Online Reporter
Richard Muponde
Zimpapers Politics Hub
MINISTERS responsible for Disaster Risk Management in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have called for an urgent shift from reactive disaster response to long-term resilience investment, warning that recurring climate shocks are now threatening the region’s economic transformation and sustainable development goals.
In a communiqué issued after the SADC Ministerial Roundtable on Disaster Recovery and Resilience Building held in Masvingo on Thursday, ministers said Southern Africa could no longer continue operating in a “cycle of repeated losses, incomplete recovery, and escalating vulnerability.”
The meeting brought together ministers, development finance institutions, United Nations agencies, private sector players and cooperating partners under the theme: “Transforming Disaster Risk into Resilience Dividends: A Risk-Informed Recovery Framework for Agrifood Systems and Sustainable Development in the SADC Region.”
The ministers acknowledged that since 2019, SADC countries have suffered repeated disasters including Cyclones Idai, Kenneth, Ana, Gombe and Freddy, alongside severe droughts and worsening food insecurity.
“We acknowledge that these disasters are no longer isolated humanitarian events, but systemic threats to sustainable development, regional integration, and economic transformation,” the communiqué said.
They warned that countries were increasingly trapped in what they termed a “structural recovery deficit cycle,” where governments are forced to repeatedly channel resources towards emergency response at the expense of long-term recovery and development programmes.
The Ministers also noted that fragmented disaster data and underinvestment in resilience systems were weakening the region’s ability to mobilise adequate financing and prepare for future shocks.
Calling for a major policy shift, the ministers said: “Resilient recovery must be repositioned from a post-crisis expenditure to a strategic investment agenda that supports long-term prosperity.”
Agriculture, which remains central to livelihoods and economic growth across the region, was identified as one of the sectors hardest hit by climate change. The ministers called for increased investment in climate-smart agriculture, irrigation expansion, resilient infrastructure, renewable energy and stronger social protection systems.
The communiqué directed the SADC Secretariat to operationalise the SADC Regional Disaster Recovery Framework and Action Plan to help member states move towards resilience-led growth.
“The challenge before us is not the absence of frameworks, but the urgent need to accelerate implementation, strengthen readiness, mobilise investment, and scale coordinated action,” the ministers said.-@muponderichard
