Drought and flood risk reduction strategies

Research to resilience: Climate-smart solutions to enhance ecosystem health and strengthen food, nutrition and water security for all

With climate change increasing the frequency of extreme weather events, unreliable rainfall, droughts and floods present an ever-greater threat to smallholder farmers, especially in the Global South. What innovations are needed to increase smallholders’ climate resilience in the face of such challenges?

This urgent issue was explored in ‘Drought and flood risk reduction strategies,’ the second in WLE’s ‘Research to resilience’ webinar series. This hour-long event saw speakers from NGOs, research institutions and the private sector share innovative disaster risk management solutions from South Asia. Topics discussed included:

The South Asia Drought Monitoring System (SADMS) and the importance of monitoring and early warning systems in proactively enhancing disaster resilience
How Index-based Flood Insurance (IBFI) can expand financial inclusion to vulnerable social groups
Bundled Insurance Solutions with Seed Systems and Climate Information Services (BICSA), and the role more holistic climate-based advisories can play in disaster risk management
The challenges to scaling up flood risk management and closing protection gaps in the flood risk sector.

These subjects, along with audience questions, were explored through two keynote presentations and a panel discussion, moderated by IWMI’s Dr Alok Sikka.

Speakers and Panelists

Opening remarks

Dr Stefan Uhlenbrook, Program Director, WLE (IWMI)

Presentations

Dr Giriraj Amarnath, Principal Researcher, Disaster Risk Management and Climate Resilience, IWMI
Dr Adlul Islam, Principal Scientist & ADG (soil and water management), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)

Panelists

Mr Enamul Mazid Khan Siddique, Interim Country Director, Oxfam in Bangladesh
Mr Indu Abeyratne, Programme Officer, Emergency Preparedness and Response, UN World Food Programme
Dr Shirish Ravan, Head, Beijing Office, UN-SPIDER Programme of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)
Mr Mangesh Niranjan Patankar, Head, Agriculture Reinsurance India, SwissRe
Mr Anuj Kumbhat, Founder and CEO, Weather Risk Management Services Pvt Ltd