We need to employ diverse strategies in managing crises

An overloaded car travels through the Assaga refugee camp near Diffa in Niger on May 17, 2016. The recent adoption of a sustainable development agenda to end hunger and poverty and to “leave no-one behind”, a universal climate agreement, and a new framework to reduce disaster risk and enhance resilience are important steps in the right direction. PHOTO | AFP

What you need to know:

  • We must go much further and radically transform how we perceive and implement humanitarian efforts.
  • If we want to address growing humanitarian needs we need to manage crises differently. We need to acknowledge that interventions must have a long-term impact on the beneficiaries.

With increasing frequency and magnitude, disasters and conflicts are causing untold human suffering in many parts of the world.

These are as diverse as Typhoon Haiyan, Ebola, civil war in Syria, to name but a few of the more recent ones.

We need more concerted efforts to end conflict, alleviate suffering, and reduce risk and vulnerability conditions facing millions of people, most of whom are poor and live in rural and marginalised areas of developing countries.

This, essentially, was the aim of the World Humanitarian Summit, convened recently by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

It sought to build on the momentum of an extraordinary series of commitments by the international community. 

The recent adoption of a sustainable development agenda to end hunger and poverty and to “leave no-one behind”, a universal climate agreement, and a new framework to reduce disaster risk and enhance resilience are important steps in the right direction.

But we must go much further and radically transform how we perceive and implement humanitarian efforts.

Crises are not only humanitarian emergencies but they are also about neglect and lack of development and cannot be solved by humanitarian action alone.

In practical terms, it means moving beyond responding with short-term relief measures and investing much more in tackling the root causes of crises.

It means building resilience and strengthening the livelihoods of people in ways that not only drive recovery from war, disease, floods, and other shocks, but also help to reduce the impact of these crises and, where possible, prevent them from taking place altogether.  

Agriculture and rural development are key to strengthening the livelihoods of the most vulnerable, including hundreds of millions of small-scale family farmers who are responsible for producing an important share of the world’s food.

And it is they who are most at risk. The damage is there for all to see. Extreme weather events, such as those associated with El Niño, wreak havoc across wide swathes of the rural areas of the developing world, animal diseases disrupt food chains, and wars force millions to abandon their homes, fields and livestock and become migrants at a scale not seen since World War II.

The agricultural sector, which bears almost 22 per cent of the damages and losses caused by natural disasters and up to 85 per cent in case of drought, receives on average less than 4 per cent of humanitarian aid.

CHANGING TACT

This provides a stark measure of the widening chasm between needs and the magnitude of response.  

In this context it is crucial to stress that investing in livelihoods is not only the just thing to do, but it also makes sense from a cost-effectiveness point of view by helping to address the root causes of conflict, reduce the impact of future shocks, and prevent a deepening of vulnerabilities and the onset of a vicious circle.

Expanding access to social protection systems is crucial to underpin resilience.             

In the case of natural hazards, it is four to seven times more cost-effective to invest in disaster risk reduction than to rely on emergency response.  

Moreover, in armed conflict and protracted crises, protecting, saving, and rebuilding agricultural livelihoods to save lives and create the conditions for longer-term resilience is a key step towards ensuring peace and stability.

However, the role of the agriculture sector in crises is too often overlooked and the necessary investments are not made. 

If we want to address growing humanitarian needs we need to manage crises differently. We need to acknowledge that interventions must have a long-term impact on the beneficiaries.

It is the only way we can ensure that nobody is left behind.

The writer is director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organisation. Twitter: @grazianodasilva.