Managing drought risk in a changing climate: The role of national drought policy

TLDR

Current drought management is largely reactive and ineffective, treating symptoms rather than causes, and the growing frequency and severity of droughts in a changing climate demands a shift toward risk‑reduction approaches. The study aims to promote national drought policies focused on risk reduction and to outline the concepts, principles, objectives, and planning process that enable effective drought mitigation. The authors describe a drought planning process that integrates concepts, principles, and objectives of national drought policies to prepare effective mitigation plans.

Abstract

There is increasing concern worldwide about the ineffectiveness of current drought management practices that are largely based on crisis management. These practices are reactive and, therefore, only treat the symptoms (impacts) of drought rather than the underlying causes for the vulnerabilities associated with impacts. Through the adoption of national drought policies that are focused on risk reduction and complemented by drought mitigation or preparedness plans at various levels of government, the coping capacity of nations to manage droughts can be improved. The time for adopting an approach that emphasizes drought risk reduction is now, given the spiraling impacts of droughts in an ever-increasing number of sectors and the current and projected trends for the increased frequency, severity and duration of drought events in association with a changing climate. This paper discusses the underlying concepts of drought, the principles and objectives of national drought policies and a drought planning process that has been effective in the preparation of drought mitigation plans.