The Role of Government in Planning for Drought: Where Do We Go from Here?

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Abstract
This chapter examines the policies adopted by governments in response to episodes of severe drought. The mid-1970s droughts in the United States and Canada and the more recent droughts of the early 1980s in Australia and South Africa will be used as examples of prior drought mitigation efforts. During the twentieth century, governments have typically responded to drought by providing emergency, short-term, and long-term assistance to distressed areas. The drought resulted in severe hardships for farmers and had a catastrophic impact on the nation's economy. The Livestock and Grain Producers Association of New South Wales has strongly commended the state and federal governments of Australia for their drought assistance measures. The National Drought Consultative Committee was appointed by the Minister for Primary Industry in 1984 to review Australian drought policy. Drought assistance programs in South Africa have concentrated largely on providing relief to the livestock industry, with little attention to crop farming, either dryland or irrigated.

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