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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Qualitative and quantitative community level approaches: disaster risk assessment in the Fezile Dabi District Municipality
Author:Van Riet, GideonISNI
Year:2009
Periodical:Africanus (ISSN 0304-615X)
Volume:39
Issue:2
Pages:31-43
Language:English
Geographic term:South Africa
Subjects:disasters
municipal government
risk
Abstract:Although a legislative requirement, community-based and scientific disaster risk assessments (DRAs) are greatly neglected in the South African context. The present paper discusses one case where DRA was prioritized. It examines lessons learned from the DRA process in the Fezile Dabi District Municipality (FDDM) in South Africa's northern Free State Province. In 2006, the FDDM acquired the services of the African Centre for Disaster Studies at North-West University to complete a large-scale disaster risk reduction consultancy project, which included the updating of the FDDM's disaster risk management plan as well as a scientific DRA. The paper evaluates the process followed as a means of obtaining usable disaster risk information and to assess the nature of its local engagement. The main findings are that a tension exists between legislative requirements for municipal-level DRA and the need for community-based approaches. The author also finds that large-scale survey methods, as a means of DRA, should at best be used as a supplementary method to qualitative approaches. Surveys may be good for comparisons between settlements, but qualitative methods are better at explaining the dynamics and subtle nuances of local risk profiles. Finally, the author proposes that a broader set of actors should be included in the DRA process, in particular regarding site selection, in order to maximize its usefulness. Bibliogr., sum. [Journal abstract, edited]
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