Emergency drills for drought response: a case study in Guatemala

Abstract

Drills are an important element of disaster management, helping to increase preparedness and reduce the risk of real-time failure. Yet they are not systematically applied to slow-onset disasters such as drought, which cause damage that is not immediately apparent and thus do not solicit immediate action. This case study evaluates how drills inform institutional responses to slow-onset disasters. We focus on Guatemala, a country where drought has severe impacts on livelihoods and food security of small farmers. Implementing part of the Ministry of Agriculture institutional response plan for drought, we explore how drills can help to detect issues in drought emergency response and to obtain an institutional focus on improvements in preparedness. Findings show that emergency drills alone do not trigger institutional improvement if unsupported by a wider strategy aiming at improvement of protocols and capacities. They are valuable, however, in making problems transparent and in creating space for discussion.