Africafé : Advancing Natural Disaster Management Strategies in Africa

March 21, 2024

The profound impacts of natural disasters on lives, economies, and communities underscore the need for comprehensive understanding and proactive measures. These disasters disrupt livelihoods, displace populations, and strain resources, exacerbating vulnerabilities in both urban and rural areas. The economic toll is significant, hindering development efforts and causing long-term setbacks due to infrastructural damage. Drawing lessons from other countries like Brazil, Africa recognizes the imperative of building resilience in communities to mitigate the impacts of natural disasters. Implementing measures such as early warning systems, robust infrastructure, and community-based disaster preparedness initiatives can bolster resilience and minimize casualties. Moreover, investing in education and capacity-building programs further empowers communities to respond effectively to crises. By learning from Brazil's experiences, African nations are poised to strengthen their natural disaster management strategies and enhance their ability to withstand and recover from such adversities.

Speakers
Eduardo Amaral Haddad
Senior Fellow
Eduardo A. Haddad is Full Professor at the Department of Economics at the University of São Paulo, Brazil, where he directs the Regional and Urban Economics Lab (NEREUS). He is additionally a Affiliate Professor at the Faculty of Governance, Economic and Social Sciences of the Mohammed VI University. He also holds a position as Affiliate Research Professor at the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory – REAL – at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. He is a Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, Rabat, Morocco. Prof. Haddad has published widely in professional journals on regional and interregional input-output analysis, computable general equilibrium modeling, and various aspects of regional economic development in developing countries; he ...
Ahmed Ouhnini
Economist, Policy Center for the New South
Ahmed Ouhnini is an Economist at the Policy Center for the New South. His research area covers agricultural economics, human and social development. Previously, he has worked as a researcher at the Paris School of Economics (PSE) and has also a record of working in consulting services in Morocco. Ahmed holds an engineering Diploma in Agriculture and Rural Development from the National School of Agriculture of Meknes and a Master’s Degree in Law, Economics and Management from the Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne Institute of Development. ...

RELATED CONTENT

  • Authors
    March 16, 2016
    The expansion of the terrorist phenomenon in Africa puts China in a dilemma: to remain true to its non-interference policy in the internal affairs of other States, even if Chinese citizens and interests are threatened or; adopt a more interventionist policy to protect its investments in Africa even at the cost of making certain corrections to the principles that have, until now, underpinned its foreign policy. ...
  • March 14, 2016
    During the Lisbon Summit back in 2010, NATO adopted its third post-bipolar Strategic Concept acknowledging the structural and functional transformation process. In addition to its traditional mission of ensuring mutual defense, stabilizing its surroundings and global power projection capability now adds to the organization’s mission. As a matter of fact, the role of NATO could be shifting from a regional defense alliance to that of a global player. However, one can only wonder wheth ...
  • Authors
    Zouhair Aït Benhamou
    March 2, 2016
    Discrepancies in output fluctuations between emerging and developed economies are well documented in the literature. Differences however within developing economies have not been sufficiently scrutinised. This paper argues that global and regional shocks primarily drive the business cycle in emerging economies, and provides estimated results for cycle variance decomposition. The paper also offers a theoretical framework to check on the set of stylized facts common and specific to em ...
  • Authors
    February 23, 2016
    Deux des plus grands producteurs d'hydrocarbures en Afrique, le Nigeria sur l'Atlantique et la Libye sur la Méditerranée font face aux deux groupes terroristes les plus violents sur le continent. Daech version libyenne et Boko Haram semblent avancer pour se rejoindre dans un espace constitué par trois Etats qui présentent des vulnérabilités favorables à l'extension du terrorisme. Au Cameroun, le chao est à craindre dans l'après Biya. La battle fatigue peut atteindre l'Etat tchadien ...
  • Authors
    Jean-Yves Haine
    February 18, 2016
    Although the United States is less active in Africa than France, their security policies on the continent often have shared objectives and are sometimes pursued jointly. While the urgency of humanitarian crises has been at the centre of foreign interventions for a long time, now it tends to give way to the terrorist threat. The emergence and expansion of terrorist groups with a complex character, which are sometimes rivals of each other and claiming to follow radical Islam, has incr ...
  • Authors
    Jean-Yves Haine
    February 18, 2016
    Bien que les États-Unis soient moins présents en Afrique que la France, leurs politiques de sécurité sur le continent ont des objectifs souvent partagés et parfois poursuivis en commun. Si l’urgence des crises humanitaires a longtemps été au coeur des interventions étrangères, elle tend désormais à s’effacer au profit de la menace terroriste. L’émergence et l’expansion des groupes terroristes à caractère complexe, parfois rivaux les uns des autres, et se réclamant de l’islam radical ...
  • Authors
    Onasis Tharcisse A. Guedegbe
    February 17, 2016
    The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) consecrated the year 2015 as the International Year of Soils (IYS). Therefore, it has been a year intended to raise the consciousness of humanity about the importance of this resource (soil) and the need to preserve it to ensure sustainable and shared prosperity. The various stakeholders in the management and use of this resource, particularly those of the agricultural sector have been called to enhance their consideration of this fragile ...
  • Authors
    February 16, 2016
    West African countries, on top of which is Côte d’Ivoire, represent the bulk of the world supply of cocoa beans. From the end of the nineteenth century to their independence, and to recent times, their histories have been marked by boom and bust cycles that were sometimes desynchronized from one country to another, especially for Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, due to differentiated political and economic backdrops. As for now, cocoa producers seem to be insulated from the rout which has h ...
  • February 8, 2016
    Brazil is in a good position to serve as a bridge to Africa and to reignite more cooperation between both sides of the South Atlantic. Brazil has increased its presence in Africa in recent years in terms of trade, investment, development cooperation, and political alliances with the goal to secure a greater say for the global South in the new world order that has been under construction since the of the Cold War. This has been pursued through financial support and proactive economic ...