Economic Impacts of Natural Hazards on Vulnerable Populations in Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu Contents List of Abbreviations Ii
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Economic Impacts of Natural Hazards on Vulnerable Populations in Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu Contents List of abbreviations ii Executive summary 1 Hazard and exposure 7 1.1. Overview 7 1.2. Fiji 1 9 1.3. Papua New Guinea 14 1.4. Samoa 18 1.5. Solomon Islands 21 1.6. Tonga 25 1.7. Vanuatu 29 Vulnerability And Impacts 35 2.1. Economic Profile 35 2 2.2. Agriculture and Fisheries 38 2.3. Commerce and Industry 46 2.4. Tourism 51 2.5. Housing and Settlements 56 2.6. Low-income and Informal Workers 61 2.7. Gender 66 2.8. Youth 82 Coping mechanisms 91 3.1. Types Of Coping Mechanisms 91 3 3.2. Adaptive Social Protection 93 3.3. Financial Inclusion 99 3.4. Insurance 106 3.5. Migration 112 3.6. Remittance 118 3.7. Resettlement of Communities at Risk 124 3.8 Community-based Support 129 Conclusions 135 4 4.1. Hazard, Exposure, And Vulnerability 135 4.2. Coping Mechanisms 137 4.2.1. Adaptive Social Protection 138 4.2.2. Financial Inclusion 140 4.2.3. Insurance 143 4.2.4 Migration 145 4.2.5 Remittance 147 4.2.6 Resttlement 149 4.2.7 Community Suport 152 Annex : Background and Methodology 154 References 156 2i List of abbreviations ADB Asian Development Bank AUD Australian dollar AusAID Australian Agency for International Development CFE-DM Center for Excellence in Disaster Management & Humanitarian Assistance CRED Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters CSIRO Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation ECHO European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations EM-DAT Emergency Events Database ESCAP Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FJD Fiji dollar GDP Gross Domestic Product GFDRR Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery GIZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit IASC Inter-Agency Standing Committee Reference Group on Risk, Early Warning and Preparedness IDMC Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre IFPRI International Food Policy Research Institute IFRC International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies ILO International Labour Organization IMF International Monetary Fund INFORM Index for Risk Management IOM International Organization for Migration MAFFF Ministry of Agriculture, Food, Forests and Fisheries (Tonga) MSME Micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises NDMO National Disaster Management Office (Vanuatu) OCHA United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development PCRAFI Pacific Catastrophe Risk Assessment and Financing Initiative PGK Papua New Guinea kina (unit of currency) SBD Solomon Islands dollar SPC Secretariat of the Pacific Community ii3 TC Tropical Cyclone TOP Tongan pa’anga (unit of currency) UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNDRR United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction UNFPA United Nations Population Fund Unicef United Nations Children’s Fund USD United States dollar VUV Vanuatu vatu (unit of currency) WASH Water, Sanitation and Hygiene WFP World Food Programme WST Samoan tala (unit of currency) WTO World Trade Organization iii4 Executive summary Hazard and Exposure Pacific island countries are widely regarded flooding. Climate models forecast that most as experiencing the highest risks in the world Pacific Island countries are likely to experience associated with natural hazards. Pacific Island a decrease in the frequency of cyclones by countries are exposed to a wide range of the end of the century, but an increase in wind natural hazards because of their geographical speeds and rainfall amounts. All six countries locations, their populations are vulnerable reviewed in this report also experience risks of due to their dispersion across a large number earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes, which of geographically remote islands with poorly cause localized but severe damage when they developed infrastructure, and many have occur. Significant earthquakes occur in Papua limited coping capacities. Across the region, New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu weather-related events cause the majority of every 13 to 20 months, on average, but are much economic losses, with cyclones being the most less frequent in the other countries reviewed. All serious hazard. All six countries reviewed in this six countries experience risk of drought as a result report (except Samoa, the smallest country in of natural climatic cycles; droughts are infrequent area) experience an average of one or more but cause widespread harm to subsistence cyclones per year, which brings high winds, agriculture which is the dominant source of heavy rain, and both coastal and inland livelihood in most of these countries. Vulnerability and Impacts Natural hazards disproportionately affect poor severely affected by damage to natural people, workers in the informal economy, and resources, and gender-based violence often women. Poor people tend to be more exposed increases in crisis. Education is disrupted by to hazards than wealthier people and are more natural hazards which damage schools and severely affected by hazards, and have fewer other infrastructure, displace people, and resources available to cope when disasters do cause students to be withdrawn from school, occur. In all six countries examined in this report, but there is little evidence about the resulting poverty is a significant issue and there are high impacts on educational outcomes. Youth levels of informal and vulnerable employment employment is a significant challenge across and subsistence economic activity, which are the region, with youths suffering from a lack of insecure and particularly vulnerable to natural formal employment opportunities and often hazards. Gender equality is a major problem remaining unemployed or under-employed across the region, with traditional social norms in the informal or subsistence economy, but excluding women and girls from political and there is a lack of evidence about how natural economic participation and contributing to hazards affect employment prospects, other high levels of gender-based violence. Disasters than generally inhibiting economic growth. affect women and girls more severely than men The economies of all six countries reviewed and boys because their traditional domestic in this report, and the livelihoods of the roles tend to become more difficult and time- majority of their populations, are vulnerable to consuming under disaster conditions, their damage and loss caused by natural hazards. livelihoods tend to be less secure and more Subsistence agriculture, which is vulnerable to 1 all types of hazards, plays a very important role based and dependent on coastal and marine in people’s livelihoods across all six countries. ecosystems and coastal infrastructure which are Fiji is the least dependent on subsistence vulnerable to natural hazards and the impacts agriculture, but in the other countries 75% to of climate change. Most of the population in 97% of the population depends on subsistence these countries, with the exception of Papua agriculture for livelihoods. Most of the countries New Guinea, lives in coastal areas where they in the region have very small manufacturing are more highly exposed to cyclones, tsunamis, sectors, but many people work in small-scale, and flooding than inland populations. Housing informal, and home-based trading activities with in all six countries is often not robust enough limited resources to cope with shocks inflicted to withstand hazards, usually because of poor by natural hazards. Tourism, a significant industry construction standards especially in informal in four of the six countries, is largely nature- settlements and rural areas. Adaptive Social Protection Scaling up social protection schemes quickly by Most of the countries reviewed in this report do providing cash payments or vouchers to people not have formal social protection schemes that affected by humanitarian crisis is increasingly are able to scale up in crisis situations to support common worldwide and across the Pacific region. disaster relief and recovery. Fiji and Tonga are International experience has shown that a cash- exceptions: after recent tropical cyclones, they based response is efficient and effective, enables distributed supplementary cash payments through recipients to identify and prioritise their own needs, existing social protection systems and distributed supports the dignity of recipients, can be more electronic vouchers or cash for home repairs. The timely and flexible than other types of assistance, other countries reviewed in this report have very and supports the recovery of local markets. In limited formal social protection systems which are the Pacific, cash-based programming has not mostly limited to contributory pension schemes for been widely used until quite recently, but it is now people in formal employment, and no significant becoming more accepted. Cash transfers are experience in providing cash payments for more feasible in crisis situations in countries that disaster relief and recovery purposes. have prior experience of using them in social protection programs and have well-developed financial services and a high degree of financial inclusion. Financial Inclusion Worldwide, financial inclusion is an important reduction, improves food security, and helps contributor to development, poverty reduction, preserve capital. and disaster resilience. Access to financial In most of the six countries reviewed in this services enables