Drought risk management: Practitioner's perspectives from Africa and Asia

The Africa–Asia Drought Risk Management Peer Assistance Project seeks to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and technical cooperation among drought-prone countries in Africa and Asia and thus to promote best practices in drought risk management (DRM) for development in the two regions. In order to establish a baseline to guide this activity, the United Nations Development Programme Drylands Development Centre (UNDP DDC) undertook a stocktaking exercise between March and June 2011 on drought impacts, causes, trends and solutions in Africa and Asia.

This report, based upon the findings of the stocktaking exercise, goes beyond presenting a sense of the similarities and differences among drought experiences in Africa and Asia, by painting a more detailed picture. This was made possible through consultations with key individuals in both continents, an online survey of some 400 people working in droughtrelated fields (collectively offering about 3,000 years of experience), the First Africa-Asia Drought Adaptation Forum and literature review.