2017, A Year of Drought

What comes to your mind when you hear the word "Disaster"? Earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, landslides and what not come to mind easily, but how many in Japan would consider drought?

{Image shows a totally dried field, drought is a great concern across the world}

Droughts are long lasting water shortage caused by lack of rain. Unlike earthquakes and tsunamis, droughts start in an unspectacular manner causing water and sanitation problems as well as food crisis so that many people suffer from poverty.

Consequently, droughts are often referred to as a "silent killer". Sri Lanka has seen nine droughts in the past ten years, and around 310,000 people have been affected. For farmers, lack of water can be a matter of life and death.

[Dried water reservoir, in normal conditions, the water level should reach the road]

Because of the monsoon season in Sri Lanka there are two major harvesting seasons, Maha (September through March) and Yara (May through August).  Almost all of the rice consumed in Sri Lanka is harvested during these seasons.

Many farmers use rain water to run large-scale farming operations, however, this year drought has damaged yields from much of the harvest. Many in Sri Lanka fear drought during the dry season.

[Water does not reach the pipeline that connects with the waterway]

[A dried water way and drying rice fields]

Because of this concern, JEN is planning to strengthen the capability of disaster mitigation and prevention in Sri Lanka in 2017, including drought countermeasures.

Our goal is to support the self-help capability in individual families and communities so that people do not fall back into poverty. Our team will do our best to achieve our goal.