| Geographic information is important for managing and planning emergency preparedness and response, as well as various other challenges facing societies in southern Africa.The SAHIMS ATLAS offers easily accessible maps, charts and images provided by various United Nations, non-governmental organisations and government bodies. Maps and charts in this catalogue can be accessed freely. Metadata is attached to help the user have a better understanding of data resources, applications and copywrites in these maps, charts and geographic images. |
Project of the Month Atlas for disaster preparedness and response in the Limpopo Basin
The Limpopo Basin is one of the most
risk-prone areas in Mozambique. The Limpopo Basin, the second largest
of Mozambique's nine international river basins, has no major dams
to regulate its flows unlike the country's largest river basin,
the Zambezi. Heavy rains in South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe
flow directly into the lowlands of Mozambique. The Limpopo Basin
is not just prone to flood hazards. Most of the Basin receives less
than 500mm of rainfall each year. Droughts are very common in this
region, often lasting more than a single season. Cyclones are the
rarest, but deadliest, hazard facing the Limpopo Basin. Inland rainfall
brought from cyclonic systems can result in severe flooding within
the Basin, as happened in 2000. The impacts of external shocks are
strongly influenced by the capacities of rural households and communities
to anticipate, resist, manage and recover from them. Information
and analysis should be organised now to understand the likely impacts
of these external shocks. Based on interviews with Mozambican and
international decision-makers and their operational staff responding
to the Zambezi floods in 2000/2001, critical information was inaccessible,
contradictory, or missing. Users at all levels need accurate and
organised information so more informed preparedness and response
planning interventions can take place. The Famine Early Warning
System Network (FEWS NET), Mozambique Integrated Information Network
for Decision-Making (MIND), project was designed to help overcome
these limitations, with an integral focus on developing local capacity.
The Atlas was a collaborative effort between the USAID/FEWS NET
MIND activity, the Department of Geography at the University of
Eduardo Mondlane and the National Institute of Disaster Management. Contact: Michelle McNabb: mmcnabb@fews.net Catalogue Integer Project / Miscellaneous Maps |
