By Marie-Aude Even, IFAD Senior Regional Agronomist
Droughts affect many regions, notably drylands, which include a third of world's population and majority of the world’s poor; produce 44 per cent of the world’s food; and support 50 per cent of the world’s livestock. Around 2.5 billion people live in water-scarce regions and water stress is one of the biggest risks for rural poor people. Thirty-eight per cent of IFAD investments have a water component, while IFAD investments in drylands are also crucial to mitigate drought. Drought was high on the COP14 agenda, and a global action on water was announced by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In his conclusion, the UNCCD Executive Secretary’s key message included “Recognizing the importance of drought and the need to support affected parties to better mitigate and manage risks”. Discussions enabled a stronger recognition of the importance of drought and the need to shift to more pro-active preparedness approaches.
COP14 established an inter-governmental working group on drought to better integrate it in the UNCCD and mobilize sufficient resources. African delegations and African youth were particularly pushing for more consideration and resources for drought, demanding a legally-binding drought protocol “with recognition and commitments from developed countries to address the humanitarian crisis we face,” once again underscoring the inextricable linkages at the nexus of Desertification Land Degradation and Drought, climate change, natural resource-based conflict, migration, and security.
Droughts affect many regions, notably drylands, which include a third of world's population and majority of the world’s poor; produce 44 per cent of the world’s food; and support 50 per cent of the world’s livestock. Around 2.5 billion people live in water-scarce regions and water stress is one of the biggest risks for rural poor people. Thirty-eight per cent of IFAD investments have a water component, while IFAD investments in drylands are also crucial to mitigate drought. Drought was high on the COP14 agenda, and a global action on water was announced by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In his conclusion, the UNCCD Executive Secretary’s key message included “Recognizing the importance of drought and the need to support affected parties to better mitigate and manage risks”. Discussions enabled a stronger recognition of the importance of drought and the need to shift to more pro-active preparedness approaches.
COP14 established an inter-governmental working group on drought to better integrate it in the UNCCD and mobilize sufficient resources. African delegations and African youth were particularly pushing for more consideration and resources for drought, demanding a legally-binding drought protocol “with recognition and commitments from developed countries to address the humanitarian crisis we face,” once again underscoring the inextricable linkages at the nexus of Desertification Land Degradation and Drought, climate change, natural resource-based conflict, migration, and security.
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| Map presented during several side event and part of SPI publication on drought assessment |
COP14 plenary sessions reported on the implementation of the drought initiative that promotes a paradigm shift – from a reactive and crisis-based approach to drought towards a proactive and risk-based one. Seventy-one countries have engaged in drought preparation plans with support from the UNCCD (against 30 targeted, and India joining recently); regional support focussed on Central Asia, the Southern African Development Community and Sahel. The toolbox that was launched addresses (a) drought monitoring and early warning; (b) drought vulnerability assessment; (c) drought risk mitigation measures and a decision support tool.
COP14 also discussed UNCCD Science Policy Interface (SPI) publications on 1) land-drought nexus, which emphasizes the role of “drought smart” land management to mitigate drought impacts, contribute to carbon sequestration and bring higher returns in drought prone areas and 2) drought and vulnerability monitoring, which was emphasized as priority topic by Africa group during plenary. Priority is also given to partnership and collaborations with several on-going initiatives and joint publications launched during drought day.
COP14 also discussed UNCCD Science Policy Interface (SPI) publications on 1) land-drought nexus, which emphasizes the role of “drought smart” land management to mitigate drought impacts, contribute to carbon sequestration and bring higher returns in drought prone areas and 2) drought and vulnerability monitoring, which was emphasized as priority topic by Africa group during plenary. Priority is also given to partnership and collaborations with several on-going initiatives and joint publications launched during drought day.