Community Action Planning

‘Food Security and Livelihoods Improvement through Disaster Risk Reduction’ is the theme of RDIS’ work for the three year period 2008 to 2010. RDIS realised that addressing the first part is not feasible before the latter is actioned and hence disaster risk reduction receives much emphasis in every project they undertake. In order to improve effectiveness even further, RDIS staff devoted a whole week in September to be trained by an expert in this field, Dr Willie Nkamuhebwa, a Tearfund consultant from Uganda. The topic was discussed under the banner of Community Action Planning. In essence, change can’t be imposed on community members if they don’t understand, embrace and take ownership of it fully. The training therefore focussed on theory first and then followed by practical application where the Gahogo community was invited to participate. Over 100 people met under the trees in Gitarama for two mornings. They firstly drew a community map, then identified their major hazards, prioritising them by assessing their likelihood and level of impact, and thereafter collectively agreed on actions to be taken. Water shortage and food security were the two hazards identified to bare most risk to the locals. With the community action plan resulting from this intense week, the community will hopefully not only cooperate with RDIS, but also take ownership of seeing these risks diminishing.