Context: Framework for the Assessment of Benefits of Action/Cost of Inaction for Drought Preparedness report has been released at the ongoing 14th Conference of Parties (COP14) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

The 10-point framework:

1. Appoint a national drought management policy commission
2. State or define the goals and objectives of risk-based national drought management policy
3. Seek stakeholder participation, define and resolve conflicts between key water use sectors
4. Inventory data and financial resources available and broadly identify groups at risk
5. Prepare the key tenets of the national drought management policy and preparedness plans
6. Identify research needs and fill institutional gaps
7. Integrate science and policy aspects of drought management
8. Publicise the policy and preparedness plans, build public awareness
9. Develop education programs for all age and stakeholder groups
10. Evaluate and revise policy and supporting plans

Indian scenario:

Droughts affect 42 per cent of India’s land while another 6 per cent is ‘exceptionally dry plane’; 40 per cent of the country’s population is vulnerable to droughts.

Challenges:

Conditions of the political economy often gives governments weak incentives to adopt a risk-management approach.

Other causes include the lack of a holistic approach; integrating analysis and action across sectors and agencies and the political economy of aid.

What India can learn from this?

The way to combat frequent droughts lies in evaluating their impacts.

Losses due to droughts need proper estimation.

More and better economic analysis could be a decisive factor in moving countries from crisis management to risk management.