This webinar was organised with support from the European Union.

Disaster risk reduction and management in agriculture webinar series: Building Resilience to Natural Hazards and Climate-related Disasters in the Caribbean 

26 June 2018 – 15.00 - 16.30 CEST

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Speakers: 

• Daniele Barelli, Subregional Emergency Focal Point and DRR Specialist, FAO
• Laura Tiberi, Liaison and Operations Officer, FAO
• Niccolò Lombardi, Early Warning Early Action Specialist, FAO
• Oriane Turot, Emergency Food Security and Agriculture Assessment Specialist, FAO

Moderator:

• Sylvie Wabbes, Emergency and Rehabilitation Officer, FAO

While another active and likely severe Hurricane season is approaching, different countries in the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region, particularly in the Caribbean, continue to slowly recover from the impacts caused by the catastrophic Irma and Maria events of last year. At the same time, more countries remain highly exposed to natural disasters - of different nature – whose frequency and severity is worsened by the effect of climate change and the limited application of measures for disaster risk reduction (DRR) in the region. 

According to the results of Post-Disaster Needs Assessments (PDNAs) conducted in Dominica and Antigua and Barbuda, the overall amount of damage and losses that occurred in the agriculture sector and sub-sectors (crops, livestock, fisheries and forestry) in these two countries - after the last hurricane season - are: 211 USD million and 0.5 USD million respectively. These figures show how severely natural disasters can affect the economy and food security and nutrition of countries and people largely relying on the agriculture sector and sub-sectors.

It is increasingly acknowledged that investing in preparedness and early action contributes to saving lives and livelihoods, and lowering the costs of humanitarian response. Early action consists of activities that can be implemented before anticipated hazards to mitigate and to prepare to respond to their impacts. Acting early in the face of the upcoming hurricane season has the potential to significantly reduce the impact on agricultural livelihoods.Additionally, studies continue to show that for every one dollar invested in preparedness, 3 to 5 dollars are saved in response and that on average one preparedness activity can save up to 1 week of response time. However, investments in early actions and preparedness are still very limited and the tendency is to continue spending billions of dollars on responses to humanitarian emergencies without successfully solving the root causes of the problem.

The webinar aims to:

• Enhance awareness on Agriculture Disaster Risk Reduction through Preparedness, Early warning and Early Action and Emergency Response in the LAC region;
• Discuss approaches on disaster risk management in agriculture, with specific focus on the LAC region;
• Exchange experiences in implementing preparedness, early action, and emergency response initiatives.