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THE IMPACT OF EL NIÑO
The El Niño phenomenon that affected weather conditions around the globe and contributed to massive flooding along the coast of Latin America and in parts of the Horn of Africa and drought in Southeast Asia has gradually weakened since April. The impact of El Niño has been particularly severe among the impoverished and vulnerable populations where natural disasters can easily upset their tenuous livelihood security. Heavy rains and flooding has lead to thousands of deaths, loss of household assets and crops and caused extensive damage to vital infrastructure in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Somalia and Kenya. In addition, water related diseases, such as cholera and malaria, increased dramatically in drought and flood affected areas in East Africa, Latin America and Asia. In Papua New Guinea, drought affected mountain populations moved to lowland areas where they contracted malaria at higher rates since they'd previously had limited exposure to malaria.
In Indonesia, El Niño related drought has caused a cereal shortfall of over 3.5 million metric tons and large scale environmental degradation from uncontrolled fires in October 1997. Food commodity prices sky rocketed and became prohibitively expensive to the majority of people in the fourth most populous country in the world. In a complex web of cause and effect, natural disasters are often the contributing spark needed to light the tinderbox, or in this case push an already fragile society over the edge into social crisis. The El Niño drought in Indonesia was one of many contributing factors in fomenting the economic and political unrest that now exists in the country.
In most countries, such as Peru, Ecuador, Papua New Guinea and Kenya, El Niño has had the largest impact at the community and household level, particularly among the vulnerable populations. Natural disasters stress traditional coping mechanisms within communities and households. For example, in Somalia, where farmers stored harvests and next season's seed underground, this year's unexpected flooding spoiled the stored harvest and seed. Another traditional coping mechanism in times of household livelihood insecurity is the selling of livestock but in this case, thousands of livestock drowned or starved from lack of available fodder. Household losses of traditional coping mechanisms threaten the affected population's very existence.
Most of CARE's immediate emergency activities in response to El Niño are nearly complete. The more challenging and long-term recovery and rehabilitation activities are just beginning and are urgently needed on a national, regional and household level. Emergency response, not just in El Niño emergencies, must consider the medium and long-term development implications within the community to adequately address the needs of the people. In Indonesia, long considered a development-oriented program by CARE, the country office is facing issues of relief, rehabilitation and development sometimes within the same district when previously they only looked at issues of protection and promotion. Responding to slippage in the livelihood security of affected communities is a challenge that requires a preparedness and mitigation strategy in the context of a holistic humanitarian and development perspective .
CARE'S RESPONSE TO EL NIÑO
CARE established the El Niño Response Fund to meet anticipated resource requests from the field offices. The fund facilitated quick startup of El Niño related emergency responses around the world. CARE field offices had immediate access to funds - a critical need- in the initial stages of emergencies when saving lives and responding to the needs of the victims of the disaster is imperative. CARE USA headquarters also created a part-time position in the Emergency Group to coordinate CARE's El Niño response with country offices, donors and other NGOs.
The El Niño Response Fund supported the following activities:
- emergency projects in Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Papua New Guinea and Kenya;
- emergency assessments in Indonesia, Somalia and Kenya;
- a seminar in Atlanta to assess the impact of El Niño on disease in Ecuador and Peru; and
- development of household livelihood indicators in two provinces in Mozambique.
CARE's El Niño Response Fund provided $198,000 to eight country offices, assisted 205,000 people and leveraged over $13,300,000 from other institutional donors.
PROJECTS INCLUDED:
East and Southern Africa
From October to December of 1997, exceptionally heavy rains associated with the El Niño phenomenon seriously affected food production and distribution networks throughout Eastern Africa. The floods caused extensive damage to crops, both in the field and in stores, as well as losses of large numbers of livestock. In addition, the flooding damaged the sub-region's infrastructure (roads, bridges, communications and rail lines) and disrupted the movement of goods within and between countries. Increased incidence of cholera, malaria and rift valley fever due to poor sanitation and lack of potable water threatened the flood-affected population. In Somalia and Kenya loss of human life was significant. Five months after the flooding, CARE is providing food and material assistance to people affected by the floods so that they may rebuild their lives.
Somalia
In October and November, heavy rains brought the worst flooding in 40 years to southern Somalia. The flooding affected over 200,000 people. Fields, homes and roads were inundated limited access to food, clean water, health care and adequate sanitation for communities in the Juba and Shabelle valleys. In addition, the flooding increased the population's vulnerability to infectious diseases such as cholera, malaria and rift valley fever.
CARE supported local NGO partners in providing assistance to isolated regions. CARE also coordinated the international NGO relief efforts in the Shabelle and Juba river valleys, and seconded national and international staff to collect information about the flood situation. UNICEF provided CARE with food, as well as non-food items such as blankets, plastic sheeting, collapsible Jerry cans and medical supplies for distribution to flood victims. Various partner NGOs distributed these items to 60 villages in the Middle Juba region and 20 villages in the Gedo region. Working through its partner NGOs, CARE Somalia was able to provide flood relief to 9,000 families in the Middle Juba region and 3,683 families in the Gedo region.
Kenya
Heavy rains caused by El Niño led to massive flooding in parts of northeast Kenya from November of 1997 through January of 1998. Transportation of food and non-food items by road to the Dadaab refugee camps and surrounding isolated villages was impossible as roads, airstrips and bridges were underwater or washed away. Large portions of the Dadaab refugee camps and surrounding towns were submerged requiring the relocation of residents, control of overflowing latrines and efforts to offset the potential for disease from contamination of well water sources.
CARE Kenya quickly responded to the situation by coordinating emergency activities through a number of task forces in Dadaab and Garissa as well as by soliciting financial assistance from various donors. With the allocation of $20,000 from the El Niño Response Fund, CARE Kenya was able to minimize potential health risks by providing emergency water system chlorination, an intensified anti-cholera campaign and an aerial rapid assessment of isolated communities in the district.
Mozambique
Weather forecasters anticipated a severe drought in much of Southern Africa as early as October, 1997. During the 1982 and 1992 El Niño events, severe drought spread over much of Southern Africa. This time, governments and farmers took the predictions seriously and began drought mitigation activities early on, planting drought resistant crops, improving water harvesting techniques and reducing the area normally planted to conserve valuable resources such as seed fertilizer and water.
In order to guard against the potential drought conditions resulting from El Niño, CARE Mozambique proposed the development of drought-related indicators within existing project areas to establish a low cost early warning system. CARE Mozambique held workshops in Nampula and the south central regions where project managers, extensionists, other NGOs and the Ministries of Agriculture, Health, and the local authorities collaborated to identify key drought indicators.
By the end of the workshop, participants had:
- a better understanding of what the impact of El Niño is and how it might have affected CARE Mozambique's project areas and beneficiaries;
- a streamlined set of the most responsive local indicators and a calendar of likely El Niño related events by which the Country Office could monitor drought trends; and,
- a follow-up plan of information collection and dissemination coordinated among organizations that participated in the workshop.
Though the drought never materialized in southern Africa, the investment in preparing for a slow onset emergency provided valuable indicators for continuous, low cost monitoring of livelihood security within project areas. In addition, valuable linkages were established between government ministries, NGOs and local authorities that may assist in future collaboration efforts.
Asia
In normal years, warm Pacific Ocean water brings abundant seasonal rains to Southeast Asia. During El Niño, the shifting mass of warm water away from Asia toward the coast of South America caused drought in the Southeast Asian nations during their critical growing season. Fires caused by traditional slash and burn agriculture which are normally doused by the onset of the rainy season raged uncontrolled for months and crops failed as the rains never came.
Indonesia
In order to address El Niño related drought in the eastern islands of Indonesia, CARE hired two consultants to undertake a food security assessment and develop a relief program for Irian Jaya, East Timor, and Nusa Tenggara Timor. The consultants designed projects centered on livelihood protection that called for labor-intensive cash-for-work and food-for-work projects to improve basic infrastructure and the prospects for household food security. Short-term employment projects generate income to meet food and household needs and avoid household destitution through the sale of assets including livestock, wood products and seeds.
The country office continued to develop program plans to address the worst cases of food insecurity. Using assessments and proposals developed by technical assistance supported by the El Niño Response Fund, the country office implemented a comprehensive emergency response strategy to meet the needs of the vulnerable population in the eastern islands of Indonesia. However, the country office response to the drought-induced emergency was forced to quickly shift in complexity from a natural disaster to a complex emergency caused by the combination of economic collapse and political instability.
Anecdotal evidence continues to indicate a decreasing ability of the population to cope with the drop in food and livelihood security. Some households have sold most, or all, of their small and large animals; larger numbers are migrating in search of work and reports of land sales for money to purchase food are increasing. Action is required immediately to prevent asset exhaustion and destitution of large numbers of poor households throughout Indonesia. The outcome of the current political situation is still not clear, and its impact on economic reform and recovery uncertain. With much in the balance, CARE Indonesia remains committed to monitoring the situation while responding to the needs of needy households in selected program areas
CARE Indonesia's East Timor sub-office has received reports of severe food shortages on Atuaro Island. After making an assessment, the country office secured funds from the Ambassadors of Canada and the United States and provided CARE Packages containing a mix of basic staple food items.
CARE Indonesia, along with other Australian-based humanitarian organizations, received a $680,000 grant from AusAID to purchase food from local suppliers for use in short-term food-for-work projects. CARE Indonesia's grant allowed for the purchase of rice, corn, and beans sufficient for the requirements of 10,000 households for three months. This project targets two affected districts on the eastern island of Flores.
CARE Indonesia received a grant $12 million from USAID's Office of Food For Peace for 18,000 metric tons of rice to implement food-for-work programs sufficient for 25,000 households for 12 months. These 25,000 households are located on the eastern islands of Timor and Flores. The food-for-work projects will be selected and implemented in close collaboration with communities and local authorities. Labor provided by the communities will be paid with rice.
CARE Indonesia has prepared and submitted a project proposal to the European Union's humanitarian assistance office (ECHO) to provide assistance to needy households on the island of Lombok. Under this program, cash-for-work will be used.
Papua New Guinea
In Papua New Guinea, El Niño contributed to drought and frost conditions in the Eastern Highlands, Simbu and Western Highlands provinces. In normal years, the seasonal rains bring cloud cover, moderate temperatures and food and water are abundant. However, during El Niño events, there is little to no cloud cover, temperatures drop at night causing frost in the higher elevations and water sources dry up and crops fail. With fewer water and food available, mountain populations began to move toward the coast in search of food and water. As a result of limited exposure to tropical climates, the displaced populations had high rates of disease such as cholera and malaria. By December, 1997, a CARE assessment had estimated that over 300,000 people were in severe stages of food insecurity caused by drought and frost.
In response and at the request of the Papua New Guinea authorities, CARE helped with the preparedness and planning of the Government's drought relief plan. CARE planned relief activities, established and monitored relief distribution systems, coordinated agencies involved in relief operations and trained local NGOs and government personnel in relief distribution and logistics. CARE also facilitated on going assessments of community needs in the three highland provinces.
In addition, CARE used available resources to provide food, non-food relief items and materials, equipment and technical assistance to improve potable water supplies. Clean water reduces disease and increases the drought affected populations' ability to cope with securing food security.
Latin America
Typically, El Niño has the largest impact in Latin and Central America. Heavy rains along the coast of Peru and Ecuador destroyed infrastructure and homes and crops. The fishing industry was devastated as the warmer waters of El Niño temporarily wiped out the traditional ecosystems that support cold water fish. Due to the large number of people dependent on fishing for their livelihood security, the collapse of the fishing industry is having wide-ranging repercussions. On a positive note, normally dry dessert areas in the Andes Mountains received wide spread rainfall. The change in weather patterns also caused drought in parts of Central America (Honduras and Guatemala) and Brazil.
Drought conditions in Central America have aggravated the effects of slash and burn agriculture in forest and grassland areas, leaving thousands of fires burning out of control. In addition to making the land more arid and therefore more flammable, the droughts have eliminated the cleansing affect that rains usually have on the region's air. The fires have burned more than one million acres and severely affected visibility and air quality in Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Costa Rica.
Peru
In the coastal areas, heavy rains in December and January of 1997 and 1998 caused landslides, destroyed houses and bridges and damaged water and sanitation facilities.
Initially, CARE Peru accessed the El Niño response fund to carry out a rapid participatory assessment to identify possible mitigation activities in the departments of Puno, La Libertad, and Piura-Tumbes. However, with the rapid onset of El Niño in January and February, flooding severely affected the livelihood security of households and damaged or destroyed infrastructure in all three departments. CARE Peru responded to the crisis by purchasing and distributing relief supplies and helping several communities build temporary shelters.
Peru carried out three main activities in response to the flooding:
- provided food, water, shelter and medicine to families in need;
- collaborated and coordinated closely with local organizations to obtain information on damage and population displacement; and,
- developed proposals to respond to the larger needs of the affected population.
Ecuador
In January, in response to coastal flooding CARE implemented an emergency program to distribute food and medicines in the area of Santa Elena Canton. CARE USA allocated $25,000 for the emergency response effort and the Embassy of the Netherlands also contributed $25,000, allowing CARE Ecuador to distribute a total of 4,000 food rations (one ration fed a family of 5 for approximately eight days).
As a consequence of major flooding, communities were left without potable water sources. Without access to potable water, water born diseases such as cholera threaten the flood-affected population. CARE Ecuador installed eight water bladders donated by CARE Canada to provide safe water to beneficiaries. CARE worked with several project partners who contributed local construction materials. Community members contributed land, fences and labor for setting up and protecting the bladders. The water bladders provided potable water to approximately 1,200 families.
CARE and the CDC held a workshop at CARE headquarters in Atlanta from May 4 - 7, 1998. The workshop included a review of the epidemiological impact of El Niño in 1982-83, the health impact of the current El Niño, the response mounted in Peru and Ecuador to date and the recommended strategies to confront the impact of the current El Niño in the two countries. Representatives from the two CARE field offices and the Ministries of Health of Ecuador and Peru met with scientists from the CDC, two Peruvian Universities and several foundations to discuss a preparedness and prevention strategy for a host of infectious diseases. The workshop also included planning for observation visits and fieldwork in Ecuador and Peru to collect information in order to make projections regarding the final impact of the current El Niño and create emergency intervention plans for each country. The seminar on disease and El Niño in Ecuador and Peru was an important step in addressing the cyclical problem of disease through improving dialogue, cooperation, and mitigation planning between the health ministries of Peru and Ecuador, the CDC and CARE.
Bolivia
Torrential rains on February 11, 1998 resulted in a mudslide that buried the impoverished mining community of Mokotoro in the department of La Paz. At least 60 people were killed and over 300 injured. One of the consequences of the mudslides and rains was an outbreak of cholera in the area.
CARE Bolivia responded to the emergency by providing emergency materials for:
- medications to cure cholera;
- materials for home purification of water;
- tools to clean up after flooding and to rebuild; and
- basic household articles for 100 families or approximately 500 people.
CARE also provided supplies to local medical posts for the cholera outbreak. IV fluid and tubing was provided to treat about 750 people with advanced cases of cholera. CARE also provided enough rehydration medication and antibiotics to treat about 1,200 cases of cholera.
Due to the presence of existing projects in the region, CARE responded directly to the request for assistance by local authorities. In addition to developing closer links to the local authorities outside of regular project activities, CARE was able to provide lifesaving medicines and clean water systems to the community. In evaluating their performance, CARE Bolivia also began to review and develop a disaster preparedness plan to better meet potential emergencies in the future.
CONCLUSION
The El Niño Response Fund fulfilled its objective by providing critical resources in times of isolated emergencies such as Bolivia and Ecuador and in a national emergency as was the case of Indonesia. Country offices must have resources and capacity to respond quickly to mitigate against the potential effects of both rapid and slow onset emergencies. Six of the 10 projects funded by the El Niño Response Fund were health and water related. Disasters are often breeding grounds for life-threatening diseases such as cholera and malaria and require immediate response. Concurrently, country offices in Peru and Ecuador have taken the next ste pand have supported creating important linkages between the health ministries of Peru and Ecuador together with CARE and the CDC to assess the health impacts of El Niño. This type of partnership could lead to improved response and mitigation activities in the future.
With most of the immediate response needs met at this time, rehabilitation and development programs are necessary to help vulnerable populations rebuild their livelihoods after the drought or flood. In Indonesia, CARE is implementing over $12 million in food-for-work activities for 25,000 families. In Peru, emergency funding has led to donor support of rehabilitation and development activities in flood affected areas. The El Niño Response Fund not only provided a source of funds for emergency responses, but also acted as a leverage point for equally important rehabilitation and development activities.
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