Understanding and reducing agricultural drought risk: Examples from South Africa and Ukraine

Drought is the most relevant hazard in South Africa and Ukraine in terms of economic losses. Both countries experience drought conditions on a regular basis with particular impact on the agricultural sector. Ukraine has experienced severe drought conditions every two to four years, whereas in South Africa extreme droughts have occurred every two to seven years along with El Nino events. The impact of drought on agriculture does not only depend on the lack of rainfall and/or soil moisture deficit in a region, but also on the exposure and the vulnerability of the agricultural system and the people depending on it. The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR), adopted by the United Nations member states in 2015, highlights the urgent need to shift thinking from reactive, hazard-centred disaster management to proactive disaster risk management and risk reduction. In order to do so, understanding disaster risk is a high priority. This policy report informs disaster risk managers how the planning and decision-making process can benefit from considering vulnerability in drought risk assessments by complementing existing drought monitoring systems. We present an indicator-based assessment of agricultural drought risk in South Africa and Ukraine, which provides an opportunity to define entry points for the identification of targeted response measures for both the reduction of drought impacts and the planning of preventive drought risk reduction measures. Hence, integrating information on exposure and vulnerability into the current drought monitoring systems in South Africa and Ukraine is in line with the SFDRR as it provides the basis for understanding drought risk and supporting activities towards drought risk reduction.