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To purchase or authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-8947.2008.00211.x Byline: Tsegaye Tadesse (1), Menghestab Haile (2), Gabriel Senay (3), Brian D. Wardlow (1), Cody L. Knutson (1) Keywords: Drought; Food security; Early warning system; Decision support system Abstract: Abstract Reducing the impact of drought and famine remains a challenge in sub-Saharan Africa despite ongoing drought relief assistance in recent decades. This is because drought and famine are primarily addressed through a crisis management approach when a disaster occurs, rather than stressing preparedness and risk management. Moreover, drought planning and food security efforts have been hampered by a lack of integrated drought monitoring tools, inadequate early warning systems (EWS), and insufficient information flow within and between levels of government in many sub-Saharan countries. The integration of existing drought monitoring tools for sub-Saharan Africa is essential for improving food security systems to reduce the impacts of drought and famine on society in this region. A proactive approach emphasizing integration requires the collective use of multiple tools, which can be used to detect trends in food availability and provide early indicators at local, national, and regional scales on the likely occurrence of food crises. In addition, improving the ability to monitor and disseminate critical drought-related information using available modern technologies (e.g., satellites, computers, and modern communication techniques) may help trigger timely and appropriate preventive responses and, ultimately, contribute to food security and sustainable development in sub-Saharan Africa. Author Affiliation: (1)National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC), University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska 68583, USA (2)United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Rome, Italy (3)SAIC, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57198, USA.

Objectives: A study was undertaken to assess the prevalence of undernutrition and associated factors among children under five in two drought-prone areas in Ethiopia. Study design and setting: Through a cross-sectional, mixed-methods approach, data were analysed using multistage random sampling methods. Study subjects and outcome measures: Data were collected on socioeconomic factors, demographic characteristics and anthropometric measurements from 350 households. Height-for-age (HAZ), weight-for-height (WHZ) and weight-for-age (WAZ) z-scores of 304 children, aged 0–60 months, were calculated using the WHO Anthro software. Children with z-scores of less than −2 standard deviations (SDs) for HAZ, WHZ and WAZ were classified as stunted, wasted and underweight respectively. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, correlation and regression analyses were used to assess the relationships between independent variables and stunting and underweight. Results: Prevalence of stunting, wasting and underweight were 49.4%, 13.7% and 37.1% respectively. Among independent variables tested, agroecology was significantly associated with stunting (p = 0.012) and underweight (p < 0.001), while livestock holding was significantly correlated with stunting (p = 0.008) and underweight (p = 0.012). Access to irrigation was also significantly associated with stunting (p = 0.028) and underweight (p = 0.016). However, the prevalence of stunting, wasting and underweight was not significantly associated with household size, landholdings or frequency of sickness. Conclusions: The prevalence of undernutrition within the study areas was higher than the national average for Ethiopia. Lowland areas exhibited the highest rates of undernutrition; consequently, interventions that include the enhancement of livestock holdings and access to irrigation should include agroecological factors in an effort to reduce childhood undernutrition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term flash drought is frequently invoked to describe droughts that develop rapidly over a relatively short timescale. Despite extensive and growing research on flash drought processes, predictability, and trends, there is still no standard quantitative definition that encompasses all flash drought characteristics and pathways. Instead, diverse definitions have been proposed, supporting wide-ranging studies of flash drought but creating the potential for confusion as to what the term means and how to characterize it. Use of different definitions might also lead to different conclusions regarding flash drought frequency, predictability, and trends under climate change. In this study, we compared five previously published definitions, a newly proposed definition, and an operational satellite-based drought monitoring product to clarify conceptual differences and to investigate the sensitivity of flash drought inventories and trends to the choice of definition. Our analyses indicate that the newly introduced Soil Moisture Volatility Index definition effectively captures flash drought onset in both humid and arid regions. Analyses also showed that estimates of flash drought frequency, spatial distribution, and seasonality vary across the contiguous U.S. depending upon which definition is used. Definitions differ in their representation of some of the largest and most widely studied flash droughts of recent years. Trend analysis indicates that definitions that include air temperature show significant increases in flash droughts over the past forty years, but few trends are evident for definitions based on other surface conditions or fluxes. These results indicate that flash drought is a composite term that includes several types of event, and that clarity in definition is critical when monitoring, forecasting, or projecting the drought phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]