The photo on the left is shows an evacuation route that leads to a safe gathering point on higher ground. It has become overgrown and a quick evacuation of a large number of people would be difficult.
A community leader said it has not been maintained because no money is available to pay for the required labour.
On the right is a spring water supply system in the same village. Installed by the government 30 years ago, it used by over 60 households. Regular maintenance is conducted by the community on a rotating schedule – and the people willingly provide their labour free of charge.
Initially, this infrastructure was donated, not bought. It provides no direct financial gain to the users and no financial incentive is offered for maintenance. Despite all this, the community has sustained the system in the long-term.
People are prepared to do this, a community member explained, because a reliable supply of clean water is a clear benefit that every person appreciates on a daily basis.
To be sustainable, disaster risk reduction (DRR) activities must also be valued by communities to this extent. The difficulty is that their primary benefits occur during times of disaster, which are infrequent, whilst demanding maintenance on a much more regular basis.
Solutions are possible. A colleague pointed out, for example, that DRR interventions can have a secondary benefit that is felt more often. We will look to this and other approaches when working with the villages towards sustainable DRR.
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