Farm level damage and loss assessment of natural disasters: How realistic are the assessments?
Keywords:
Disaster Loss AssessmentAbstract
The mounting evidence on global climate change and its effects leading to increased occurrence of natural disasters that directly impact the lives and livelihoods of people is a matter of serious concern. The climatic extremes are often found to adversely affect farm production and productivity as agriculture is highly vulnerable to climate variability and change. The study was undertaken in the background of the unprecedented deluge that engulfed the entire state of Kerala in the year 2018 triggering 341 landslides, destroying topography of affected areas, claiming 433 lives and resulting in huge loss to state’s economy. A large number of agriculture dependent rural households, most of which are involved in subsistence agriculture, were found to have borne the brunt of the unprecedented deluge and its aftermath. The assessment of disaster effects on farm households was carried along the flood plains of Chalakudy river in terms of damages and losses following the FAO methodology. The study revealed severe damage to crops, livestock and agricultural assets and pegged the damage and loss at about A 259 crores in the flood plain. The destruction of seasonal crops in the stage of harvest imposed greater monetary loss to the farm households than any other damages. The inconsistencies with regard to the estimated flood impact to agriculture and the corresponding reported values by the government departments concerned, suggest the need for adopting internationally approved frame work for assessing the impact of disasters on agriculture; both at macro and microlevel.References
Arora, N. K. 2019. Impact of climate change on agriculture production and its sustainable solutions. Environ. Sustain. 2: 95-96.
Field, C.B., Barros, V., Stocker, T.F., Dahe, Q., Dokken, D.J., Ebi, K. L., Mastrandrea, M. D., Mach, K.J., Plattner, G. K., Allen, S. K., et al. 2012. Managing The Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters To Advance Climate Change Adaptation (Special Report Of The Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 594p.
Garrett, H. E. and Woodworth, R. S. 1969. Statistics in Psychology and Education. Kalyani Publishers, Ludhiana.
GFDRR [Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery]. 2010. Disaster, Damage, Loss and Needs Assessment – Training Guidelines. Government of Bangladesh, Bangladesh, 127 p.
GFDRR [Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery] and the World Bank. 2014. Rapidly assessing flood damage in Uttarakhand, India[on-line]. Available: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/724891468188654600/Rapidly -assessing-f [...]. [Accessed 22 April 2020].
GOI [Government of India]. 2011. Report of working group on flood management and region specific issues for XII Plan. Planning Commission, New Delhi.
GOK [Government of Kerala]. 2018. Kerala - Post Disaster Needs Assessment - Floods and Landslides August 2018. GOK, Thiruvananthapuram, 439p.
IMD [India Meteorological Department]. 2018. Rainfall over Kerala during Monsoon Season - 2018 and forecast for next 5 days. Meteorological Centre, Thiruvananthapuram.
Moore, W., and Phillips, W. 2014. Review of ECLAC Damage and Loss Assessments in the Caribbean – Project Document. UN [United Nations], Trinidad, 42p.
Parida, Y. 2017. Effect of flood on rural agricultural wages in Indian states: An empirical analysis [abstract]. In: Abstracts, 13th Annual Conference on Economic Growth and Development; 18-20 Dec. 2017, Delhi. Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi, p.2.
Patankar, A. 2019. Impacts of Natural Disasters on Households and Small Businesses in India. ADB Economics Working Paper Series No. 603, 6 ADB Avenue, Philippines, 25p.
Shrestha, B.B., Okazumi, T., Miyamoto, M., Nabesaka, S., Tanaka, S., and Sugiura, A. 2014. Fundamental analysis for flood risk management in the selected river basins of Southeast Asia. J. Disaster Res. 9(5): 858-869.
Torrente, E.C. 2012. Post Disaster Damage, Loss and Needs Assessment in Agriculture. FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization of The United Nations], Rome, 44p.
UN [United Nations]. 2015. Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030. UNISDR [United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction], Geneva, 35p.
Win, S., Zin, W.W., Kawasaki, A., and Lar Tin San, Z. M. 2018. Establishment of flood damage function models: A case study in the Bago River Basin, Myanmar. Int. J. Disaster Risk Reduction 28: 688-700.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright © 2001-11 Kerala Agricultural University. Some rights reserved. This journal and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by the Kerala Agricultural University and the following terms and conditions apply to their use; Photocopying Single photocopies of single articles may be made for personal use as allowed by national copyright laws. Permission of the publisher and payment of a fee is required for all other photocopying including multiple or systematic copying, copying for advertising or promotional purposes, resale, and all forms of document delivery. Permission may be sought directly from the Editor, Journal of Tropical Agriculture, Department of Agronomy, College of Horticulture,, Kerala Agricultural University, KAU PO, Thrissur 680 656, Kerala, India. (Phone: +91-487-2438325; Fax +91-487-2371040; E-mail: editor.jta@kau.in. Derivative works Subscribers may reproduce tables of contents or prepare lists of articles including abstracts for internal circulation within their institution. Permission of the Publisher is required for resale or distribution outside the institution. Permission of the Publisher is required for all other derivative works, including compilations and translations. Notice No responsibility is assumed by the Publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products, liability, negligence, or otherwise, or from any use of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein.