Jàmbá: 2015 Volume 7 No 1
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/14931
2024-03-29T14:25:58ZFrom 'government' to 'governance'’: tensions in disaster-resilience leadership in Zimbabwe
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/19813
From 'government' to 'governance'’: tensions in disaster-resilience leadership in Zimbabwe
Bongo, Pathias P; Manyena, Siambabala B
This article examines the challenges that disaster leadership faces to move away from a
top-down, command-and-control style to distributed leadership. The article challenges the
Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction which appears to be silent on leadership
and instead emphasises ‘good governance’ to enhance organisational and institutional
capacity for disaster resilience. We posit that leadership is an indispensable component of
good governance, and not emphasising it could be tantamount to a gross underestimation
of disaster policy and practice. Using the data from participatory action research that was
conducted in Matabeleland South Province, Zimbabwe, the findings reveal some tensions
in shifting from command and control to distributed leadership in disaster-risk reduction,
which has implications for the shift from government to governance in disaster risks. More
importantly, this study reiterates the blurred distinctions between disaster-risk reduction
and sustainable development. Thus, unless well-known, sustainable development
challenges are addressed – particularly community-based leadership, good governance, the
integration of local knowledge, empowerment and ownership of development programmes
– shifting from government to disaster governance is likely to continue facing challenges.
2015-01-01T00:00:00ZEveryday hazards and vulnerabilities amongst backyard dwellers: a case study of Vredendal North, Matzikama Municipality, South Africa
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/19812
Everyday hazards and vulnerabilities amongst backyard dwellers: a case study of Vredendal North, Matzikama Municipality, South Africa
Zweig, Patricia J
The populations of many small towns in South Africa continue to expand unmatched by
parallel economic growth, entrenching high levels of poverty. The town of Vredendal, located
close to the national route between Namibia and Cape Town in South Africa, is a West Coast
development node and an emergent industrial and processing area that continues to attract
an influx of people seeking economic opportunities. This is challenging the capacity of the
local municipality, which has a waiting list for state-provided low-cost housing units, whilst
the provision of adequate infrastructure to meet growing local need is also a developmental
concern. In the suburb of Vredendal North this has resulted in the proliferation of unplanned
informal dwellings in the backyards of formalised low-cost housing areas. Largely overlooked
by urban researchers, little is known or understood about small town backyard populations.
This prompted a brief study of Vredendal North backyard dwellers commissioned by the
local municipality to identify their everyday hazards and livelihood vulnerabilities to inform
future development planning. A community workshop identified critical development needs
and suggested that backyard dwellers in small towns experience similar living conditions and
hazards to those in the cities, although underlain by some unique differences.
2015-01-01T00:00:00ZVulnerability assessments, identity and spatial scale challenges in disaster-risk reduction
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/19811
Vulnerability assessments, identity and spatial scale challenges in disaster-risk reduction
Carr, Edward R; Abrahams, Daniel; De la Poterie, Arielle T; Suarez, Pablo; Koelle, Bettina
Current approaches to vulnerability assessment for disaster-risk reduction (DRR) commonly
apply generalised, a priori determinants of vulnerability to particular hazards in particular
places. Although they may allow for policy-level legibility at high levels of spatial scale,
these approaches suffer from attribution problems that become more acute as the level of
analysis is localised and the population under investigation experiences greater vulnerability.
In this article, we locate the source of this problem in a spatial scale mismatch between the
essentialist framings of identity behind these generalised determinants of vulnerability and
the intersectional, situational character of identity in the places where DRR interventions are
designed and implemented. Using the Livelihoods as Intimate Government (LIG) approach to
identify and understand different vulnerabilities to flooding in a community in southern Zambia,
we empirically demonstrate how essentialist framings of identity produce this mismatch.
Further, we illustrate a means of operationalising intersectional, situational framings of identity
to achieve greater and more productive understandings of hazard vulnerability than available
through the application of general determinants of vulnerability to specific places and cases.
2015-01-01T00:00:00ZWhen nature frowns: a comprehensive impact assessment of the 2012 Babessi floods on people’s livelihoods in rural Cameroon
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/19810
When nature frowns: a comprehensive impact assessment of the 2012 Babessi floods on people’s livelihoods in rural Cameroon
Balgah, Roland A; Buchenrieder, Gertrud; Mbue, Innocent N
Floods are the most common natural disasters worldwide. Much of the growing literature on
the impact of floods, especially in developed countries, and to a lesser extent in rural areas
of developing countries, concentrates on economic rather than a comprehensive assessment
of combined effects on people’s livelihoods. Holistic floods impact assessments are often
done long after the shock, raising problems of data reliability following long recall periods,
although post-disaster needs assessments when carried out earlier can facilitate appropriate
disaster recovery, relief and reconstruction activities. We applied the sustainable livelihoods
framework as a comprehensive approach to assess the impacts of the Babessi floods in 2012
on livelihoods in rural (north western region) of Cameroon 6 weeks after the floods. Using a
structured questionnaire, data was collected from victims before and after the floods, using
recall methods. A matched sample of nonvictims randomly selected from the same village
as the victims was used to assess vulnerability to the floods by household type. Floods were
found to have serious economic, social, human and food security impacts on victims. Both
government and nongovernmental support were jointly crucial for household recovery.
Comparatively observed high levels of recovery were attributed to the low loss of human
lives. The article concludes with the need for comprehensive approaches to floods impact
assessments. The need for combining formal and informal instruments in post-disaster
management in rural areas is also emphasised.
2015-01-01T00:00:00Z