DRIER-China: Drought Resilience In Ecosystem services and Rural communities in China.

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Drought is a major hazard in developing countries, especially in Asia and Africa, and in many countries is becoming a growing challenge as demand for water rises and the climate changes. In China, major droughts regularly occur over large areas of the country. These droughts have impacts on water supplies to rural (and urban) communities, on crop growth and on local ecosystems. Ecosystem impacts of drought can then indirectly further influence rural communities, for example through increases in soil erosion or dust storms. The onset of drought can be defined in a number of ways (e.g. by lack of rainfall, impact on river flows, crop failure or lack of water supply for communities). The relationships between these different forms of drought and their impacts on rural communities in China are not fully understood. In addition, improved methods to forecast drought, assess risks and understand often complex impacts on rural communities, as well as assess the risks and benefits of potential solutions, are urgently needed if drought issues are to be tackled effectively and economic, social and environmental impacts are to be reduced.This project aims to address these challenges, by building an international network of researchers and end-users from across a range of disciplines (including humanities and social sciences) to identify key research gaps and build a research plan for a large integrated research programme to build the resilience of rural communities in China to drought events. Initial research will examine patterns of drought over the past 30 years, by bringing together weather data, hydrological models, signs of vegetation stress from satellite data and century-long records of impacts on communities and their past responses to disasters, to determine the relationships between drought impacts on crops, ecosystems, communities and the economy. In addition, through engagement with local people and stakeholders, a framework for understanding drought impacts on local communities and for assessing and communicating the risks and benefits of potential solutions (including economic, cultural and ethical risks and benefits) will be developed. Finally, a stakeholder workshop, involving key governmental, industry and non-governmental organisations, such as the UN Development Programme for China, will be held in China, to ensure developed tools and research plans meet end-user needs and to develop routes to ensure uptake of research findings.The project involves a number of key Chinese partners, including the National Engineering Research Centre for Information Technology in Agriculture (NERCITA) and the National Disaster Reduction Centre of China (NDRCC). NDRCC is a key organisation providing support to government for disaster response in China and the tools and methods developed in the project will be integrated into their existing risk assessment and impact assessment services, to allow improved, evidence-based responses to drought events. With assistance from NERCITA, new methods of predicting drought impacts on crop production and monitoring the impacts of on-going drought events on agriculture will be developed and the project partners will work closely with agricultural service providers in China to ensure such tools benefit Chinese farmers and the agricultural industry. The project will also work with local communities, to enhance their understanding of drought hazards and potential solutions, and of the historical impacts of drought on their region. In the longer term, the project is expected to lead to a large-scale international research programme to develop a full, integrated risk and impact assessment system for use in disaster management and to develop needs-driven and equitable solutions to build drought resilience in rural communities in China and other developing countries.