Post-Doctoral Fellow at Bioversity International, Costa Rica.
PhD student at Bioversity International and the Universidad de Costa Rica, Costa Rica, and Regional Planning Officer at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, Costa Rica.
Disasters. 2019 Apr;43(2):410-430. doi: 10.1111/disa.12316. Epub 2018 Dec 5.
Drills are an important element of disaster management, helping to increase preparedness and reduce the risk of real-time failure. Yet, they are not applied systematically to slow-onset disasters such as a drought, which causes damage that is not instantly apparent and thus does not solicit immediate action. This case study evaluates how drills inform institutional responses to slow-onset disasters. It spotlights Guatemala, a country where drought has severe impacts on livelihoods and the food security of small farmers. By implementing part of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food's institutional response plan for drought, it explores how drills can help to detect issues in emergency response and to foster an institutional focus on improvements in preparedness. The results reveal that drills alone do not trigger institutional improvements if unsupported by a wider strategy that seeks to enhance capacities and protocols. These findings are valuable, however, in making problems transparent and in creating the space for discussion.
演练是灾害管理的重要组成部分，有助于提高准备水平，降低实时失败的风险。然而，它们并没有系统地应用于像干旱这样的缓慢发生的灾害，因为干旱造成的破坏不是即时显现的，因此不会立即引起人们的关注。本案例研究评估了演练如何为机构对缓慢发生的灾害做出反应提供信息。它以危地马拉为例，该国的干旱对生计和小农的粮食安全造成了严重影响。通过实施农业部、畜牧业和粮食部部分应对干旱的机构应对计划，探讨了演练如何有助于发现应急响应中的问题，并促使机构注重加强准备工作。结果表明，如果没有旨在增强能力和协议的更广泛战略的支持，演练本身并不会引发机构的改进。然而，这些发现对于使问题变得透明并为讨论创造空间是有价值的。
