Drought: Impact on Livelihoodand Its Mitigation

Abstract

Drought is a brief drop in water or moisture availability that lasts for a certain amount of time and is considerably below average. It is a climatic anomaly defined by a lack of moisture, which can be caused by irregular rainfall distribution, greater water needs, or a combination of all three. In general, droughts are significant hydrologic occurrences that result in acute water shortages and last long enough to have negative consequences on people, plants, animals, and the environment over a wide area. Drought is defined by agriculturists as the lack of soil moisture in the crop root zone to sustain crop development and production, but a meteorologist defines it as the absence of rain. Drought is extensively categorised based on the criteria, idea of its use, and several schools of thought.Society's susceptibility to future droughts may be reduced if precautionary measures are taken, which is exactly what risk management is all about. This new approach to disaster management places a greater priority on prevention, risk reduction, and early warning systems than on reaction and recovery efforts.