Jàmbá: 2019 Volume 11 No 1
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/31993
2024-03-29T10:51:10ZIntegrating Standard Precipitation Index and Normalised Difference Vegetation Index for near-real-time drought monitoring in Eswatini
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/35389
Integrating Standard Precipitation Index and Normalised Difference Vegetation Index for near-real-time drought monitoring in Eswatini
Mlenga, Daniel H.; Jordaan, Andries J.; Mandebvu, Brian
Eswatini, as the rest of southern Africa, is being frequented by drought over the last decade, and modelling experts are predicting that drought years will become more and severe. The expected increase in extreme climatic events makes the use of drought indices essential for drought monitoring and early warning. To enable Eswatini to better prepare, analyse and respond to drought, this study analysed the use of Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Standard Precipitation Index (SPI) for near-real-time drought monitoring through the development of a model for drought severity. Meteorological stations across all agroecological zones with data for the period 1986–2017 were selected for analysis. The SPI
computation was achieved through DrinC software. Primary NDVI data sources were CHIRPS gridded rainfall dataset and the MODIS NDVI CMG data. Results of the 3-month SPI indicated that moderate droughts were experienced in 1990/1991, 2005/2006, 2011/2012, 2012/2013 and 2015/2016. The Highveld and Middleveld had the lowest drought occurrence percentage of 3.3%, whereas the likelihood of having a moderate, severe and extreme drought was higher in the Lowveld. The study determined a positive correlation between the SPI and the NDVI at 3-month time scale, and a value of Y (drought severity) greater than 0.54 indicated a significant dry spell and could be used as a drought trigger threshold for early warning. The combined use of NDVI and SPI was deemed capable of providing a near-real-time indicator for drought
conditions allowing planners to provide timely information for drought preparedness, mitigation and response planning, thereby helping to lower the eventual drought relief costs, protect food security and reduce the humanitarian impact on the population.
2019-01-01T00:00:00ZHousehold disaster awareness and preparedness: a case study of flood hazards in Asamankese in the West Akim Municipality of Ghana
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/35388
Household disaster awareness and preparedness: a case study of flood hazards in Asamankese in the West Akim Municipality of Ghana
Glago
Increasing disasters and their associated devastating impacts on society have called into question the capacity of countries to address disaster occurrences. Hitherto, primary disaster management institutions have addressed disaster in a piecemeal manner, commonly through the distribution of relief items after occurrence of disasters. Considering this shortfall and as a contribution to the current discourse of disaster management, this study investigated households’ awareness and preparedness for flood disasters in Asamankese, a rapidly developing township, which has also seen increase in flood disasters in recent times. To this end, a mixed research method approach was used in both data collection and analysis. A survey was conducted to collect data from 200 households in the township. Two focus group discussions were also organised to gather in-depth insights. The study found that households’ awareness of flood disaster risks was very high in both flood-prone and non-flood-prone ecological zones of Asamankese. Also, notable from the study was that whereas level of awareness was high among residents, preparedness levels were generally low, especially in terms of financial preparedness. Several recommendations were proposed, which include improving public education and sensitisation on flood disaster preparedness strategies, creating financial support scheme for residents to increase their financial preparedness as well as encouraging residents to increase their social capital support and participate in community gatherings.
2019-01-01T00:00:00ZIs the Indonesian disaster response budget correlated with disaster risk?
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/35387
Is the Indonesian disaster response budget correlated with disaster risk?
Fahlevi, Heru; Indriani, Mirna; Oktari, Rina S.
This study investigates the correlation between disaster budget, index of disaster risks and the population of 23 districts in the Aceh province, northern Indonesia. It also explores how the budget for disasters is proposed and prepared by Indonesian local governments. A descriptive quantitative approach is used to examine this relationship. Data were collected from the budgets of local governments (Badan Penanggulangan Bencana Daerah [BPBD] or local disaster management agency) and the disaster risk index. In addition, surveys were undertaken in which the respondents were the key officers in the BPBDs who are responsible for the budget and programmes to obtain detailed information about how the local government prepares their budget for disaster. By employing the Pearson’s chi-square test and the Pearson correlation test, this study revealed no significant statistical relationship between the disaster budget and the level of disaster risks among districts or cities in the Aceh province, northern Indonesia. However, results show that the total budget of the local governments has a significant positive correlation with the disaster budget. The surveys also confirm the correlation between the total budget of the local government and disasters as the same budgeting procedure is applied. The result generalisability might be limited as this study only focused on one of Indonesia’s provinces, Aceh.
2019-01-01T00:00:00ZIndigenous knowledge approach in maintaining a livelihood in the face of disastrous climate change: case of drought in Msinga villages, KwaZulu-Natal
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/35386
Indigenous knowledge approach in maintaining a livelihood in the face of disastrous climate change: case of drought in Msinga villages, KwaZulu-Natal
Rukema, Joseph R.; Umubyeyi, Beatrice S.
The aim of this study is to explore and examine the ways of maintaining livelihoods of communities in the face of extreme climatic conditions using indigenous knowledge systems. Special attention was paid to drought prevailing in the Msinga village communities in the northern part of KwaZulu-Natal. This is a qualitative study. In order to achieve its objectives, this study used semi-structured interviews. In total, there were 16 participants from the Msinga villages. The findings demonstrated that droughts are endemic to the study area, and drought management strategies are as intrinsic to local livelihood systems as are seasonal-adjustment strategies. The findings also indicated that communities in Msinga have knowledge of drought
management. However, this knowledge contributes very little to the management of drought. Limitations in traditional knowledge that contribute effectively to drought management are due to a number of factors including conflicts between traditional knowledge and modern science. This implied that most young people are no longer interested in traditional knowledge but are more interested in modern science. Furthermore, government programmes and interventions hamper the efforts of traditional knowledge in dealing with the consequences of drought and thereby make the community vulnerable to drought.
2019-01-01T00:00:00Z