2. Size of Vulnerable Population: Currently, the population of the Sahel is increasing, which makes the size of the vulnerable population much larger. Already, many people are affected by malnutrition and need treatment. With the lack of preparedness for droughts, their situation only becomes worse when crops take longer to grow and food shortages becomes more popular during this time. Demographic Factors
3. Level of Development: Sahel is one of the poorest regions on the world because of the long-lasting drought since hundreds of years ago. This prevented the development of Sahel, and made Sahel difficult to cope with droughts until now. Individual’s Wealth: GDP per capita of Niger: $700Most people living in Sahel live by agriculture and thus have low income. Moreover, because of continuing drought, the crops and livestock are lost and their prices have risen which makes people difficult to live. Public Education: People in the Sahel are uneducated. Because of this, they are not aware of the ways in which they can prepare for hazards such as the regular droughts. Furthermore, people from the Sahel grew up to be dependent on other people. When in crisis, they would rather seek help than learn how to deal with the hazard themselves. With the lack of help from the government and from the local community, the people are more vulnerable to the bad effects of droughts. Socio-Economic factors
4. Recent Hazard Events: drought in 2010 that affected 10 million people in four countries, most significantly Niger Early Warning System: Famine Early Warning System alerts policymakers and government about possible shortage of food. But responding to these warnings are difficult due to inadequate national financial resources. Community preparedness
5. Governance: The president of Niger did not believe that the country was facing drought, thus the government did not help the people deal with the hazard. This lead to the community being more vulnerable to the bad effects of droughts as they are unable to deal with the hazard with help from their supposed protector. Emergency Personnel: UN World Food Programme has been helping Sahel with provision of food, but the countries only depend on aids. A community’s ability to deal with a hazard event
