1. Emergency drills for agricultural drought response: a case study in Guatemala
- Author
-
Vesalio Mora, Edwin Rojas, Estuardo Girón, Obdulio Fuentes, Ada Gaytán, Anna Müller, Jorge Díaz, and Jacob van Etten
- Subjects
Paper ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,0211 other engineering and technologies ,climate adaptation ,Disaster Planning ,02 engineering and technology ,01 natural sciences ,institutional capacity ,Humans ,Natural disaster ,Environmental planning ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,021110 strategic, defence & security studies ,Food security ,Emergency management ,business.industry ,General Social Sciences ,Capacity building ,slow‐onset disasters ,Agriculture ,Guatemala ,Livelihood ,Droughts ,Preparedness ,Papers ,General Earth and Planetary Sciences ,emergency drill ,Business ,Element (criminal law) ,cyclical drought - Abstract
Drills are an important element of disaster management, helping to increase preparedness and reduce the risk of real-time failure. Yet, they are not applied systematically to slow-onset disasters such as a drought, which causes damage that is not instantly apparent and thus does not solicit immediate action. This case study evaluates how drills inform institutional responses to slow-onset disasters. It spotlights Guatemala, a country where drought has severe impacts on livelihoods and the food security of small farmers. By implementing part of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food's institutional response plan for drought, it explores how drills can help to detect issues in emergency response and to foster an institutional focus on improvements in preparedness. The results reveal that drills alone do not trigger institutional improvements if unsupported by a wider strategy that seeks to enhance capacities and protocols. These findings are valuable, however, in making problems transparent and in creating the space for discussion.
- Published
- 2018