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Reducing Risk:
Sustainability in theThird World
Session 40
Session 40 2
Session Objectives
Understand the impacts of disasters on developing countries and how these impacts also affect the U.S.
Understand the relationships between poverty and sustainability
Understand effects of international development and debt management programs on disaster vulnerability
Understand critiques of international development programs
Be able to place Third World risk reduction strategies in the context of an understanding of international development efforts
Session 40 3
Impact of Disasters on Developing Countries
Most deaths from disasters triggered by extreme events take place in the Third World
Most human lives lost in disasters are those of people living in Third World countries of Asia, Latin America, and Africa
The cost of these disasters is less in absolute dollar terms than in industrialized countries, but are large in relation to the size of their respective economies and set back development efforts
Session 40 4
Why Should the U.S. be Concerned with Reducing Risk in the Third World? Moral reasons
– Concern with saving lives
– Others are more likely to assist the U.S. if it assists others
Political reasons– Some of the countries are allies,
or are important to allies
– Sometimes there are international treaty obligations
– U.S. is concerned with regional security
– Large number of U.S. citizens with families live in many of the countries
– Citizen groups concerned with foreign interests in the U.S. constitute voting blocks
Economic reasons– U.S. corporations may have
facilities in the affected countries– U.S. may import an important or
strategic commodity from the affected country
– U.S. banks may have outstanding loans to business or governments entities in the affected countries
– U.S. engineering and other companies may find lucrative contracts in the process of recovery
Scientific reasons– Helps scientists understand how
to protect the U.S. from these kinds of extreme events
– The study of disasters helps protect the U.S. population
Session 40 5
Economic Effects of Disasters
Lower, and more erratic, yields of crops Lower weight gain by livestock Distress sales during bad years mean lower prices Economic distress means indebtedness at high
interest rates and potentially loss of land Little money for education of children Poor diet and health care Under nutrition and poor health reduce working
capacity More labor time (usually female) spent seeking water
and fuel Fewer environmental amenities and goods with which
to provide supplementary, non-farm income
Session 40 6
Health and Welfare Effects of Disasters
Disease transmission– Degraded or marginal
environment may harbor insect vectors of disease
– Isolated forest margin residence can expose humans to virulent retroviruses
– Lack of water can expose people to disease
– Exposure to unprotected sources of surface water can expose humans to disease
– Dust storms and low humidity is associated with spread of meningitis
Disease increases poverty, by:– Reducing the ability work– Increasing the amount of
money used for health care and funeral expenses
– Diverting labor time to care for the ill and disabled
– Encouraging frequent pregnancies to make up for high infant and child mortality, diverting women’s labor time from production and depleting their energy
Session 40 7
Poverty Decreases Sustainability Through Technology
Overuse of land reduces natural fertility Overuse of limited pasture allows erosion Limited land and pasture make it difficult to set aside land
as fallow Clearing of steeper slopes for farming or grazing allows
water erosion Reliance on limited wood fuel resources accelerates
deforestation Production of charcoal for urban markets accelerates
deforestation Inability to use production technologies that abate pollution Inability to afford disposal of solid wastes from production
Session 40 8
Poverty Decreases Sustainability Through Economics
Inability to afford more concentrated energy forms results in the poor using less dense, less efficient forms
Reliant on short-term crops for ready cash, farmers cannot afford to plant tree crops that would anchor the soil
Poor farmers lack investment of money or labor in soil conservation works
Poor herders cannot afford fencing to allow rotational grazing or improved seed for pasture improvement
Session 40 9
Placing Third World Risk Reduction Strategies in Context of International Development Efforts
Internal contradiction with large development agencies: some encouraging risk reduction, others encouraging investments which increase risk
Little connection between disaster risk reduction and “business as usual” development activities– “Normalizing” disasters make it hard to build into
development activities that kinds of projects that reduce risk
– “Complex humanitarian crises” drain away aid money from BOTH ‘normal’ development AND disaster prevention