehabilitation policy set up by the authorities. These factors significantly vary in time and space, from one disaster to another.

Practical implications

It is important to perceive local variations of the foregoing factors to better anticipate the capability of traditional societies to overcome the damage caused by the occurrence of natural hazards and therefore predict eventual cultural change.

Originality/value

This article takes off from the previous vulnerability‐driven literature by emphasizing the resilience of traditional societies.

Details

Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal, vol. 16 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0965-3562

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Article
Publication date: 20 June 2008

Jean-Christophe Gaillard and Pauline Texier

567

Abstract

Details

Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal, vol. 17 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0965-3562

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Article
Publication date: 20 June 2008

Julie Morin, Benjamin De Coster, Raphaël Paris, François Flohic, Damien Le Floch and Franck Lavigne

Following the 26 December 2004 tsunami, Planet Risk NGO took part in the international research program TSUNARISK and ATIP‐CNRS Jeune Chercheur. The aim of this paper is to…

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Abstract

Purpose

Following the 26 December 2004 tsunami, Planet Risk NGO took part in the international research program TSUNARISK and ATIP‐CNRS Jeune Chercheur. The aim of this paper is to encourage the development of tsunami‐resilient communities essentially through educative actions.

Design/methodology/approach

The tsunami risk in Indonesia was assessed by researchers. Planet Risk then used scientific findings and advice for building adapted prevention actions among Javanese populations.

Findings

Many people could have survived if they had received a basic knowledge of tsunamis. The Indonesian public as well as local authorities must be educated to face tsunami risk. To be efficient, this education must be adapted to local cultural and geographical characteristics. Collaboration between researchers and practitioners is a good means of reaching such an objective.

Originality/value

The paper is the result of a two‐year successful collaboration between interdisciplinary scientific teams and an NGO team. It demonstrates that an efficient prevention scheme can be implemented through this kind of collaboration. To the authors' knowledge it is the first time that such tsunami education programmes have been led in Indonesia.

Details

Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal, vol. 17 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0965-3562

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Book part
Publication date: 6 July 2012

Karen Sudmeier-Rieux, Jean-Christophe Gaillard, Sundar Sharma, Jérôme Dubois and Michel Jaboyedoff

Climate change data and predictions for the Himalayas are very sparse and uncertain, characterized by a “Himalayan data gap” and difficulties in predicting changes due to…

Abstract

Climate change data and predictions for the Himalayas are very sparse and uncertain, characterized by a “Himalayan data gap” and difficulties in predicting changes due to topographic complexity. A few reliable studies and climate change models for Nepal predict considerable changes: shorter monsoon seasons, more intensive rainfall patterns, higher temperatures, and drought. These predictions are confirmed by farmers who claim that temperatures have been increasing for the past decade and wonder why the rains have “gone mad.” The number of hazard events, notably droughts, floods, and landslides are increasing and now account for approximately 100 deaths in Nepal annually. Other effects are drinking water shortages and shifting agricultural patterns, with many communities struggling to meet basic food security before climatic conditions started changing.

The aim of this paper is to examine existing gaps between current climate models and the realities of local development planning through a case study on flood risk and drinking water management for the Municipality of Dharan in Eastern Nepal. This example highlights current challenges facing local-level governments, namely, flood and landslide mitigation, providing basic amenities – especially an urgent lack of drinking water during the dry season – poor local planning capacities, and limited resources. In this context, the challenge for Nepal will be to simultaneously address increasing risks caused by hazard events alongside the omnipresent food security and drinking water issues in both urban and rural areas. Local planning is needed that integrates rural development and disaster risk reduction (DRR) with knowledge about climate change considerations. The paper concludes with a critical analysis of climate change modeling and the gap between scientific data and low-tech and low capacities of local planners to access or implement adequate adaptation measures. Recommendations include the need to bridge gaps between scientific models, the local political reality and local information needs.

Details

Climate Change Modeling For Local Adaptation In The Hindu Kush-Himalayan Region
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78052-487-0

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Article
Publication date: 20 June 2008

Terry Cannon

The purpose of this paper is to make an argument that there are different types of social construction of disasters.

6097

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to make an argument that there are different types of social construction of disasters.

Design/methodology/approach

The focus is on disasters triggered by natural hazards.

Findings

It is now widely accepted that disasters are a product of a natural hazard having an impact on a vulnerable population. But the value of the concept of vulnerability is in danger of becoming less meaningful because it is removed from the political and economic processes that generate some vulnerabilities. On the other hand, there are some types of disasters that are relatively “innocent”, in the sense that people live in places that are exposed to risk for purposes of access to their livelihood, and not because social forces or power relations have forced them to live there, or made some groups more vulnerable than others.

Practical implications

If it is the case that some vulnerability is “innocent”, then forms of explanation are needed of people's willingness to expose themselves to risk that go beyond the “strong” forms of social construction (where power relations are a key factor in generating the social construction of disasters). Instead, it is essential to examine “cultural” and psychological explanations of people's behaviour, including an understanding of group behaviour, religious beliefs and other aspects that often distinguish the perspective on risk taken by “insiders” compared with the supposedly rational and policy‐oriented approach of “outsiders” who see it as their role to help reduce disaster risks.

Originality/value

The discussion of different types of social construction of disasters is original. Debate on the need to include analysis of cultural and psychological aspects in disaster risk reduction is not very well developed and, according to this paper, is of absolutely crucial importance in reducing the impact of natural hazards.

Details

Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal, vol. 17 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0965-3562

Keywords

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Article
Publication date: 20 June 2008

Soledad Natalia M. Dalisay

The purpose of this study is to describe how the people in two coastal communities in Batangas and Mindoro respond to the effects of these seasonal changes on their lives and…

596

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to describe how the people in two coastal communities in Batangas and Mindoro respond to the effects of these seasonal changes on their lives and livelihood.

Design/methodology/approach

The study makes use of findings from a previous study conducted by the author in Batangas and from primary data gathered in Mindoro through interviews with key informants.

Findings

The study shows that people in the two communities visited viewed the monsoon rains and typhoons brought about by seasonal changes as being part of the daily life challenges they had to face. The rainy season was also the lean food season which they called inaagosto in Batangas and nordeste in Mindoro. Hence, their responses were mostly at the individual or household level, rarely taking advantage of community programs and projects that could help them survive the lean food season. Although divided by a body of water, the people in Batangas and Mindoro employed very similar strategies. These strategies included negotiating for entitlements, engaging in extra‐income‐earning activities, and reallocating scarce food resources in the home. They differed, however, in ways in which they had “reinvented” food during the lean season. In both communities, coping was seen to be gendered.

Practical implications

The paper provides an understanding of how people respond to hazards that accompany the lean season and how best to approach these responses to achieve optimum results that would truly address the challenges faced by affected communities.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to the development of more appropriate programmes and projects that would alleviate the effects of inaagosto and nordeste.

Details

Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal, vol. 17 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0965-3562

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Article
Publication date: 20 June 2008

Pauline Texier

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the root causes of disaster vulnerability in Jakarta, to highlight the strategies and implications of official policies, and to consider…

4745

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the root causes of disaster vulnerability in Jakarta, to highlight the strategies and implications of official policies, and to consider alternatives for vulnerability mitigation. The February 2007 floods which struck Jakarta emphasized the extreme vulnerability of informal poor communities and the inefficiency of the disaster management policy set up by the Indonesian government.

Design/methodology/approach

Detailed field investigations were undertaken before, during and after the February 2007 flood event in several informal districts of Jakarta to collect secondary data and conduct interviews with the population and some stakeholders of the disaster management scene.

Findings

Human factors are dominant in explaining the magnitude of the 2007 flooding episode. Urbanization is partially responsible for the extent of the flooding by waterproofing the soils. Yet floods do not strike the inhabitants of formal and informal settlements in the same way. People from the poor illegal areas are the most affected. Their behaviour and coping strategies during the crisis are not due to a low perception of risk, but rather to some daily and non‐hazard‐related constraints which are not taken into account by the government.

Practical implications

To prevent increasing vulnerability among these communities, it is essential to refocus disaster management strategies on a daily pattern and to integrate them within a global development framework, to de‐marginalize them in terms of access to resources (public services, economic values), and to favoir empowerment.

Originality/value

It is imperative to focus on poverty reduction and to develop economic projects aimed at treating the causes of vulnerability.

Details

Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal, vol. 17 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0965-3562

Keywords

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Article
Publication date: 20 June 2008

Philippe Régnier, Bruno Neri, Stefania Scuteri and Stefano Miniati

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the issue of post‐disaster livelihood recovery through economic rehabilitation, with the illustration of post‐tsunami promotion of…

4667

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the issue of post‐disaster livelihood recovery through economic rehabilitation, with the illustration of post‐tsunami promotion of microentrepreneurship activities generating employment and income among the affected populations.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper examines two field case studies in Aceh (Indonesia) and Tamil Nadu (India), where a well‐established European NGO carried out economic relief and microentrepreneurship rehabilitation in 2005‐2007.

Findings

Despite unlimited trust in rapid reconstruction capacity, post‐tsunami livelihood recovery has been chaotic and uncoordinated. Contrary to humanitarian agencies in charge of emergency relief, only a few development agencies and NGOs were able to deliver a rapid rehabilitation of microeconomic activities existing locally before the disaster.

Research limitations/implications

There are values but also obvious limits to comparing the micro‐level experiences of a major European NGO in two different locations such as Aceh and Tamil Nadu, and to deducing macro‐ and meso‐level lessons to be learned.

Practical implications

There are difficulties in benchmarking the divison of labour but necessary coordination among development agencies and their humanitarian counterparts in the field of post‐disaster sustainable economic rehabilitation.

Originality/value

Post‐disaster economic security and livelihood recovery are at the forefront of current international policy research in humanitarian and development cooperation circles. Documented case studies and lessons to be learned are still scarce for feeding possible best practices.

Details

Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal, vol. 17 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0965-3562

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Article
Publication date: 20 June 2008

Mareen Gehlich‐Shillabeer

It is imperative that microcredit organisations (MCOs) have a high level of awareness of the environmental context in which their clients pursue their livelihoods. This is…

4411

Abstract

Purpose

It is imperative that microcredit organisations (MCOs) have a high level of awareness of the environmental context in which their clients pursue their livelihoods. This is particularly true for regions that experience regular environmental and economic shocks. However, to date this level of analysis has been largely absent from impact studies. The purpose of this paper is to overcome this lack of contextual analysis by using Bangladesh as a pertinent example.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on empirical data and a wide range of literature from a variety of disciplines, including geography, development studies, economics and anthropology, the paper aims to provide an in‐depth analysis of the dual impact of flooding and microcredits in Bangladesh.

Findings

Over the last few years the use of preventive mitigation and coping strategies has declined in Bangladesh. The most widely cited reason for this is financial constraints as a result of declining rural incomes despite a large presence of MCOs in the country. In order to overcome cash shortages many people have resorted to borrowing from a variety of sources, which has become effectively the single most important coping strategy employed. In conjunction with lowered debt capacity and restrictive terms under which microcredits are disbursed, higher indebtedness, creating a potential for poverty traps, is the outcome.

Originality/value

For MCOs to be able to claim that their work alleviates poverty they have to demonstrate sensitivity towards the needs of their clients. Yet, the added risks imposed by recurring environmental stressors have been markedly absent from their studies. This paper proposes that the environmental context not only is important but also draws attention to some of the negative consequences that it can have on livelihood sustainability.

Details

Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal, vol. 17 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0965-3562

Keywords

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