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. 2022 Jan 1;19(1):467.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph19010467.

The Impact of Climate-Change-Related Disasters on Africa's Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Conflicts: Can Humanitarian Aid and Food Assistance Offset the Damage?

Go Shimada  1
Affiliations

The Impact of Climate-Change-Related Disasters on Africa's Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Conflicts: Can Humanitarian Aid and Food Assistance Offset the Damage?

Go Shimada. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

This study analyzed the impact of climate-related natural disasters (droughts, floods, storms/rainstorms) on economic and social variables. As the Africa-specific empirical literature is limited, this study used panel data from 1961-2011 on Africa. The study used a panel data regression model analysis. The results showed that climate change-related natural disasters affected Africa's economic growth, agriculture, and poverty and caused armed conflicts. Among the disasters, droughts are the main cause of negative impact, severely affecting crops such as maize and coffee and resulting in increased urban poverty and armed conflicts. In contrast, international aid has a positive effect but the impact is insignificant compared to the negative consequences of climate-related natural disasters. Cereal food assistance has a negative crowding-out effect on cereal production. International donors should review their interventions to support Africa's adaptative capacity to disasters. Government efficiency has reduced the number of deaths, and this is an area that supports Africa's adaptative efforts.

Keywords: agricultural production; cereal production; climate change; conflict; food aid; humanitarian aid; natural disasters; official development assistance; poverty.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author declares that he has no known competing financial interest or personal relationships that could have influenced the work reported in this study.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The total number of people affected by droughts, floods, and storms in Africa.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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