Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) disaster resilience officer Davie Chibani has urged Kasungu District Council to formulate a clear plan to guide its operations regarding disaster risk reduction in communities.
He said this on Friday in Kasungu at the end of a four-day orientation for the district’s disaster management committee on how to conduct a participatory vulnerability and capacity assessment.
The assessment is an exercise meant to establish a community’s vulnerability to disasters and its capacity to respond and is used as a blueprint for disaster management.
Chibani said by conducting the training, the council and partners will have a clear guide on interventions to implement in every community for people in those communities to build resilience to disasters compared to the current situation.
He said: “The training is important because it will produce a document that will guide the council’s efforts in disaster risk reduction initiatives.
“This time disasters are happening frequently, which means we need a more proactive approach to risk reduction compared to just waiting for responses.”
In her remarks, the council’s director planning and development Annie Zimba said the training was important and timely, considering that Kasungu is a disaster-prone district.
He said: “Recently, we have had rains that haven’t been satisfactory and affected communities in terms of harvest, meaning some households do not have enough food.
“We also experienced strong winds that destroyed infrastructure such as houses and school blocks. So, it is important to be prepared in terms of what we can do if a disaster strikes.”
During the just-ended rainy season, rainstorms destroyed houses, public infrastructure and property in the district.
Last year, the district also experienced prolonged dry spells that affected harvests, putting at least 42 000 people on the line of hunger
