The role of disaster risk financing in building resilience of poor communities in the Karamoja region of Uganda: Evidence from an experimental study

Abstract

The occurrence of natural disasters continues to ravage communities from all around the world, and the impacts are far reaching for underdeveloped regions. Karamoja region in the north-east of Uganda has endured severe droughts for decades, causing deaths, underdevelopment and abject poverty. Disaster risk financing (DRF) as a proactive approach to disaster risk reduction was piloted in Karamoja in 2016. The approach involved early detection of disaster risks and making financial resources available to take care of the needs of the affected communities during and after drought disasters. The initiative offered paid labor-intensive work on public projects to engender disaster risk resilience by preventing consumption from dropping and protecting people's livelihoods and assets. This paper focuses on how DRF contributed towards household productive assets and food consumption, comparing the periods before and after the intervention. This paper uses data from a sample of the same cohort of households selected scientifically across three districts of Karamoja. A mixed method approach, involving both qualitative and quantitative methods was used. A number of significant findings were made, highlighting DRF as an effective mechanism in building resilience of poor communities against disasters. Several scholarly and policy recommendations have been generated.