About adaptation, mitigation, floods and the need for information
[i-Punjab farmer on dam]
Climate change adaptation and mitigation in agriculture is more than merely “the need for better seeds”. It needs a way to exchange information so we can re-apply proven solutions rather than re-inventing the wheel every single time….
In a wide, slow gesture, Gurbachan Singh shows me a panorama of lush fields. It is as if he hand touches the abundant, young wheat sprouts from afar. They are bright green, showing a promise for a plentiful harvest. Wide fields are bordered with tall poplar trees whose leafs softly whisper in the light wind, chasing away the early morning mist.
“All of this”, says Gurbachan, “All of this was gone. Flooded. As far as you can see. All of it. People had fled to higher grounds, but the twenty-four hours notice we had before the flood, was not sufficient to evacuate all live stock. Most buffalo and cows drowned. The harvest was lost.”
We are standing near the village of Bhoda in Punjab, North West India. From a large dike, made of sandbags, probably five metres (15 ft) high, we see the river, flowing slowly beneath us. It is hard to imagine that in July last year, this small stream had swollen with a mighty force, digging a hole in the dike, half a mile long. (...)
Read my full post on the CCAFS blog
Floods... Is this the future?
[i-Australia floods]
Darned. Flooding everywhere:
- Australia - over a 100,000 homes in Brisbane alone.
- Colombia - over 2 million people affected .
- Sri Lanka - over a million affected.
- Brazil - 270 killed.
- Philippines - 33,000 displaced.
- Thailand - 11,000 households affected.
Picture courtesy Rex and The Independent. Read the full post...
Pakistan: I wished I was wrong - Part I
[i-pakistan floods]
Remember, I predicted that despite all the humanitarian trumpet-ing that "Pakistan was the biggest humanitarian emergency ever seen", funding would not be forthcoming? Simply because the main donor countries would not step forward, and the world sentiment is not particularly filled with loved for anything happening in countries filled with mosques?
Guess what.
Of the 460 million USD humanitarian appeal, only 307 million is funded to date.
Oxfam cries foul. And so does the latest hired humanitarian employee, Ms Amos. Who also happens to be the new UN Emergency Relief Coordinator. According to her, in the past two weeks, only $20 million USD was received on the half a billion appeal. Twenty-million in two weeks. For a natural disaster? If that does not prove a point, nothing will.
As goes with natural disasters: if the money does not arrive one month after, forget about it. It is out of the news. Press, people, and donors have moved on.
The next time I will write about Pakistan, the post title will be "Pakistan: I wished I was wrong - Part II". It will to about my second prediction on Pakistan. The first killing of an aidworker since the crisis.
I wish I am proven wrong on this one.
I am telling you, to survive in the aid world, you really need a harness of cynism.
Picture courtesy REUTERS/Athar Hussain
Floods in Pakistan? Google's advice...
[i-Google ad for Pakistan floods]
When searching for "Pakistan Floods" on Humanitarian News, the Google ad at the bottom of the page displayed the appropriate advice. Kind of.
Google could also have displayed an ad for one of the aid agencies or something, but maybe they were thinking of more longer term solutions....
Pakistan floods: Wishing I was wrong
[i-Pakistan floods]
A few days ago, I -once more- climbed onto my soapbox and proclaimed my eternal wisdom on the Pakistan flood emergency as if the Holy Truth Was Installed Upon Me by The Powers Above. Hallelujah..!
For all those involved in the emergency, I honestly wished I was wrong. But unfortunately, I am watching it all unroll as I predicted.
I claimed funding for the Pakistan emergency would probably not be forthcoming due to a lack of interest from the West... and here is a clip from yesterday's papers:
The global aid response to the Pakistan floods has so far been much less generous than to other recent natural disasters — despite the soaring numbers of people affected (...)
A detailed updated status of the consolidated pledges to the Pakistan humanitarian appeal, you find here.
Reasons include the relatively low death toll of 1,500, the slow onset of the flooding compared with more immediate and dramatic earthquakes or tsunamis, and a global "donor fatigue" — or at least a Pakistan fatigue. (Ed: I would only accept the last explanation)
Ten days after the Kashmir quake, donors gave or pledged $292 million, according to the aid group Oxfam. The Jan. 12 disaster in Haiti led to pledges nearing $1 billion within the first 10 days.
For Pakistan, the international community gave or pledged $150 million after the flooding began in earnest in late July (...) (Full)
And on staff security, all warning lights are on:
The Pakistani Taliban has urged the government not to accept any foreign aid for victims of the worst flooding in the country's history.
Last year, the Taliban issued a similar statement one week before aidworkers were bombed in their Peshawar hotel.
Spokesman Azam Tariq told an Associated Press reporter Tuesday that the Taliban would themselves provide money if the government stopped accepting international help.
"Pakistan should reject this aid to maintain sovereignty and independence," Tariq said. (Full)
Edited picture based on original by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images, discovered via The Boston Globe's second "The Big Picture" series on the floods and The Horizon
Pakistan floods - Unpopular thoughts by an aidworker on the sideline
[i-Pakistan floods]
Watching the images on TV, and reading the reports, it is impossible to stay untouched by the misery caused by the massive Pakistani monsoon floods.
As an aidworker watching (for the moment), from the sideline, I have three thoughts that might make me unpopular in the aid community:
- Last year's Pakistani Swat emergency was hugely underfunded, which, according to me, showed a donor fatigue towards South-Central Asia and Pakistan in particular. It also showed a political unwillingness from "the West" to assist Pakistan, other than the "minimum needed".
Unless some of the main donors take the lead and come up with big bucks now, the 2010 flooding will go into history as the worst international humanitarian response failure ever. Caused by lack of funding.
And time is of crucial importance, as it always is for natural disasters: the response needs to be massive and immediate, as three months down the line, the accute need (and the majority of life saving actions) is no longer there.
...Leaving alone that anyone would still hick up money for a natural disaster three months after the facts.
- As of yesterday, I see press reports popping up with cries like affected people may outnumber the tsunami, 2005 Pakistan and 2010 Haiti earthquake combined. And the worst disaster in the UN's history. Both phrases were uttered by aid agencies, and not invented but eagerly picked up by the paparazzi... Reporters have been waiting for some exciting news stories in these slow summer months now that the Gulf oil spill is over.
I would urge caution in using tabloid catch phrases like "the biggest ever"... Love is a drug. So are disaster figures, and crying foul. Like a drug, it is addictive, and numbs your senses on the longer term.
Soon we won't raise a penny's donation anymore unless if the affected population is over the 20 million, and unless we make appeals over 1 billion (to get 100 million)...
There has been a clear tendency to exaggerate figures in the past years. And the donors have happily played the PR game: Just as the aid community, donors have come out with billions and billions worth of pledges. Remember the billions promised for the Afghanistan rebuild? And the multi billions pledged as a response to the global food crisis. All pledges which never materialized, but were pitched at the press at the time. A press which eagerly took it over as "shock and awe"-reporting. A PR win-win for all those involved, but unfortunately as they sing in Italian: "Parole, parole!"
This is what happens when aidwork reporting is taken over by tabloids.
- And most importantly. A subject very close to my heart. Staff security...
A wise man once told me: "You can no longer reduce the threat, so reduce the risk": we have gone beyond the point where we can reduce the external threat of terrorist attacks on aidworkers, so we should confine to reducing the risk. And the more aidworkers sent into a high risk environment, the higher the risk. Simple as that.
Now that every single self respecting NGO, UN agency, nonprofit organisation will be scrambling to show its face and "plant the flag" in Pakistan, we should not forget: In the past year, the aid community has been directly targeted by bold terrorist acts several times: In March 2009, seven WorldVision staff died in an attack on their office. Mercy Corps had their staff abducted and in June 9 2009, the bombing of the Pearl Continental in Peshawar, destroyed the hotel where most aidworkers stayed. The bombing of WFP's office in Islamabad, on October 5 2009, left five dead and several wounded.
The Taliban has made no secret in targeting aidworkers in the whole region. A point made clear in this weekend's killing of 10 aidworkers in Afghanistan.
Every single relief agency should hold back on the impulse to "pump in as many people as they can" to respond to the emergency.
As a matter of fact, many support functions (finance, administration, procurement, reporting, mapping, etc etc) can be done in a remote support base, keeping the strict minimum of people in harm's way. In an emergency, more than half of the people needed on the ground can work remotely. And probably they would work more effectively too!
I suggest for every single person any organisation sends in, the question is asked: "Do we really need this person to be there, on the ground?".
Picture courtesy Behrouz Mehri/AFP/Getty Images, discovered via The Boston Globe's "The Big Picture" series on the floods Read the full post...
Picture of the Day: Malaysia floods
[i-Malaysia floods]
Cows and abandoned vehicles stranded on a tiny strip of land surrounded by flood water in Jeram Perdas northeast of the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur. (Full)
Have a close look at that picture. Surreal...
More Pictures of the Day on The Road.
Picture courtesy Reuters/The New Straits Times Press/Fathil Asri
Microfinancing at work in the Philippines after the typhoons
[i-link]
Mary is a Kiva Fellow who is currently in the Philippines. She works with ASKI, one of the Kiva's local microfinance partners. ASKI operates 24 branches of which Ilagan, Tugugraro and Cayaun were the hardest hit by the recent typhoons.
Of the 60,037 ASKI Clients, 5,943 (about 10%) were affected by the typhoons. The total damage, both personal and businesses amounts to US$1,405,808...
She wrote me an update:The standing crops were damaged due to “VERY” strong wind. Rice crops were totally damaged and lost. Vegetables crops and fishing business were totally washed out... The above villages are still in recovery especially in the village of Antagan 1 & 2 which were the most affected.
The typhoon caused a lot of damages in the people's livelihood. Most of their ricefields which were ready to harvest, were totally wash out due to flash floods. Hundreds of cows and carabaos were also found dead.
ASKI is made up of 2 arms: an Micro Finance Institute and a foundation. When things like the typhoon hits, the MFI taps on the shoulders of the Foundation so they can offer as many contingencies as possible to lenders and still remain solvent.
ASKI has responded to the storms in an amazing way: quickly and compassionately they personally delivered $26,000 of relief goods in dangerous ares to all affected communities in Central and Northen Luzon, based on need. The Foundation has also set up a Disaster Council for future financial and logistical planning.
ASKI recently implemented mandatory crop insurance (PCIP) from the government of the Philippines for all agricultural loans. They are now speeding up implementation. The ASKI board has just approved the following loan contingency plans. Together, clients and loan Officers will decide which of 3 options makes sense for each situation: a loan moratorium, a loan restructuring or a refinance.
In the mean time, our project raising funds for the microfinance entrepreneurs affected by the recent Asian typhoons generated $2,500 so far. For every comment left on this post, I will fund US$5 for entrepreneurs in the area.
Picture courtesy Philippe Martou of WFP Logistics, which set up an extensive relief operation in the region.
Asia typhoons: Curing is more costly than preparing
[i-Philippines typhoon]
In 2008, the world spent US$12 billion on humanitarian responses to disasters. 99% of those killed by natural phenomena were in the Asia Pacific region, according to John Holmes, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator.
Holmes said 10% of what we spend on response or even on development should go into disaster risk reduction to limit the consequences of natural disasters, especially given the impact of climate change. (Full)
In the past weeks, two deadly storms struck the Philippines killing more than 700 people. The flooding disaster affected more than 7 million people. (Source)
While the humanitarian community's response is in full swing, tropical storm Lupit is forming in the Pacific, having all the potential to turn into the a super typhoon. Lupit is predicted to hit the same areas previously affected by typhoons Parma and Ketsana. (Source).
One good example of disaster mitigation is Bangladesh, where over a 100-year period, 508 cyclones have hit the Bay of Bengal region. After the disastrous effect of Cyclone Sidr in 2007, the government planted 100 million trees as a natural coastal barrier for floods and cyclones. They extended their weather watch centres, expanded the network of volunteers to warn people of upcoming threats and increased their shelters in high risk areas.
Meanwhile, Humanitarian News monitors the latest news updates on the Philippines flooding. You can use this RSS feed with the latest updates.
Picture courtesy Jay Directo (AFP/Getty Images)
Blog Action Day: Drought and floods hit the poorest
[i-Kenya drought]
Fewer and fewer people who believe "Climate Change" is fiction. The hard evidence the climate *is* changing, is in our face: Hurricanes and typhoons become more frequent and more violent. Extensive droughts are followed by devastating floods.
Unfortunately, the poorest are hit the hardest. Look at what Typhoon Ketsana recently did in the Philippines, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Followed a few days later by Typhoon Parma.
For months now, the humanitarian community has been warning about the droughts in Kenya, which is now taking its full toll. What is said to be the worst in the country since 1996, with 3.8 million people now tumbling over the poverty line and becoming dependent on food aid.
[Loband: Object Removed -]
The misery is not over, as floods are kicking off the rainy season in many parts of Africa.
The frustrating part is that even those who previously were able to sustain themselves independently, are pushed again to become dependent on aid. One step forward, two backwards. And the answer is in the hands of the richer countries, to impose proper limits on pollution. Is that not tragic?
Unless we can turn around the causes of climate change, it will only get worse.
This post is part of Blog Action Day, which concentrates on Climate Change this year.
Picture courtesy BBC
Picture of the day: Manila flooding
[i-Manila Flooding Typhoon Ketsana]
Children look out from a window of a partially submerged house in floodwaters brought on by Typhoon Ketsana, in San Pedro Laguna, south of Manila September 30, 2009.
This picture is part of an excellent picture series on the Boston Globe.
More Pictures of the Day on The Road.
Picture courtesy REUTERS/Erik de Castro. Discovered via Heads Down, Eyes Open.
News: Rome Floods (2)
Yesterday, I posted about the excessive rain in Rome, causing major disruptions in town. While it was not too bad where I live, the center of town was apparently hit worse.
The mayor said the emergency was equivalent to Rome being "hit by an earthquake. We had more rain in one night than normally comes down in the whole of December". (Full)
Colloseum flooded[i-Colloseum flooded]
people being evacuated by dinghy in Rome[i-people being evacuated by dinghy in Rome]
isola tiberina[i-isola tiberina]
Tiber[i-Tiber]
Rome drenched[i-Rome drenched]
Rome floods[i-Rome floods]
Pictures courtesy Massimo Percossi, Alessandro Di Meo/EPA, ANSA, Manuela Ajo, Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters. Thanks to my Friend E for the links.
Rumble: Rome Floods
Rome in the rain[i-Rome in the rain]
There was a time we lived in Kampala, Uganda. When we had a rain storm, everyone was late coming to the office, as roads would be flooded knee high.
I was reminded of that today. The only difference is, I now live in Rome, Italy.
I woke up at 6:30 am. There was some distant rumble of thunder, but I did not think much of it.
When I got outside, it rained. I drove off, curbing a corner and followed a car in front of me, which stopped all of a sudden. I passed him, to find myself driving through 10 inches of water. As drainage where I live is almost non-existent, I did not think much of it.
Drove to work, and found the traffic to be very light. Saw many fields besides the highway drenched, but did not think much of it.
Took the Fiumicino-Rome highway. Exit close to work. One of the underpasses of the highway was flooded up to the ceiling. A car stuck in the underpass, its roof hardly visible. We had the same two weeks ago. And it took them four days to drain the underpass. So, this morning, I did not think much of it.
Got to work, and saw very few cars in the parking lot. Went to the usual Thursday morning staff meeting, only to find a handful of people. Normally we have 200 people attending. Started getting SMSes from several of my staff saying "I will be late", followed by "Stuck in traffic" and later "Making a U-turn. Going back home." "Not coming today, traffic just stopped".. One after the other, meetings were cancelled.
Only then I caught up with the news:
Apparently there was a big rain storm last night (slept through it), with loads of thunder and lightning (slept through it), and half of Rome was flooded (drove in from the other - non-flooded - side).
Rome's mayor declared the state of emergency, advising people to stay home. One person was found dead in a car, stuck in a flooded underpass. (More)
That is the point where I started to think about my time in Africa.
More on The Road about Rome and Italy
Picture courtesy Letneo
Rumble: Hurricanes Ike and Hanna in Haiti
Alex, a colleague, just came back from a emergency relief mission in Haiti, which was hit hard by Hurricanes Ike and Hanna a couple of weeks ago.
He gave me some astonishing pictures by Logan Abassi, a photographer working for MINUSTAH, the UN peacekeeping forces in Haiti.
Hurricane Hanna in Haiti[i-Hurricane Hanna in Haiti]
Hurricane Hanna[i-Hurricane Hanna]
Hurricane Hanna in Haiti[i-Hurricane Hanna in Haiti]
Hurricane Hanna in Haiti[i-Hurricane Hanna in Haiti]
Hurricane Ike[i-Hurricane Ike]
The misery these pictures show is devastating. I can't show them all on The Road, but created this slide show. Have a look.
More posts on The Road about Haiti
Pictures courtesy Logan Abassi (MINUSTAH)
News: Monsoon in Asia, Floods in West-Africa and Hurricanes in Central America.
Flooding in Nepal[i-Flooding in Nepal]The emergency season has started again.
Floods in India May Displace Millions.
Millions of destitute farmers and their families may be displaced for months after severe floods in northern India wiped out crops and homes, leaving hundreds of villages under several feet of water. (Full)
WFP to feed feed 50,000 flood victims in Nepal
The emergency operation is in response to a Government of Nepal request after monsoon rains caused an embankment of the Saptakoshi River to collapse, flooding thousands of hectares of land and forcing an estimated 50,000 people to flee their homes. (Full)
U.N. fears health crisis from West Africa floods
WHO, the U.N. health agency says severe flooding in West Africa is increasing the risk of deadly cholera and malaria outbreaks in the region. Flooding since July has displaced at least 200,000 people and damaged roads and railway lines across a large area of West Africa, with Benin the hardest-hit. (Full)
Hurricane Gustav floods Haiti, kills 11 and heads toward Cuba
Gustav also dumped torrential rains on southern Haiti, which is prone to devastating floods because its mountainous terrain has been stripped of trees for farming and charcoal. (Full)
Picture courtesy James Giambrone/WFP
News: Humanitarian airlift to Myanmar
I am back in Brindisi.
I am sure you have seen the news of humanitarian relief goods being flown into Myanmar to assist with the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis. I bet all of that footage was on the Myanmar side...
Those first relief flights actually all originated from here, from the UN Humanitarian Response Depot in Brindisi.
Here are some pictures from the first relief flights into Myanmar on May 10th. This particular flight had cargo from OCHA and Irish Aid, containing water purification units, moskito nets, blankets, kitchen sets, tarpaulins and water storage containers.
Relief flight from UNHRD Brindisi to Myanmar on May 10th 2008[i-Relief flight from UNHRD Brindisi to Myanmar on May 10th 2008]
Relief flight from UNHRD Brindisi to Myanmar on May 10th 2008[i-Relief flight from UNHRD Brindisi to Myanmar on May 10th 2008]
Relief flight from UNHRD Brindisi to Myanmar on May 10th 2008[i-Relief flight from UNHRD Brindisi to Myanmar on May 10th 2008]
View the picture slide show of this airlift.
Donate to the Myanmar Cyclone Nargis victims[i-Donate to the Myanmar Cyclone Nargis victims]
Pictures courtesy Fulvio Pirato (UNHRD/WFP)
News: Mozambique Cyclone Jokwe Flooding
Mozambique continues to suffer from excessive rain fall this season. Last month, it was Cyclone Ivan, last week it was Cyclone Jokwe.
It looks like the prediction we made early January unfortunately came true. In an earlier post, I showed pictures of the flooding from January.
Here is a pictorial update from the relief operation on the ground, by Joakim Kembro, one of our colleagues who just returned from Caia in Mozambique.
This is why we do this work:
flooded areas[i-flooded areas]
kids[i-kids]
Moving food relief by barges and by air:
loading boats and barges with food[i-loading boats and barges with food]
airlifting food[i-airlifting food]
loading food in boats[i-loading food in boats]
Anyone who thinks we live and work in poshy offices, think again...:
caia staff accommodations[i-caia staff accommodations]
cooking[i-cooking]
Actual food distributions:
food distribution 2[i-food distribution 2]
food distribution[i-food distribution]
Nice sunsets are an added bonus:
temporary warehouse almost ready[i-temporary warehouse almost ready]
Click on the collage for the slide show:
collage mozambique flooding[i-collage mozambique flooding]
Pictures courtesy Joakim Kembro
News: Cyclone Ivan in Madagascar
Cyclone Ivan hit the Northeastern coast of Madagascar Feb 17, as a category 3 cyclone with winds measuring up to 200km/hour. The storm was followed by considerable rainfall, causing quite some flooding. (Latest news)
cyclone Ivan flooding madagascar[i-cyclone Ivan flooding madagascar]
The picture shows flooded rice fields in Alaotra Mangoro, near Lac Alaotra, the main region for rice production in Madagascar. 14,200 hectares are flooded in this region.
Click on the collage for a slide show of the pictures:
madagascar flooding in slide show[i-madagascar flooding in slide show]
Pictures courtesy Maherisoa Rakotonirainy and Nicolas Babu (WFP). Thanks for the link, Kirsi!
News: Zambezi Floods in Mozambique
zambezi 2[i-zambezi 2]
At work, a team just came back from Mozambique where we provide assistance with the floods, caused by the Zambezi river, due to excessive rain.
They brought these pictures with them. They show clearly the size of the devestation, the amount of farm land that was flooded, and the isolation of the villages in the Zambezi flood water.
(click on the collage to see the slide show)
click on collage to see slide show[i-click on collage to see slide show]
Pictures courtesy Francesca Erdelmann and Jeronimo Tovela, with thanks to Eva-Kristin Urestad Pedersen.
News: Record Rain Causes Flooding in Dubai
Talking about the weather in the Middle East, and "what people do not know about the Gulf": It DOES rain here. Sometimes it really pours for a long period, specifically around this time of the year.
Below some pictures Mats sent me from the flooding in Dubai after the heavy rains the last days. The main roads were blocked, with cars floating around, some of them even with people inside, like the white car in the middle picture. (see also this news article).
[i-link][i-link][i-link]