Building capacities for agricultural disaster risk reduction in the western balkan countries: The case of female farmers in Serbia

Abstract

The Western Balkan region is exposed to various natural hazards such as floods, landslides, storms, droughts, forest fires and earthquakes. With the changing climate, the occurrence and intensity of these hazards is increasing significantly. In this chapter, we focus on the socio-economic and environmental driving factors that challenge and constrain disaster risk reduction in the Western Balkan Countries. This study is based on the thorough literature survey and interviews with relevant stakeholders dealing with disaster risk reduction in the region. It highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the current national disaster risk reduction systems within the context of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) 2015-2030 as well as within the Western Balkan countries’ EU accession efforts. Our study reveals that despite the availability of numerous tools to support effective DRR for agriculture, such as e.g. the existence of advanced geospatial data and platforms, the capacities on the ground remain insufficient to tackle the challenges in line with the expectations of various stakeholders. We conclude with action points that can help to advance the current state of play.