Recognising that drought resilience is imperative to achieving LDN, and that due to drought and desertification, arable land is being lost and that Africa is the most impacted continent. As part of the international community, African countries endorsed LDN in October 2015, and committed to strive to halt desertification and restore degraded land by 2030. In this regard, we the African countries agreed to tackle drought in the framework of LDN and climate change implementation processes. The African Member States and Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Ministers, Heads of Delegation and Experts, attending the High Level Meeting of the first African Drought Conference (ADC);
met in Windhoek, Namibia from the 15 - 19 August 2016;
Drought response in Africa reflects the social and economic situation of the countries in the continent. Even though some progress has been made, the current experience in many countries in Africa suggests that most governments have not yet given a proper priority to drought risk management—instead relying on the crisis management approach (ICPAC, 2016). More resources are provided by governments and donors for response activities rather than for longterm developmental activities that deal with planning, mitigation, and disaster preparedness.
Given the urgency and insufficient time to plan during a drought crisis, emergency response is usually implemented inefficiently resulting in significant damage. Several studies and scientific research reports have pointed out that drought planning and proactive mitigation programs can reduce drought impacts (e.g., save millions of lives, reduce emergency relief expenditures in drought-stricken regions, etc.) and lessen conflicts over competition for water during drought.
Drought must be seen as a normal natural disaster that needs to be planned for and taken into account in the policies of African governments.