The incidence and intensity of droughts is expected to increase in Southern Africa over
the coming years. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) region is known
to be highly sensitive to droughts due to its dependence on rain-fed agriculture, the
impacts of which can range from reduced water supplies to crop and livestock production,
food insecurity and conflicts among competing water users. The negative impacts will
be exacerbated by other hazards such as floods, advancing desertification and land
degradation, as well as the region’s well-documented diminishing economic productivity,
persistent food insecurity, extreme poverty and chronic vulnerability, which affect the
majority of communities due to overreliance on agriculture for livelihoods.

In order to mitigate these trends, the region has developed the SADC Drought Risk
Management and Mitigation Strategy (DRIMMS), which is a 10-year road map to achieve
region-wide drought resilience. The objective of the strategy is to enhance the capacity
of the SADC countries to effectively prepare for and manage drought impacts. This will
be achieved through a harmonised approached at regional level, using relevant tools in
the UNCCD toolbox, to assess vulnerability to drought, strengthen institutions that deal
with drought, and develop mitigation mechanisms.