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... of tables Table 1.Experience of financial hardship, by drought definition and type of employment 15 Table 2.Experience of worsening household financial position in the last 3 years, by drought definition and type of employment 16 Table 3. The off-farm work of farmers 20 Table 4. Reports of mental health problems, by drought definition and type of employment 25List of figures ...
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... Studies have also shown how droughts increase the risk of suicide in farmers (Hanigan et al. 2012;Vins et al. 2015). Further, droughts may aggravate preexisting chronic pathological conditions that may continue even after the end of the crisis (Barreau et al. 2015;Edwards, Gray, and Hunter 2008). ...
The government of Bangladesh’s (GoB) Delta Plan 2100 (BDP 2100) disaggregates Bangladesh’s 64 districts into six ecological zones based on hydrological characteristics and climate risks and deems 58 districts to be “extremely vulnerable” to the effects of climate change. The heterogeneity in the water crisis across the different hotspots presents unique health challenges. This paper summarizes the effects of altered quantity and quality of water on human health for each of the ecological zones and provides recommendations based on the findings.
Climate change continues to deteriorate the quality and quantity of water in Bangladesh and is one of the leading causes of morbidity and death. The consequences are particularly pronounced for pregnant women and children. There are substantial regional variations in the effects on health, driven by the country’s topological attributes, such as groundwater depletion in the Barind and drought-prone areas and salinity in drinking water in the coastal regions.
To address these challenges, it is imperative for agencies such as the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) to build research capacity and upscale comprehensive disease surveillance systems to monitor trends in existing and emerging communicable and noncommunicable diseases, and to rigorously evaluate the efficacy of disease prevention and control programs. A set of zone-specific health policies and actions needs to be formulated under the aegis of the MoHFW in collaboration with relevant GoB stakeholders (such as the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, academics, practitioners, and policy makers, underpinned by credible evidence.
... There is an evident reduction in income from crop cultivation in both villages, while livestock income reduced by only 1%. However, in the village where there were interventions on climate resilient technologies and support, there was a reduction in crop income; they received income from off-farm activities [63] but in the control villages they had to depend more on non-farm sources of income. A number of climate risk management strategies are implemented in the NICRA villages related to in-situ moisture conservation, bio-mass ...
... As a long-term strategy its reported that farmers go for farm diversification and equip themselves for receiving income from nonagricultural sources. Community based preparedness and mitigation planning, drought prediction and monitoring mechanisms are needed for timely and better mitigation of droughts [9,63,67,68]. It is also interesting to see the changes in the composition of income of a farm household during droughts ( Figure 5). ...
... There is an evident reduction in income from crop cultivation in both villages, while livestock income reduced by only 1%. However, in the village where there were interventions on climate resilient technologies and support, there was a reduction in crop income; they received income from off-farm activities [63] but in the control villages they had to depend more on non-farm sources of income. A number of climate risk management strategies are implemented in the NICRA villages related to in-situ moisture conservation, bio-mass mulching, residue incorporation, water harvesting and water saving irrigation methods as well as other institutional interventions, which enhances climate literacy and works towards overall resilience of the village. ...
Asia is the region most vulnerable to climate change and India is ranked as one of the most climate vulnerable countries in the world, frequently affected by natural disasters. In this study, we investigated the impact of drought on crop productivity, farmer’s employment and income. The difference-in-difference model (DID) and stepwise multiple linear regression (MLR) were employed to quantify the impact of adopting climate resilient technologies (CRTs) on farm household income during a drought. The factors influencing farm incomes were analyzed using MLR. The study used survey data collected from the drought prone district of Telangana, India. Sixty farmers each from a village adopted under the National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) program and a control village were interviewed. Primary data on the socio-economic characteristic of farmers, cropping pattern, income composition, productivity of major crops, employment and climate resilient interventions adopted by farmers were collected using a well-structured schedule. The results reveal that income crop cultivation was the major contributor to household income (60%) followed by livestock rearing. Farmers reported that droughts decreased the income from crops by 54 per cent and income from livestock rearing by 40 per cent. The farmers belonging to the climate resilient village had 35 per cent higher incomes compared to those in the control village and it was estimated to be Rs. 31,877/farm household/year during droughts using the DID estimate. Farm size, livestock possession, adoption of CRTs and investment in agriculture were the determining factors influencing farm income. Thus, farmers especially in drought prone regions need to be encouraged and supported to adopt cost effective, location specific climate resilient technologies.
... This is because FbF assistance is delivered to certain households and communities that are assessed as being vulnerable. Targeted drought assistance runs the risk of being divisive, particularly during severe drought periods where the emotional toll of drought can cause farmers to become more vocal about the differences in assistance levels (Edwards et al. 2008). This then has the potential negative impact of decreasing productivity growth within the agricultural sector ). ...
A trend towards drier conditions during the April to October ‘cool’ season across southern Australia has been observed in the past few decades. Frequent and prolonged droughts have a significant impact on the financial stability of affected farming communities. Forecast-based Financing (FbF) is a novel proactive aid approach that provides support measures to increase resilience during the window between drought early warnings, and the actual onset and intensification of drought. Using the Northern Murray-Darling Basin as a case study, we investigated whether FbF combined with a user-centred Integrated Early Warning System (I-EWS) for drought has the potential to increase the drought resilience of Australian farming communities. This study shows that farming businesses most impacted by drought have three common factors: (i) lower levels of business management skills, (ii) lower levels of pre-drought preparedness during non-drought periods, and (iii) slower responses when the intensity of drought increases. The results suggest that FbF in its current form is not recommended for a market economy such as Australia, as forms of direct assistance may have adverse long-term effects through disrupting the market itself and may not encourage farm operators to regularly assess and adapt their drought management strategies. Results also suggest that providing farmers, service providers, and all levels of government with tools that incorporate a user-centred I-EWS for drought can improve overall decision-making before, during, and even after drought. This change from a reactive to a proactive approach to managing drought impacts can be a highly effective form of increasing the drought resilience of farming communities.
... 19,20 Several studies have suggested that drought may be related to numerous other detrimental human health impacts, including hypo nutrition, various mental illnesses, and the aggravation of pre-existing chronic pathological conditions that may continue even after the end of the crisis. 21,22 Drought might impact diseases through auxiliary exposures, such as increasing the amount of airborne dust or wildfire smoke or modifying the development and dispersal of allergenic pollen and fungal spores. 11 The vulnerability to drought and drought risks vary depending on the level of development and the needs of each country. ...
Background Drought has been a considerable problem for many years in northern Bangladesh. However, the health impacts of drought in this region are not well understood.
Methods This study analyzed the impact of drought duration and severity on select causes of mortality in northern Bangladesh. Rainfall data from three meteorological stations (Rangpur, Dinajpur and Nilphamari) in northern Bangladesh were used to assess drought and non-drought periods, and the Standardized Precipitation Index was used to categorize mild, moderate, severe, and extreme drought. Mortality data from 2007 to 2017 for the three areas were collected from the Sample Vital Registration System, which is a survey of 1 million people. The generalized linear model with Poisson regression link was used to identify associations between mortality and the drought severity and 1-month preceding SPI.
Results Only severe and extreme drought in the short-term drought periods affected mortality. Long-term drought was not associated with natural cause mortality in Rangpur and Nilphamari. In Dinajpur, mild and moderate drought was associated with circulatory- and respiratory-related mortality.
Conclusion The impact of drought on mortality varied by region. This study improves our understanding of how droughts affect specific causes of mortality and will help policy makers to take appropriate measures against drought impacts on selected cause of mortality. Future research will be critical to reduce drought-related risks of health.
... Drought has been associated with stress (Stain et al., 2008;Stehlik et al., 2000), increased alcohol consumption (Alston and Kent, 2004;Hossain et al., 2008), and anxiety due to various experiences of business-related pressures and loss as a consequence of drought (Rigby et al., 2011;Polain et al., 2011). For example, a study by Edwards et al (Edwards et al., 2008) reported a doubling of the rate of mental health problems among Australian farmers during drought compared with non-drought seasons (Edwards et al., 2008). Another study by Cielho et al (2004) revealed significantly higher levels of state-and-trait anxiety among residents in drought-affected communities than in drought-free communities in north-eastern Brazil (Coêlho et al., 2004). ...
... Drought has been associated with stress (Stain et al., 2008;Stehlik et al., 2000), increased alcohol consumption (Alston and Kent, 2004;Hossain et al., 2008), and anxiety due to various experiences of business-related pressures and loss as a consequence of drought (Rigby et al., 2011;Polain et al., 2011). For example, a study by Edwards et al (Edwards et al., 2008) reported a doubling of the rate of mental health problems among Australian farmers during drought compared with non-drought seasons (Edwards et al., 2008). Another study by Cielho et al (2004) revealed significantly higher levels of state-and-trait anxiety among residents in drought-affected communities than in drought-free communities in north-eastern Brazil (Coêlho et al., 2004). ...
The upstream construction of hydropower dams may drastically intensify climate change impacts due to changing the natural river flood-drought cycle and reducing the amount of water that flows into the lower Mekong Delta river, leading to hydrological and environmental health impacts. However, until now the influence of drought on residents’ health in the lower MDR, where river drought is highly sensitive to recently built hydropower plants, has not been examined. The objectives of this study are, for the first time, to detect the health impacts of river drought on residents and to evaluate the contribution of hydropower dams to the impacts of drought on health in the lower Mekong Delta Region (MDR). We applied the multi-step approaches of a Detection and Attribution study. First, we detected the effects of the river drought on the risk of hospitalization using a Multivariable Fractional Polynomials algorithm (MFP). Second, we linked the long-term changes of the river water level (RWL) to the operation of the first hydropower dam in the upper MDR using the interrupted time-series model (ITS). Finally, we quantified the hospitalizations and related economic loss attributed to the river drought. The results show that the percentage changes in risk of all-cause, respiratory, and renal hospitalizations attributed to the river drought were 2%, 2%, and 7%. There were significant reductions in average level and trend of the RWL during the post-1995 period, when the first hydropower dam began operation in the upper MDR, even though the cumulative rainfall in the MDR had not changed. The all-cause hospitalizations attributed to the river drought were 1134 cases during the period 1995-2014, which resulted in total additional cost at two provincial hospitals of US $360,385. This current study demonstrates the link between hydropower dams, river drought, and health impacts. As the MDR is highly vulnerable to climate change, these findings about the devastating impacts of hydropower dams and environmental change have important implications for the lives of downstream residents.
... Previous studies have identified economic losses, infrastructure changes, diminished access to services, environmental degradation, and social network disruptions as potential impacts of drought. [2][3][4] The extent of direct and indirect health consequences might depend on drought severity and duration as well as the underlying population vulnerability and available resources. 5,6 Among the hypothesized adverse effects are exacerbations of respiratory diseases (e.g., asthma, allergies, dust pneumonia, bronchitis) resulting from increased airborne dust and particulate matter; increases in vector-borne disease incidence because of environmental degradation; increases in waterborne diseases attributable to worsening surface water quality or increased groundwater catchment areas when wells are over-pumped; and infectious diseases resulting from compromised hygienic practices. ...
... We identified potential pairwise associations by literature review. 3,7,8 We pooled data from the 3 sampling frames and used the methods of Murti et al. 27 to evaluate pairwise associations by logistic regression weighted for survey design. We calculated crude odds ratios and odds ratios adjusted for owning versus renting a home, or for having a child younger than 18 years or adult aged 65 years or older in the household. ...
... Our pooled analysis indicated a potential association between drought impacts on household property or finances with both physical and mental health impacts. These findings are consonant with reports demonstrating associations between drought and mental stressors and community stressors during the 2003 to 2012 Australian drought, as well as with the causal processes of drought-associated behavioral health outcomes previously described 2,3,8 The analyses presented here support the hypothesis that health effects of drought other than mental health are possible. 7 However, it is not possible to fully characterize health effects by using household-based interviews or to compare household-based findings to existing individual-based health prevalence data (e.g., the 2014 California Health Information Survey estimates that 7.7% [95% confidence interval = 7.0, 8.4] of Californians likely have had serious psychological distress in the past year 30 ), and it might be difficult to specifically associate a worsening of a chronic disease or behavioral health condition with the drought. ...
Objectives:
To evaluate health impacts of drought during the most severe drought in California's recorded history with a rapid assessment method.
Methods:
We conducted Community Assessments for Public Health Emergency Response during October through November 2015 in Tulare County and Mariposa County to evaluate household water access, acute stressors, exacerbations of chronic diseases and behavioral health issues, and financial impacts. We evaluated pairwise associations by logistic regression with pooled data.
Results:
By assessment area, households reported not having running water (3%-12%); impacts on finances (25%-39%), property (39%-54%), health (10%-20%), and peace of mind (33%-61%); worsening of a chronic disease (16%-46%); acute stress (8%-26%); and considering moving (14%-34%). Impacts on finances or property were each associated with impacts on health and peace of mind, and acute stress.
Conclusions:
Drought-impacted households might perceive physical and mental health effects and might experience financial or property impacts related to the drought. Public Health Implications. Local jurisdictions should consider implementing drought assistance programs, including behavioral health, and consider rapid assessments to inform public health action. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print March 21, 2017: e1-e8. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2017.303695).
... Much of the research documenting the impacts of weather and climate on farmers' mental health has been produced in Australia, where family farmers have had to contend with one of the most naturally variable climates on Earth (Hennessy et al., 2008). Research has shown drought-affected family farmers often experience feelings of helplessness and powerlessness (Berry et al., 2011;Drought Policy Review Expert Social Panel, 2008), elevated rates of psychological distress and depression (Edwards et al., 2008;Stain et al., 2011) and, potentially, heightened rates of suicide (Hanigan et al., 2012;Nicholls et al., 2006). Climate change has already exacerbated the natural variability of the Australian climate (CSIRO & BoM, 2015); and because of their close living and working relationships with the land, family farmers have been identified as a group whose mental health and wellbeing may be particularly impacted by climate change (Berry et al., 2011;Morrissey and Reser, 2007). ...
‘Sense of place’ has become a central concept in the analysis of the cultural, personal and mental health risks posed by a changing climate. However, such place-related understandings of mental health and wellbeing remain largely limited to Indigenous health contexts. In this article we argue the relevance of sense of place in understanding the mental health impacts of climate change on family farmers who retain close living and working relationships to the land. We conducted a community-based qualitative case study located in the Western Australian Wheatbelt - a region that has experienced some of the most significant climate change in Australia. A three-part interview series was conducted with 22 family farmers between February 2013 and April 2014, and 15 interviews with various agricultural and mental health key informants. The research findings reveal that recently observed patterns of climate change have exacerbated farmers' worries about the weather, undermined notions of self-identity, and contributed to cumulative and chronic forms of place-based distress, culminating in heightened perceived risk of depression and suicide. The research findings highlight the tightly coupled ecosystem health-human health relationships that exist for family farmers living in regions affected by climate change, as well as the significance of farmers' place-based attachments and identities for their mental health and wellbeing.
... Dryland salinity, a phenomenon similar to drought, has also been associated with an increased risk of hospitalization for depression in Australia [223]. Although Stehlik et al. [214] found that drought-related stress negatively impacted relationships within farm families (Central Queensland, New South Wales, Australia), a later large-scale study across Australian agricultural communities did not find family relationships were negatively impacted by drought [224]. For drought that was both constant and long (although not for either alone), there was a difference in the distress levels in rural and urban populations in Australia, with relatively higher levels among rural populations [225]. ...
Droughts have been recorded all across Canada and have had significant impacts on individuals and communities. With climate change, projections suggest an increasing risk of drought in Canada, particularly in the south and interior. However, there has been little research on the impacts of drought on human health and the implications of a changing climate. A review of the Canadian, U.S. and international literature relevant to the Canadian context was conducted to better define these impacts and adaptations available to protect health. Drought can impact respiratory health, mental health, illnesses related to exposure to toxins, food/water security, rates of injury and infectious diseases (including food-, water- and vector-borne diseases). A range of direct and indirect adaptation (e.g., agricultural adaptation) options exist to cope with drought. Many have already been employed by public health officials, such as communicable disease monitoring and surveillance and public education and outreach. However, gaps exist in our understanding of the impacts of short-term vs. prolonged drought on the health of Canadians, projections of drought and its characteristics at the regional level and the effectiveness of current adaptations. Further research will be critical to inform adaptation planning to reduce future drought-related risks to health.
... Two studies using time series analysis have identified a relationship between reduced precipitation and a rise in the local suicide rate Nicholls et al., 2006). However, of the few studies conducted using general mental health screening measures (e.g., the Kessler-10 and the SF-36), none has identified a relationship between mental health and explicit environmental measures of drought (Edwards et al., 2008;Kelly et al., 2011). This may be because these studies examined mental health in one year for the impact of low relative rainfall during a short preceding period (1-3 years), or because they did not attempt to define the nature of drought beyond identifying months of unusual dryness. ...
The mental health impact of drought is poorly quantified and no previous research has demonstrated a relationship between distress and explicit environmentally based measures of drought. With continuing climate change, it is important to understand what drought is and how it may affect the mental health. We quantified drought in terms of duration and intensity of relative dryness and identified drought characteristics associated with poor mental health to evaluate any vulnerability in rural and urban communities. Our methods involved analysis of 100-year longitudinal records of monthly rainfall linked to one wave (2007-2008) of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey. Cluster analysis was used to characterise different patterns of dryness and linear regression analysis was used to examine associations with participant distress, as well as the moderating role of rural locality. The results showed that, during a seven-year period of major and widespread drought, one pattern of relative dryness (extreme cumulative number of months in drought culminating in a recent period of dryness lasting a year or more) was associated with increased distress for rural but not urban dwellers. The increase in distress was estimated to be 6.22%, based on 95% confidence intervals. Thus, we show that it is possible to quantitatively identify an association between patterns of drought and distress.
... Drought-related stress was identified as ‘high’ in 71.8% of farm workers in one study 122; another study reported that 34% of participants experienced stress ‘fairly often’ or ‘very often’ 123, and other studies report physical symptoms associated with stress (including disturbed sleep, crying, being tired) 124,125,126. One study found twice the rate of mental health problems in farmers currently in drought compared to farmers not currently in drought 127. ...
Introduction.
Climate change projections indicate that droughts will become more intense in the 21 century in some areas of the world. The El Niño Southern Oscillation is associated with drought in some countries, and forecasts can provide advance warning of the increased risk of adverse climate conditions. The most recent available data from EMDAT estimates that over 50 million people globally were affected by drought in 2011. Documentation of the health effects of drought is difficult, given the complexity in assigning a beginning/end and because effects tend to accumulate over time. Most health impacts are indirect because of its link to other mediating circumstances like loss of livelihoods.
Methods.
The following databases were searched: MEDLINE; CINAHL; Embase; PsychINFO, Cochrane Collection. Key references from extracted papers were hand-searched, and advice from experts was sought for further sources of literature. Inclusion criteria for papers summarised in tables include: explicit link made between drought as exposure and human health outcomes; all study designs/methods; all countries/contexts; any year of publication. Exclusion criteria include: drought meaning shortage unrelated to climate; papers not published in English; studies on dry/arid climates unless drought was noted as an abnormal climatological event. No formal quality evaluation was used on papers meeting inclusion criteria.
Results.
87 papers meeting the inclusion criteria are summarised in tables. Additionally, 59 papers not strictly meeting the inclusion criteria are used as supporting text in relevant parts of the results section. Main categories of findings include: nutrition-related effects (including general malnutrition and mortality, micronutrient malnutrition, and anti-nutrient consumption); water-related disease (including E coli, cholera and algal bloom); airborne and dust-related disease (including silo gas exposure and coccidioidomycosis); vector borne disease (including malaria, dengue and West Nile Virus); mental health effects (including distress and other emotional consequences); and other health effects (including wildfire, effects of migration, and damage to infrastructure).
Conclusions.
The probability of drought-related health impacts varies widely and largely depends upon drought severity, baseline population vulnerability, existing health and sanitation infrastructure, and available resources with which to mitigate impacts as they occur. The socio-economic environment in which drought occurs influences the resilience of the affected population. Forecasting can be used to provide advance warning of the increased risk of adverse climate conditions and can support the disaster risk reduction process. Despite the complexities involved in documentation, research should continue and results should be shared widely in an effort to strengthen drought preparedness and response activities.
