IT HAS been 30 years since Michael Buerk’s report on the 1984 Ethiopian crisis was broadcast, horrifying millions of viewers across the world with images of the country’s “biblical famine”. Pop concerts, charity songs and fund-raising campaigns were organised to provide disaster relief, yet Africa remains a continent ravaged by war, flooding, drought and disease, which continue to hold back its growth despite economic progress.
In a report last year, Birhan Woldu, the Ethiopian “miracle girl” whose face came to symbolise the Live Aid concerts of 1985, warned that food aid was failing Africa’s poorest people, with more focus needed on preparing for future droughts.
“We know our vulnerabilities. We are a proud people. Let us grow our own food and help manage our own systems so we are not hit so hard when the next drought or flood comes,” she said.
One programme aiming to help Africans do this is African Risk Capacity (ARC), which was set up by the AU and the UN to help member states prepare for extreme weather events and protect “food insecure” populations.
Several months on from its launch last May, the insurance programme has already paid out a total of $25 million (R294m) in claims to Niger, Mauritania and Senegal, triggered by drought in the Sahel region. Drought accounted for, on average, 34 percent of all World Food Programme operations in Africa between 2002 to 2012, a good proxy for overall international aid flows.
ARC analysis suggests that a widespread catastrophic drought in sub-Saharan Africa today could cost upwards of $3 billion in emergency assistance. This would put an unprecedented financial strain on African countries and donor countries’ aid budgets.
Important step
“ARC was established to help African countries build their own capacities to prepare for and respond to predictable natural disasters, such as the next drought or flood,” programme director Joanna Syroka said. “At a time when international aid budgets are stretched more than ever before, ARC is an important step forward in creating a sustainable African-led strategy for managing extreme climate risks for the continent.”
ARC, a Bermuda-based mutual insurance company, which was backed by UK and German government agencies, sits at the heart of the programme and has so far issued policies to Niger, Mauritania and Senegal, as well as Kenya and Mozambique. They pay premiums of about $3m to $4m in return for annual drought coverage of up to $30m.
ARC uses a sophisticated software application – Africa RiskView – to estimate crop losses and drought response costs during and after a growing season. This triggers insurance payouts if rainfall has been lower than expected, causing drought conditions.
“ARC insurance payouts are designed to be released to participating countries early – before international aid is available – reducing the time it takes to reach vulnerable populations who depend on government assistance in times of crisis,” Syroka added.
“Before a country can receive a payout, it must first have a Final Implementation Plan, approved by the ARC agency governing board. This outlines how the government will convert the payout into timely and effective assistance to those affected and is a scenario-specific version of the more general ARC Operations Plan that was approved before the country bought insurance.”
According to Simon Young, who runs the insurance arm, the policies are expected to pay out once every three to five years, with maximum payouts of up to $30m in each country happening once every 30 to 50 years.
In terms of how the ARC money is spent, he said: “If we look at Senegal, most affected areas are towards the north of the country, where there is a lot of livestock. Most of the money will go towards direct food aid or livestock feed distribution. It’s not about air-dropping flour – we’re working within local systems to help local markets respond.”
In May, ARC expects to welcome new countries into the fold, which may include Burkina Faso, Gambia and Zimbabwe, and even more in 2016. It is also working on plans to add flood and tropical cyclone coverage next year
. – The Independent
