Eswatini National Drought Plan 2020.

The National Drought Plan for Eswatini is a national policy with a cross-sectoral approach. The overall objective of the policy is to increase drought resilience of the country’s economic sectors, ecosystems and communities through improved mitigation of the adverse effects of drought in all areas of Eswatini.
Food and nutrition security will be ensured by increasing the resources available to poor households to improve their access to food during drought periods. Food storage and preservation methods will be improved, starting at the household level. Good nutritional practices, particularly for children and pregnant and lactating women, and improved health and sanitation practices will be promoted. Food assistance will be provided to the most vulnerable, during periods of food shortages.
This policy has been developed based on the three pillars for drought risk management. Drought monitoring will be improved to produce reliable seasonal forecasts and develop appropriate decision-support tools for impacted areas, with a special emphasis on key indicators and indices of precipitation, temperature, soil moisture, vegetation condition, stream flow, snowpack and ground water. Indigenous knowledge will be incorporated into scientific drought monitoring and forecasting. Early warning systems will be developed to disseminate reliable warning messages to affected areas and sectors of society. Impact assessments will be carried out to monitor the impact and consequences of drought, especially the impacts to vulnerable sectors, such as health and agriculture. Campaigns will be carried out on drought related disease spread and prevention measures. In order to respond effectively during drought events, drought response actions will be implemented and communication with communities will be strengthened. Drought risk mapping will be undertaken by identifying drought impacts on vulnerable economic sectors, including food and agriculture (cropping and livestock), biodiversity and ecosystem, energy, tourism and health. Furthermore, the resistance or susceptibility to drought and the coping capacity of communities affected by drought will be increased through enhanced drought preparedness, mitigation and resilience. Communities and local governments will be encouraged to prepare their own drought contingency plans. Public awareness will be raised on disaster risk reduction and emergency preparedness, with a special emphasis on women and school children. In addition, women’s economic empowerment will be integrated in drought risk reduction to eradicate their extreme poverty. To this end, land- and water-based gender-related initiatives will be supported to promote poor women’s empowerment at community level. Farmers will be assisted in restoring agricultural systems after drought. Income opportunities will be diversified for both subsistence and commercial farmers, so as to reduce dependence on rain-fed agriculture, and new activities, such as agroforestry, bee farming, conservation agriculture and small secondary industries, will be supported. Integrated water resources management will be strengthened to improve water supply and demand management. Water conservation measures and water awareness campaigns will be carried out to increase the consumption efficiency and thereby limit demand from primary sources. Climate-smart agricultural technologies and practices will be promoted, including using water-saving technologies for irrigation, increasing the supply of small rainwater harvesting structures, using drought mitigating technologies, improving agricultural research and extension services, rehabilitating existing small-scale irrigation systems for agricultural productivity and natural resources sustainability, using drought tolerant crops and alternative cropping systems, and improving community-based watershed management. Drought risk fund will be established to minimize losses due to drought. Institutional capacity building will be enhanced and drought databases will be established in key data institutions.