South and Southeast Asia, with 20% of the world’s population and 40%of the world’s poor, is one of the most food insecure regions of the world. It has been estimated that of the total 1 billion food insecure people in the world, 30% live in South Asia. The repeated impact of climatic extremes, such as floods and droughts, can have profound direct and indirect effects on a nation’s economy. Floods and droughts are among the most dangerous and costly of all natural disasters.
The project objective is to foster a better understanding of past droughts/floods (underlying processes, occurrences, incl. frequencies, severities and scales) and in particular to investigate driving factors and characteristics of the most extreme historic events at the sub-continental scale, which will be validated against observed natural hazards at the small scale (case studies); Development of flood inundation modelling and its application in IBFI and UTFI to address flood risk reduction measures; Develop an innovative approach for drought monitoring and prediction at the sub-continental scale using the developed suite of indicators, which will help to increase drought preparedness, and to identify and implement appropriate drought mitigation measures. Establish research network among various partners in the region i.e., to identify and evaluate, in close collaboration with the case Study in selected countries, potential responses for drought /flood risk mitigation.
Finally, how these together support development or implementation of flood and drought related policies and planning; and share knowledge on flood/drought with the general public through a web-based information and discussion platform hosted by the IWMI, and to disseminate knowledge through capacity building programme for selected partners in the region.