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The
West African nation of Benin has a surface area of 114,763 square
kilometres, 62 percent arable land and 31 percent forest and woodland.
Although the country is not considered to be very disaster prone,
there has been an increased frequency of natural hazards over
the last ten years. These hazards include floods, droughts, famines,
food shortages, forest and scrub fires, epidemics, and the hot,
dry, dusty Harmattan sandstorms that affect northern Benin during
the windier season. A historical review of Benin over the last
30 years has suggested the observed frequency of a large-scale
disaster is about 0.96 per year. |
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Affected
most are those exposed daily to fragile and vulnerable living
conditions, such as high levels of poverty, unemployment, and
environmental degradation. Due to the combination of increasing
levels of natural hazards and vulnerability, the government created
the National Office for Prevention and Civil Protection within
the Ministry of Security and Decentralization in 1985. (...) |
