write in 15 pages about natural disaster and hazard management (project work)
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Explanation:
This chapter discusses natural hazards and the preparation of investment projects within the context of the agricultural sector in Latin America and the Caribbean. It includes a summarized review of key concepts and policy issues and of selected project formulation and appraisal methods which can be used to incorporate natural hazard information into investment project preparation.
A review of existing investment projects in Latin America and the Caribbean indicates that those in the agricultural sector are generally undertaken with little or no consideration of natural hazards. Hazards affect agricultural projects more than any other sector. Considering the estimated US$670 billion in investments that will be necessary in this sector between 1980 and the year 2000 (FAO, 1981), there is a great need for an improved understanding of natural hazards, their assessment, and their management.
A combination of geographic location, climatic conditions, and limited capabilities for natural hazard assessment and disaster mitigation makes Third World nations more susceptible to the disasters natural hazard events pose than post-industrialized nations. Furthermore, the agricultural sector in these countries is often the most vulnerable and least able to cope with natural hazards in terms of infrastructure and institutional support.
In the following discussion, emphasis is placed on the need to apply the methods described in the formulation stage of new investment projects, rather than in the review of already prepared projects.
A. NATURAL HAZARDS IN PERSPECTIVE
1. Historical Disasters and Agricultural Losses
2. Economy-wide Effects of Disasters
3. Natural Hazards and Development Issues
1. Historical Disasters and Agricultural Losses
Data from a variety of sources indicate that approximately 90 percent of all natural disasters worldwide occur in developing countries (Long, 1978). Recent Latin American and Caribbean examples illustrate the magnitude of the problem. When Hurricanes David and Frederick struck the Dominican Republic in 1979, they caused an estimated US$342 million in damage to the agricultural sector (UNDRO, 1980), destroying 80 percent of all crops and 100 percent of the banana crop. As a result, agricultural production fell 26 percent in 1979 and continued to be down 16 percent in 1980. Agriculture accounts for 37 percent of the country's gross domestic product and employs 40 percent of the labor force (USAID/OFDA, 1982). In 1984, the worst floods in Colombia in a decade caused an estimated US$400 million in damage to crops and livestock, while floods in Ecuador in 1982 and 1983 shrank the value of the banana crop by US$4.3 million (UN/ECLA, 1983).
In short, from 1960 to 1989 natural disasters caused over US$54 billion in physical damage in Latin America and the Caribbean. While the information available on the amount of national and international funds committed to reconstruction in response to each disaster is limited, the need to redirect funds to post-disaster work curtailed the availability of funds otherwise targeted for new investment.
2. Economy-wide Effects of Disasters
Besides the indirect social and economic impacts on a given region or sector, disasters can affect employment, the balance of trade, foreign indebtedness, and competition for scarce development investment funds. It has even been said that "the effect of natural disasters in disaster prone developing countries tends to cancel out real growth in the countries" (Long, 1978).