FAO REOSA launches new manual

FAO REOSA recently published Gender, HIV and AIDS in Disasater Risk Reduction and Food Security Programmes: A Training Manual for Community Workers and Project Beneficiaries.

The manual is designed to be highly interactive and to promote participatory learning.

It serves as a tool that will guide policy-makers and programmers to apply a “gender and HIV lens” in Food Security Disaster Risk Reduction (FS DRR) and in development programmes to promote the inclusion of vulnerable groups, particularly women, people living with HIV and affected households, in all stages of programme development and to find ways of adapting interventions to their specific needs and concerns.

Click here to read full article

REOSA Policy Brief: Reducing Disaster Risks to Food Security in Southern Africa: Towards Integration and Cooperation

We are happy to share with you the release of the fourth publication in our REOSA Policy Brief series, titled Reducing Disaster Risks to Food Security in Southern Africa: Towards Integration and Cooperation.

This policy brief highlights some of the key findings of a study that reviewed the links between Food Security (FS), Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) within the southern Africa policy and institutional environment.  The full study will be released as a Network Paper in October, 2012.

The study clarifies the interface between FS, CC and DRR and advocates for integrated policies and programming around this nexus. It encourages a paradigm shift in thinking between development and emergency to effectively build the resilience of agriculture systems and livelihoods to reduce the risk of disaster.

Click here to download

Food Security and Agriculture Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in Practice

Dear Colleagues,



We are happy to announce the launch of Volume 2 of our partner newsletter, Food Security and Agriculture Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in Practice.

Previously, in Volume 1 (2010-2011), the newsletter focused on the ECHO/DIPECHO II partnerships around piloting flood and cyclone DRR Food Security and Agriculture interventions in Malawi, Mozambique and Madagascar. Volume 2, a quarterly publication, broadens the coverage to include all Food Security and Agriculture DRR issues, lessons, good practices and various regional and country initiatives throughout the southern Africa region. The newsletter now covers DRR initiatives related to additional climatic shocks and hazards, such as increased rainfall variability and drought, as well as socio-economic shocks, such as hyper-inflation.

A cloud of locusts

A swarming cloud of locusts in southeast Morondava on the western coast of Madagascar. The photograph was taken by an FAO consultant on May 10. Survey operations by the FAO team also detected large hopper bands (flightless young locusts) over 35000ha in eastern Morondava. Aerial control operations against the hoppers were started on May 12 2012. Insect growth regulators will be used to stop the young locusts from reaching adulthood and causing more damage.

The Latest in the ECHO DRR Food Security Newsletter

In the September edition of the Food Security in Disaster Risk Reduction Newsletter we feature:  

•    GOAL Malawi- Lessons Learned in Food Security Agriculture DRR
•    Stemming Post Harvest Loses- Useful References
•    Project updates from Malawi, Mozambique and Madagascar